Woman says temporary tattoos won’t come off after 14 months

In viral videos, TikTokers discuss their so-called “temporary” tattoos, which are supposed to fade but aren’t fading.

In a TikTok posted on Jan. 11, Celle (@celle_tattoo) shows off a tattoo behind her ear that she says should fade but has retained clear markings. Celle describes herself as a tattoo artist.

“It’s been 14 months,” Celle wrote in the overlay text of her video. “I hate this thing.”

Celle’s video had over a million views on Tuesday.

@celle_tattoo #stitch with @bugpin.bunny & I oop #temporarytattoo #tattootok ♬ Original sound – Celle

Her viral video is a snippet of a video posted by Bunny (@bugpin.bunny), who is also a tattoo artist, in which Bunny warns viewers not to get temporary tattoos “made by real tattoo artists with machines that have only been around for about a year, year last one and a half” because they are a “tattoo scam”.

“Please don’t go there and make an appointment and get that [purported temporary] Tattoo,” Bunny says in her video, which has over 210,000 views. “The tattoos are not temporary. They don’t fade completely.”

Bunny didn’t mention the tattoo brand in her video, but said a temporary tattoo company is “currently being sued.” Ephemeral, a company that sells “real fade tattoos,” while not facing lawsuits, is grappling with a spate of recently released claims of customer dissatisfaction.

The Chronicle of San Francisco and Fast Company reported in November that people with ephemeral tattoos said their tattoos were “still clearly visible after 15 months or more.” Fast company noted that the company states on its consent forms that “the tattoo may last shorter or longer than the advertised range of 9 to 15 months.”

The Daily Dot contacted Ephemeral via email.

A commenter on Celle’s video said they got a temporary tattoo 20 months ago and it’s “clear as day.”

“Looks like I just got it,” wrote @hayl.madison.

Others debated having little faith in temporary tattoo companies to begin with.

“I didn’t understand this trend,” commented @alizorah. “How can an ink that has settled into the skin when needed fade completely?”

“LOL I mean come on,” wrote @easportss__. “You get a tattoo.”

“How did you not know that?” commented @sapphicpeach.

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