All About Temporary Tattoos

Temporary tattoos are, as the name suggests, non-permanent. They are usually an image that resembles a real tattoo, and may be applied to the skin as a hand drawn image, painted, airbrushed, or transferred, with transfers being the more common and popular method. This kind of temporary body art has a number of purposes, and is popular in professions such as acting, where a character has a tattoo but, obviously, the actor would not be willing to get a real (permanent) tattoo for the role.

Temporary Transferable Tattoos

Possibly the most memorable use of transferable tattoos in mainstream culture is that of those used as inserts in bubble gum. These “transfers”were simple ink transfers that could be applied to the skin, and would easily wash or rub off. The quality of the print was not of a high standard, however, resulting in blurry images. This kind of tattoo became very popular in North America for many years.
The modern incarnation of these kinds of tattoos are made of ink and glue, and have a considerably longer life span. With these tattoos, the image is applied to the skin, and will remain until removed, or the image fades, which can take up to five days.
Despite this kind of temporary tattoo being mainly used in advertising, or as a novelty item, the process involved in creating said transfers has found a home in lithography. More recently, the fashion house, Chanel, has been offering expertly applied temporary tattoos of Chanel’s design. This offer, specifically in a themed area in Selfridges on Oxford Street, claims the transfers can be applied to “areas of a private nature”
The makeup of a temporary tattoo often consists of five main elements;

•     The front sheet of paper

•     The back sheet of paper

•     Ink

•     Glue

•     Protective plastic sheet

A special coating is applied to the front sheet, with the image used in the tattoo being printed onto it using special inks. The glue is then applied over the top, and the plastic sheet is placed over the top of that to protect the tattoo and the glue. Usually, the back sheet is left untreated, and will often have information printed on it, such as disclaimers, warnings, and ingredients.
To apply these tattoos, you would usually remove the plastic sheet from the image, placing the image face down against the area of skin where the tattoo is to be transferred. You would then moisten the back of the transfer thoroughly, and finally, you would peel away the backing, leaving the image in place on the skin.
In the early eighties, temporary tattoos used different, more exotic inks, instead of the standard used today. 3M introduced a new “Micro-Fragrance”coating that released a scene when agitated. This led to scratch-n-sniff technology, and a number of companies started putting out scented tattoos
It was around this same time that the process of printing began to improve dramatically, as well as improvements to the ink used, allowing the transfers to look considerably more realistic, and last longer. This increase in quality directly resulted in an increase in demand. Transferrable tattoos started to be seen as something that would last, and could be marketed individually, rather than as part of something inexpensive.
These days, transferrable tattoos for sale are common, from shop counters to vending machines, from mass retailers to boutiques, and can even be customized and printed on demand using a colour laser printer and special paper. The range of design options is immense, from Marvel super heroes to designs by famous artist, Ed Hardy.

Henna Tattoos

Mehndi on a hand.

Mehndi, more commonly known as Henna tattoos, are a form of temporary tattoos that has been born of South Asian tradition. Using a paste made from the leaves of Lawsonia inhermis – or the Henna plant. The leaves are powdered to make the paste. The active dye in henna is called Lawsone, and binds with keratin found in skin, hair and fingernails. Traditionally, henna is used to depict intricate, delicate patterns, usually on the hand or feet. However, in more recent times, henna has been used to paint designs of all kinds in different parts of the body.
Henna is limited in colour, and can only be used to create various shades of red through brown, and near-blacks, whereas other methods tend to have more colour options. Once henna paste is applied to the skin, it is left for several hours, staining. Henna paste will fade gradually with the shedding skin, and can last for days, even up to a month, depending on the quality of the application, and how well it is looked after.
People wanting to apply a henna tattoo themselves should be careful when buying the paste. It is possible to buy “black henna”which is supposed to be fast-staining. These usually contain PPD, or para-phenylenediamine, and can cause allergic reactions, or even scarring.

Temporary Airbrush

Similarly to other forms of temporary tattoo, airbrush tattoos are applied to the surface of the skin, rather than damaging it in order place the tattoo ink underneath the skin. With airbrush, a stencil is typically fixed to or held against the skin, and the tattoo medium (ink, tribal paint, etc) is sprayed with an airbrush. Unlike transferrable tattoos, delicate elements of the tattoo can be controlled by the person applying the tattoo during the application, more like permanent tattoos.
Airbrush tattoos have been around since the late nineties, and are often used in the advertising and entertainment industries. Constant research and development in the area of airbrush inks and equipments has led to airbrush tattoos more closely resembling the real thing, to the degree that many people cannot distinguish them

Airbrush Tattoo Removal

Airbrush tattoo ink and paints are often alcohol-based, and the regular application of baby powder through the day can greatly increase the life of the tattoo. Removal, on the other hand, requires the application of an oil or alcohol-based product. Suntan lotion works well for this, as well as rubbing alcohol, though it should be used carefully, as it will dry the skin, and can irritate. Left alone, an airbrush tattoo will last anywhere from a few days to a week, depending on how often the area is washed, and how well it is taken care of.

Ballpoint Pen Tattoos

Temporary tattoo drawn in ballpoint pen

Perhaps less popular, ballpoint pens are another means of creating artwork on the skin for decorative, recreational, and even commercial purposes. Though not as well-known as the other temporary tattoo methods, ballpoint pen artists have been known to make appearances at special events in order to draw on guests, and have also been hired to create temporary tattoos for film. In this kind of temporary tattoo, the ink is applied to the surface of the skin in much the same fashion that it is with a real tattoo gun, with some professional tattoo artists being known to create artwork on surfaces other than skin using a ballpoint pen, often to display in their tattoo studios.
Ballpoint tattoos are the quickest of the aforementioned temporary tattoos in terms of fading, and can be washed off at any time. The ink formulas used in ballpoint pens are believed to be non-toxic – due to the writing implement’s wide use among children and students – but there is debate around this topic.

Temporary Variants of Permanent Tattoos

It is possible for tattoos applied with a permanent tattoo gun to be easier to remove. However, removal of these tattoos does not involve the removal or degradation of all the materials involved, and, thus, cannot be considered to be completely temporary.

Photo Tattoo Simulation

Services like this do not apply any kind of imagery to the skin, but, rather, can simulate the look of a tattoo on a photograph. The purpose of this is to allow someone who is considering getting a tattoo to see how it would look before actually getting inked.

Semi-Permanent Tattoos

Some tattooists may offer what are known as semi-permanent tattoos, so-called because they are applied using a tattoo gun, and will last for years, rather than days, like other temporary tattoos. There are differing methods to achieve this, with some tattooists claiming to use natural inks that disperse over time, and others claiming that the ink is inserted closer to the surface of the skin, allowing it to eventually fade as the skin sheds over prolonged periods of time.
There is a certain amount of debate over this type of tattoo, however, with some quarters claiming that they are not really temporary, and that not all semi-permanent tattoos have in fact been semi-permanent. It would be wise to assume that any tattoo method that involves inserting pigment under the skin is permanent.


By : fantattoofashion