I’m facing a choice. Should I get a permanent tattoo, or a temporary one that lasts a year? It’s a question that many will face with new tattoo inks that fade in time. We’ll have the option of clearing our human skin canvasses periodically.
In my case, I want a permanent tattoo as a reminder of how I became fitter and healthier once more. It’s a reminder I want for the rest of my life. People in the tattoo industry talk about the culture of commitment, and for me it’s meaningful here. The same might apply if the tattoo depicts the birth of your child, unforgettable once-in-a-lifetime travel, an amazing achievement, or a huge challenge you conquered – a reminder of love and strength.
In other cases a temporary tattoo may be a better option. You might follow a social or political cause that’s hot now, but in 10 years you suspect it could be old news.
For years some parlours claimed they could offer three to five-year tattoos by injecting ink only into the first layer of the epidermis, but these tattoos often wouldn’t fade. There are also transfer tattoos that you stick on with paper that last three to 14 days. You get a feel as to whether you want the real deal.
The Australian website Amazing Raymond not only mails out tattoo designs that you peel and stick on, you can also print your own designs on their special paper using a home printer, then apply them. Pepper Ink Temporary Tattoos specialises in vintage designs and subtle fine-line objects. Brooklyn-based Tattly offers hundreds more.
Two weeks may not be enough. In 2009 Freedom-2 produced black and red biodegradable ink packed into tiny injectable plastic beads that could be applied with a regular tattoo machine. Only one laser treatment was needed to rupture the beads and let the body’s immune system expel the ink. In contrast you might need a dozen treatments to remove a regular tattoo. But Freedom-2 was swallowed up by cell and gene therapy solutions provider Nuvilex, which had a broader interest in encapsulated medicines.
More recently a five-person firm, Ephemeral, developed small-molecule tattoo ink that lasts around a year, and a removal solution that an artist can trace over a tattoo to erase it. You can also erase parts of a tattoo and add on extra bits. Again, the tattoo is applied the traditional way. The ink has been tested on animals including rats and pigs, and an initial launch is expected in New York soon.
Some hold temporary tattoos up to ridicule. They say the Snapchat generation is turning into the snap-tat generation with no commitment to permanency. But then there is no tattoo regret, rather a chance to think before you ink, by applying a temporary tattoo.
Alternatively you can try out a tattoo virtually using a smartphone app. Tattoo My Photo, Tattoo You, Tattoo My Photo Editor and Inkhunter let you snap a photo of yourself and add tattoos to it.
Social researchers McCrindle last year found that one in four Australians regretted their tattoo and one in seven had looked into removal. “Just like we are changing hairstyles and changing jobs more frequently, we’re also wanting to change our physical expressions, so I think there is some interest in exploring that,” says Eliane Miles, research director at McCrindle.
She agrees that if they catch on, one-year inks will see people revisit the whole culture of tattoos and why they have them. “We now know more women get tattooed than men. It’s perhaps a sign of independence that women choose what they do with their bodies.”
McCrindle last year found that almost one in five Australians had a tattoo and for women the figure was closer to one in four. Having a tattoo didn’t necessarily start when you were young. Over a third of Australians had their first tattoo aged 26 or older, while 20 per cent have their first tattoo aged mid-30s or older. Almost half have only one tattoo, 30 per cent have two or three tattoos, and 15 per cent have four to nine. About 7 per cent are heavily tattooed with 10 or more.
Principal Mark McCrindle said that in a generation tattoos had transformed from a sign of rebellion and nonconformity to symbols of personal meaning and life-change. “Australians are marking milestones, commitments or life-chapters.”
There are some health issues around permanent tattoos. In a report last April the National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS) identified some potential carcinogens in colour pigments and recommended their classification as poisons.
There is a mountain of advice online about tattoos, such as locating your tattoo so that it doesn’t get stretched with age. The centre of your lower back, inner forearm and back of the neck are some. Your tattoo should be somewhere that you can hide to avoid any impact at work. Above all, never impulse-buy a permanent tattoo. Unlike towels bought at a sale, you can’t return a permanent tattoo and get your money back.
The Australian Tattoo Expo gets under way at Sydney’s Darling Harbour from tomorrow.
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