Though temporary tattoo company Ephermal Tattoo may tout their products as “Real Tattoos” with “No Lifetime Commitment” per the large banner displayed across their website, the claim is a bit dubious – just ask several customers whose “made to fade” tattoos did anything but – according to TikTok influencer, @victoriasaintdenis.


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“This month has officially been 2 years since I got my Ephermal tattoo and supposedly by now, it should definitely 100% be gone,” she said in a recent video, asking her more than 2.7k followers to “please note that I said supposedly.”


Despite the company’s widespread proclamations that their tattoos will fade in 9-15 months, @victoriasaintdenis, who got inked as a part of a sponsored TikTok post back in March 2021, says her design is still very visible roughly two years later.


“It is definitely not fading, or faded,” she quipped, flaunting the remains of her tattoo, one depicting Leo constellation on her ankle, a design she says has garnered comparisons to a coat hanger or a mouse.



Yet, @victoriasaintdenis is far from alone. Ephermal’s waiver outlines how “the exact amount of time that the tattoo will last may be shorter or longer” than their advertised time frame, running the risk of leaving “individuals with permanent marks,” according to the New York Times.


Over the past several months, several Ephermal tattoo recipients have taken to social media – including the company’s subreddit – to recount how these temporarily advertised tattoos have proven to be anything but, despite the company’s marketing blast.


“I hate to say this, but I know one of the founders and was so excited to be one of the first to get a tattoo in their ‘testing’ groups in January 2021,” wrote Redditor u/Friendly_Ad_5719 noting that though they were initially told their ink would fade in “9 months,” “26 months” later their tattoo has “still not faded.”



“I will likely have this bad tattoo for another year, I think the artist went over a line more than once (like normal tattoo artists do) but with this ink, it just makes it last longer,” they explained. “It's ironic because their tagline used to be “regret nothing” but I regret this a lot more than my real tattoos.”


u/juicemeplease had yet another similar experience – regrets included.


“My friends and I got ephemeral tattoos last year. It has been 13-15+ months for each of us. They look about the same as they did on month ⅔.”


Upon reaching out to the company about their woes, u/juicemeplease said “They basically told us to fuck off,” a dismissal that pales in comparison to the potential removal process.



“What's even more upsetting to me than the fact that I might have to pay to laser a tattoo that looked bad from day 1 (ink was spotty, lines wobbly) is that Ephemeral continues spouting bullshit on their social media,” they explained. “‘9 to 15 months but sometimes longer or shorter’ feels extremely dishonest when it is common for these tattoos to stick around for MUCH longer, and possibly forever (we don't know!).


“I have one that’s 9 months old with absolutely no fade and I didn’t even really like it from day 1,” remarked u/bets2282. “I’m concerned I’ll need to get it lasered off and need to sue to get the money for it.”


As these stories, and other similar stories, began making the rounds online, the company’s CEO Jeff Liu took to their website, offering an amended statement on what Ephermal’s clients can expect.



“Ephemeral ink was designed to fade in about 9 to 15 months, as determined by both pre-launch case and clinical studies,” reads the letter, before detailing how their “tests included a diversity of participants, controlled for tattoo design, tattoo placements, and varied skin type, as measured by the Fitzpatrick scale (a numerical classification schema for human skin color).”



“Since our public launch in 2021, our team of chemical engineers has made a number of improvements to Ephemeral Ink to implement your requests and feedback,” they continued. “We’ve increased tattoo ink transfer to the skin leading to better tattoo vibrancy (for darker and clearer tattoos), expanded the number of body placements we can tattoo (such as ribs or ears), increased tattoo design complexity (leading to richer shading and finer lines) and shortened tattoo healing times.”


Though Ephermal’s tattoos are allegedly “made-to-fade,” their reputation for shady services definitely won't.