Tattoos that disappear | Press

When Purchase College student Skylar Hertz got a tattoo of Snoopy smoking a joint on her left calf, she didn’t want it to stay on her body forever.

As an aspiring actress, she believed that having a tattoo might influence the roles she would be considered for. She also knew that a permanent tattoo would upset her family. “I’m Jewish, so obviously most of my family aren’t that big on tattoos,” M said.^me Hertz, 20, adding that the Torah prohibits tattoos and that many rabbis and members of his community are against the practice.

She liked the idea of ​​getting a tattoo, however. She chose Snoopy to honor her mother, who played the character in a production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. She added the seal to give it “a little touch”.

Rather than going to a traditional tattoo parlor, she turned to Ephemeral, a company that has a studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and uses trademark ink that fades 9 to 15 months after. have been applied; tattoos cost between $ 240 and $ 550, depending on the size.

Unlike other temporary tattoos, like henna dye or stickers, temporary tattoos, like permanent tattoos, are applied using needles and ink under the skin.

But some believe that the idea of ​​body art disappearing completely defeats the purpose.

Joanna Acevedo, 24, who works in a creamery in Brooklyn, has over 100 tattoos all over her body: “The only thing I haven’t tattooed is my chest. Many of its designs are random, she says, listing “a crocodile, a cat skull, barbed wire, the words ‘steak frites’, an eagle, a cactus and an ice cream cone.”

“I like that they’re permanent because they’re a part of me,” she says. “They represent a moment in time, and I love living with my whole story. ”

Tattoo mistakes are human

In addition to the bravado that goes into choosing a permanent tattoo, regrets are sometimes just as lasting as the tattoos themselves.

Sometimes the solution to making them go away involves a lot of effort, as is the case with laser tattoo removal. “A laser light breaks up the particles of the tattoo and fragments them,” explains Dr.^r Roy Geronemus, director of the Laser and Skin Surgery Center of New York.

The D^r Geronemus claims that his patients do not experience any pain with local anesthesia.

“I see a number of patients who have made decisions spontaneously, without thinking,” he says. “A name that is no longer part of your life has no place on your body. In most cases, the next partner doesn’t necessarily like the idea of ​​the ex-partner’s name staring them in the face. ”

Without regrets

Ephemeral’s fading ink was invented by two chemical engineers specializing in proteins, Brennal Pierre, 41, and Vandan Shah, 33. They met at New York University, where Pierre was an adjunct professor and Shah a doctoral candidate.

Their work began in 2014 when one of Pierre’s students, who was also Shah’s research assistant, was going through a very painful and expensive laser removal process for a tattoo, and he wanted to know if it was possible. to remove it with an enzyme.

“It was so intriguing for us,” says Brennal Pierre. They spent the next seven years developing ink that would be broken down naturally by the body.

Ephemeral opened its first studio in Brooklyn in March. At the start of the summer, there was an eight-month wait for a tattoo, according to the company.

“We have people flying in from Mexico City,” says Jeff Liu, 33, managing director of Ephemeral. Since 2015, the company has raised more than $ 30 million, he adds. A second studio will open in Los Angeles on October 24.

Permanent tattoos “are made with a needle technique that penetrates the dermis, the lower part of the skin,” says Dr.^r Geronemus.

Ephemeral ink is made from a material that the body naturally degrades over time. The ink works the same way as biodegradable medical products like the sutures used in stitches. These products, like ink, are broken down naturally by oxygen and water in the body.

“It was more than creating ink,” explains Vandan Shah. We had to understand how the body works, what the ink does when it enters the body. ”

Brennal Pierre and Vandan Shah are constantly trying to improve the ink. The company doesn’t let its clients get tattoos on their hands, feet, or face, as those spots haven’t been tested thoroughly.

Ephemeral estimates that more than half of its clients are getting tattoos for the first time, like Barbara Edmonds, 27, who lives in Brooklyn. “I’m a commitment phobic,” she says.

Ephemeral piqued his curiosity on Instagram. “Their slogan is ‘Don’t regret anything’, and that’s basically why I decided to try it,” she says. On August 7, she had a Claddagh ring, a traditional Irish symbol that represents love, loyalty and friendship, tattooed on her right forearm.

“I have a lot of fun with it,” she said. But she is also happy that it is temporary. “This part of my arm is not what it used to be. It’s scary. ”

Read the original text published in the New York Times (in English)