These semipermanent tattoos fade after one year

• Ephemeral Tattoo in Brooklyn, New York, offers tattoos that disappear in about a year.
• The founders spent about seven years developing biodegradable ink.
• Tattoos cost about $175 to $450 depending on the size and complexity of the design.

Following is a transcript of the video.

Manuel Silva-Paulus: I'm here today at Ephemeral Tattoo in Brooklyn to get my very first tattoo. These tattoos are made to fade, which means that the process and the equipment is the same as a real tattoo. The only difference is that they use semipermanent ink so that it fades after time. Let's go check it out.

Josh Sakhai: People want to get made-to-fade tattoos if they want to experience getting a tattoo without lifetime commitment.

Manny: Before my appointment, I sent my design over to Phil, the tattoo artist, who then drew a tracing of it. I wanted a Monstera leaf because I picked up an obsession with plants over quarantine, and I wanted to do a small tribute to it.

Phil Young: So, this is what I have for you.

Manny: Cool.

Phil: This is the design.

Manny: Love it.

Phil: Thank you. Where did you want to put it?

Manny: I was thinking of having it on my shoulder.

Phil: Awesome, perfect, perfect. It'll fit there. It'll look great. I'm gonna go ahead, if you like the design, and print out a stencil for you, and we'll get it sized up and get you started. I don't mind the explanation. I don't mind the coaching and all that other fun stuff that happens when you are actually telling somebody about the first time they're getting tattooed. It's actually a lot of fun for me. You are getting essentially a tattoo. I kind of enjoy the little bit of anxiety that some of the clients have when they come in, 'cause you get to quell all that. And, you know, there's nothing better than that first line that you pull, and then you ask them, "How was that?" And they look at you and they go, "That's it?"

Manny: I would imagine that people are really nervous for their first tattoos, and I'm kind of just chilling. It's like a very pointed pinch on my skin.

Josh: We started developing the ink about seven years ago. And the research was led by our two cofounders, Dr. Vandan Shah and Dr. Brennal Pierre, who are both PhDs in chemical engineering from NYU. And a lot of the research that went into this, we really just tested the ink on ourselves, and we tested over 50 different formulations over the course of hundreds of tattoos on our own bodies to get to where we are now.

Manny: Some of these lines you're doing I'm not feeling at all. And then other ones I'm like, oh, my gosh, that hurts.

Phil: Yeah, you'd be surprised, sometimes, the areas that hurt over areas that you don't feel a thing. Right now, as far as completion, I want to say about a little under 50%. Just about at 50%.

Manny: I don't know why, in my head, I was like, "He's done. This is it."

Josh: Permanent tattoos are made up of really small particles. And they're small enough that if I were able to put one particle in your dermis, your body would actually remove it. But the reason why they're permanent is because permanent-tattooing particles aggregate together. And when they go inside your dermis, they form these larger clumps of ink that are too big for your body to remove. And Ephemeral ink actually uses a lot of that similar theory and behavior, but our ink is biodegradable, and it breaks down over the course of nine to 15 months naturally. And as it breaks down, the clumps break apart, and your body is able to remove it.

Phil: All right, you're all set. Congratulations.

Manny: I like that it looks like a little bit like it has depth to it. It's not just flat. I'm a big fan of that. And I love plants, so I'm glad I decided to get a plant for my first tattoo.

After the tattoo, they applied a hydrocolloid Band-Aid over the tattoo and walked me through the aftercare regimen.

It's been about two weeks since I've gotten my tattoo, and the healing process went just as expected. I had some slight raised lines and some flaking here and there, but for the most part, it was all expected. Getting the actual tattoo was such a great experience. The studio is so relaxed, and the tattoo artist makes you feel so comfortable. And, honestly, the space is just really welcoming. So it's definitely something that I would recommend to my friends. If anything, showing people and telling them that this tattoo is temporary only made them want to get it. So I think it's definitely worth doing.