Ephemeral is a new made-to-fade tattoo company that’s been in research and development for the past six years and just launched a reservations site for their first brick-and-mortar studio opening in Brooklyn in Spring.
Ephemeral is the first and only tattoo that’s made-to-fade in a year. Applied by real tattoo artists, Ephemeral tattoos are formulated to have a shorter lifespan– giving you the freedom to get tattoos without a lifetime commitment.
Backed by a team of chemical engineer PhDs, Ephemeral bridges the gap between conventional ink and temporary tattoos — making the artistry that comes with permanent tattoos more accessible to those who want to express themselves creatively without the lifelong commitment to a particular design.
Ephemeral’s tattoo ink comprises medical grade, bioabsorbable, and biocompatible polymers, with carefully chosen high-quality pigments that are routinely used in foods, cosmetics, and other products. Ephemeral ink— which becomes small enough overtime to be removed by the body— was developed by Dr. Vandan Shah and Dr. Brennal Pierre over the past six years. The team has tested over 50 ink formulations. Additionally, Ephemeral has initiated an IRB approved clinical trial to scientifically validate the safety and efficacy of the ink.
THE TEAM
Ephemeral’s founders met while students at NYU.
Joshua Sakhai is a co-founder of Ephemeral. He was born and raised in Long Island to an Iranian Jewish family, following his parents’ immigration in response to the Iranian revolution. Growing up, tattoos were taboo in the name of tradition, but he wasn’t necessarily comfortable with permanent ink either. When he met his co-founders in his first year at NYU studying business and computer science, the idea for Ephemeral immediately resonated with his own experience; so much so that he dropped out of NYU to focus on the company full time.
Jeffrey Liu is the CEO of Ephemeral. Jeff comes to Ephemeral from Tesla and Casper. At Tesla, Jeff led global deliveries, launched retail on the East Coast, and spent two years in China launching the business from the ground floor. Following Tesla, Jeff led retail, grew the fleet from zero stores to 60+ and helped the team achieve IPO in 2020 at Casper. Purpose-driven organizations have always driven Jeffrey and after meeting Ephemeral’s co-founders, he immediately saw the potential to break out as a multi-generational consumer brand. Growing up in Cupertino, CA in a Chinese-American household where tattoo tolerance was limited, he understands the need for self-expression. Jeff now has eight Ephemeral tattoos, one which is of his dog Astor.
Brennal Pierre is co-founder and CTO of Ephemeral. His background spans academia, teaching at NYU Tandon School of Engineering, and a Ph.D in Chemical Engineering at NYU’s Polytechnic School of Engineering. His passion, however, remains in research and product innovation. Brennal has applied his formal training in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering to develop made-to-fade ink as another tool for creative tattoo artists.
Vandan Shah is a co-founder of Ephemeral. Vandan came to the U.S. from India in 2010 to pursue a PhD in Chemical Engineering at NYU. He holds three patents; and has a combined 10 years of research and product development experience, with work that has been published in multiple scientific journals. Vandan co-founded Ephemeral while doing his PhD and subsequently co-developed the made-to-fade ink. He was actually the first volunteer to ever try the initial ink formulation… which he tattooed on himself. Since then he has gotten more than 50 Ephemeral Tattoos.
