“Biggest regret of my life”: Man gives an update on what his “Ephemeral tattoo” looks four years later

A man is going viral—again—for showing what a “semi-permanent” tattoo looks like nearly four years later.

What are Ephemeral tattoos supposed to be?

When Ephemeral tattoos launched in 2021, it marketed a breakthrough ink “made to fade.” The idea, it said, was tattoos that looked real but would break down naturally in the body after nine to 15 months.

The company advertised that its ink used polymers similar to those in dissolvable dental sutures, designed to degrade when exposed to water. But results have been unpredictable.

Ephemeral consultant and dermatologist Dr. Dhaval Bhanusali told ELLE that fading depends in part on tattoo placement. “Extremities tend to have a slower healing process,” he said. “When you scrape a knee, it can look scraped for a long period of time, because there’s very little blood flow to that area.”

Despite the company’s initial claims, reports of long-lasting ink started surfacing as early as 2022. In response, Ephemeral updated its messaging. By February 2023, CEO Jeff Liu said tattoos might actually take up to three years to fade fully. Still, some customers say they’ve passed that mark with little to no fading—Brandon among them.

“At this rate, it’ll be over 5 years until it’s mostly faded,” Brandon told The Daily Dot. “Biggest regret of my life.”

Backlash builds as ink stays put

Brandon isn’t the only dissatisfied customer. Reddit’s r/EphemeralTattoos now has nearly 900 members, many of whom say their tattoos remain starkly visible years later.

Fast Company and The San Francisco Chronicle reported in 2022 that some customers saw no meaningful fading beyond the 15-month mark. One user, ELLE journalist Katie Berohn, said her tattoo was still prominent more than 1,150 days after getting it.

Several Ephemeral studio locations have since closed, leaving many customers wondering what recourse they have. The company’s early branding promised a new era of temporary body art. Instead, it’s left some users with unwanted, semi-permanent regret.

One commenter watching Brandon’s video voiced what many are likely thinking: Where is Ephemeral in all of this—and are they helping anyone get removal? In a statement to The Daily Dot, Brandon said the company offered him $500 for a cover-up. As for legal action, he’s doubtful it would go anywhere.

“I would consider it, but there’s a subreddit about them where some lawyers say we signed our rights away in the release form, and that we wouldn’t be able to form a class action,” he said.

Viewers weigh in with advice—and criticism

Under Brandon’s latest TikTok, commenters flooded in with both tattoo cover-up suggestions and potential removal strategies.

“Hear me out,” one said. “Christmas tree lights on the antlers. Lean in.”
“I think an hourglass would cover it and represent ephemerality,” another offered.

“Go with a sick panther,” a third chimed in.

Others recommended laser removal, noting that since the ink is already fading, laser sessions might be more effective than a full cover-up.

“Based on its rate of fading, you should probably just get it lasered off,” one wrote.

“Well, the good news is it looks like it would laser off really easily if you wanted to go that route,” another said.

“Just get one session of laser, it’ll fade a whole lot faster because it’ll break up easily,” a third viewer commented. “Why get a cover-up and a bigger tattoo when you wanted a temporary tattoo? Do one or two laser sections first.”

Brandon told The Daily Dot he’s still unsure about his next steps.

“I worry a cover-up could get muddied by the ink underneath—no one really knows what would happen,” he said. “Laser removal is expensive, but the thought of staring at this fuzzy art on my leg for years is maddening.”

He added, “It wasn’t even the design I wanted. The artist picked one of the reference images I sent and ran with it. I figured it would only last a year, so who cares?”

The internet is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here to get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.