Are you thinking of having temporary tattoos printed for your event?
With more than 20 years of experience in this field I give you below in 7 hints about what you need to know before ordering.
The size of ephemeral tattoos.
An individual tattoo to be placed on the arm can be 38x38mm or 51mmx51mm. But you can also choose to make a board with several designs on it that the user can cut out as they go along. The most commonly used formats are 101 x 101 or 151 x 101mm
The quantity of tattoos to order.
The tattoos are printed in offset, and most often in amalgam, which means that several visuals are printed on the same large sheet which will then be cut to the desired size. It is possible to order as few as 500 pieces, but obviously the unit price will be quite high. Compare the total budget of your order, often the cost of 500 pieces is almost equal to that of 1000 pieces.
Temporary Tattoo with or without water?
You all know the Malabar tattoos, you put the tattoo on the skin, you wet the back of the tattoo with a sponge and when you remove the protective sheet the tattoo remains on the skin. This is the temporary water tattoo. But there are now also ephemeral tattoos “without water”. The tattoo is placed on the skin, the back of the tattoo is rubbed quite vigorously and then the protective sheet is gently removed.
The waterless tattoo is more expensive than the water tattoo. But it is very practical when you want to distribute them at an event.
What about cosmetic standards?
Yes! The ephemeral tattoo is a cosmetic product because it will be put on the skin. Unfortunately, many sellers ignore this important aspect. The inks and adhesives must meet the European standards in force. And preferably the seller can provide you with RIPT and In-use tests.
How many colours in my tattoo?
Ephemeral tattoos are printed in full colour, so you can even consider a photo as a tattoo. However, be aware that white is a fifth printing colour. When printing the French flag for example, the white part will be printed with white ink. Then it is also possible to use metallic colours such as gold, silver or even blue or red metallic.
Manufacturing time
An order of 1000 to 100,000 pieces takes about 3 to 5 weeks. If you also wish to have individual packaging, you should add about 2 weeks. For a shorter period of time, you should contact the manufacturer, who may be able to help you depending on the production load.
packaging of temporary tattoos
The ephemeral tattoo is protected by a transparent foil. But you can add a packaging for the sale in shop or to protect the tattoo even better.
The instructions for use and the legal information must be printed on the back of the tattoos or on the packaging.
Some sites that offer temporary tattoos in Europe: