Temp Tattoos

Temporary tattoos are not true tattoos. Rather, they are a type of body sticker, similar to a decal. They are generally applied to the skin using water to temporarily transfer the design to the surface of the skin.

Temporary tattoos are waterproof, but can be removed with oil-based creams, and are intended to last only a few days.

Magician Penn Jillette (of Penn & Teller fame) writes in his book Penn & Teller's How to Play in Traffic that he had a special tattoo made on his arm that used no pigment (the tattoo machine was run without ink). Penn states that the tattoo left a red scar that had a discernible pattern, but would heal to near invisibility after five or six weeks. When filming the remake of Cape Fear, actor Robert De Niro was tattooed with vegetable dyes, which faded after a few months.

Other forms of temporary "tattoos" are henna tattoos, also known as Mehndi, and the marks made by the stains of silver nitrate on the skin when exposed to ultraviolet light. Both methods, silver nitrate and henna, can take up to two weeks to fade from the skin.

Airbrush tattoos are another popular form of temporary tattoos. This process involves using a stencil design and spraying paint through the stencil onto the skin. This form of tattoo lasts approximately a week and is said[citation needed] to be one of the more realistic type available today.

The original form of temporary tattoos, usually found in bubble gum, were an ink transfer that often made the image look blurry and would come off with water contact. Today's temporary tattoos use vegetable dyes and a layer of glue similar to what is found in a Band-Aid. These tattoos can look extremely realistic and last up to 3 weeks.