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This week on Macro Beauty, we meet Jamilah who's getting a made to fade tattoo for the first time at Ephemeral Tattoo in Los Angeles. Jamilah chooses the Rising Phoenix design and the tattoo will last 9-15 months. Watch this episode to learn how this process works.

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Transcript
00:00The Made to Fade tattoos last anywhere between 9 to 15 months, depending on your body chemistry and how your
00:07body breaks down the tattoo.
00:11I'm Jamila, and I'm getting a Made to Fade tattoo done today.
00:15I've been hesitant about getting a tattoo because I never knew what I would want to permanently be on my
00:22body.
00:23But the benefit of it being a Made to Fade tattoo, I think, is just because it's temporary.
00:30I'm getting a tattoo done now because I've gotten a new perspective on life, and that perspective came when my
00:39father passed last year.
00:41It really taught me to really seize the moment and be open to trying new things.
00:46I want to get a phoenix. A phoenix usually lives 500-plus years, and when it feels like it's about
00:55to die,
00:55it turns into ash, and then it is reborn in a way. I'm doing that with myself.
01:03Hi, I'm Blue. I'm a tattoo artist here at Ephemeral Tattoo.
01:07I've been tattooing for four years.
01:10I've been doing Made to Fade tattoos for about four months now since we opened our LA location.
01:15I really like to do big tattoos that have any type of meaning to whoever's coming in.
01:22I just really like to capture a client's idea and make it a reality.
01:27Hi, I'm Blue.
01:28Hi, I'm Jamila.
01:29Hi. What did you want to get today?
01:32Well, I really want to get a phoenix.
01:35And I want something nice and feathery and airy, as if the phoenix is in flight.
01:43We're just going to do black, long, feathery, kind of flow with the body.
01:50Majestic.
01:51Cool. Cool. All right. Cool. Let's get started.
01:55I'm only nervous that my ribs are super sore, but I have a pretty high pain threshold,
02:02and my skin is soft, but it's tough.
02:05So, I really think that my body and I, we will be able to really handle this.
02:11First, I shave the area with an unused fresh razor.
02:15I sanitize the area with alcohol, apply a small amount of stencil stuff, and apply the stencil.
02:24I peel back the stencil and allow some time for the stencil to dry.
02:28I check in with Jamila to make sure that the placement is where she wants it.
02:33Before we begin tattooing, I make sure that Jamila knows that she should take short, shallow
02:39breasts instead of deep, heavy breasts to make sure that her ribcage doesn't inflate
02:44while I'm trying to do a line.
02:47I start by outlining the tattoo from bottom to top.
02:55I also have my iPad set up next to my station as reference for the tattoo.
03:02Throughout the tattoo process, I use a paper towel and green soap to wipe the area so I
03:08can see where my lines are at.
03:13After going over the tattoo, I check over it to make sure that all of my lines are saturated.
03:18If I notice there's any unsaturated lines, I'll go over them a second time just to make sure
03:24that they're as saturated as I need them to be.
03:28If I start to notice my stencil is going away, I'll go in and open up any of the lines
03:34with
03:34the needle, regardless of the saturation is good or not, and then go back in again and
03:39make sure that the saturation is where we need it to be.
03:45I check in with Jamila to make sure that she's not in any pain and that she's comfortable
03:50throughout the tattoo process.
03:54And then I go in and do any shading or touching up of any lines that are necessary.
04:02So originally in our design, we had shaded in the body, but as I was working on the tattoo
04:08and I was shading the wings and the feathers, I noticed that the body didn't need stippling
04:14because it gave it a little bit more dimension, so I just left it with an open space to give
04:18it more contrast.
04:23Once I'm done, I wipe the tattoo with green soap and double check to make sure all of my
04:29lines are where I need them to be.
04:31And now it's time for the mirror reveal.
04:36Oh my gosh!
04:40Yes, I love this!
04:42I'm so cool.
04:45Whoa, this is awesome!
04:48Thank you so much!
04:51Since Jamila loved her tattoo, we were able to place a patch immediately after I had finished.
04:58Here at Ephemeral, we take healing very seriously.
05:01So your skin was penetrated by a needle and in about two to four weeks, you'll start seeing
05:05that your lines are becoming more vibrant again.
05:07So some spots might look like they're vibrant and other spots might still look like they're
05:11a little rough.
05:13Redness, itchiness, white bumps.
05:14We give you everything in your aftercare kit, so you'll have like an unscented soap and moisturizer
05:18to keep it from feeling super itchy.
05:21We also give you some hydrocortisone, so...
05:23Any questions?
05:24Yeah, with the hydrocortisone, so I would use like a dime-sized amount.
05:28You won't really want to use that, like as much as possible, don't use it.
05:33If you're like unbearably itchy, you can put some on and then in about an hour, apply
05:37lotion over the top because it does dry out the skin.
05:40You do a thin, dime-sized amount on the tattoo.
05:43So just carry it around with you and if you start to feel like a dryness or even if it
05:46starts to look a little dry, just throw some lotion on, even if you're not feeling
05:50the itchiness yet.
05:51Okay.
05:51I mean, you can overdo it with the lotion, just like the amount that you put on, so just
05:56make sure you rub it nice and in.
05:57You don't leave it like with a heavy saturation on top, just like rub it in there.
06:01I feel really cool that I have my first tattoo.
06:04My tattoo looks amazing, as you can see, and I can't wait to show it off to everybody.
06:11I really love the way the tattoo looked on Jamila, especially because we left the body
06:15open and it gave it more dimension.
06:18It looks like it's about to fly off of her body.
06:20Going into it, I kind of thought that I would get a smaller tattoo, but then when I saw
06:25the stencil larger on my side, I was reflecting on the fact that I, you know, I really go for
06:30things.
06:31I really go hard.
06:32So my first tattoo, I decided to get it on my ribs, you know, but it's worth it though.
06:37It looks beautiful.
06:39I think that the Made to Fade tattoo is a really amazing advancement in technology for tattooing.
06:46Made to Fade tattoos actually opened a door for a whole bunch of different types of people.
06:51I think I'm really going to get some more tattoos.
06:55I don't know what.
06:56It has to be something meaningful.
06:58So I would wait for that next big moment, but I could definitely see myself getting more.
07:02I love where the tattoo is placed.
07:04You can't really see it when you're looking head on at me, but you have to see it when
07:09I turn to the side.
07:11It's like a nice surprise.
07:13I really liked the design that Jamila picked.
07:16She did pick a very difficult place to tattoo, but it was a lot of fun to do it, even
07:23though
07:23it was a little bit of a challenge for both of us.
07:25I learned that I cannot work out for the next four days, possibly more, and that I need
07:32to make sure that the tattoo area is moisturized, but not too moisturized.
07:38And overall, I just need to pay close attention to the tattoo area, monitor how things are
07:45going, and be super sensitive towards it.
07:48And this is how it looks so far.
07:52Just over two weeks out.
07:54It hasn't really been itchy or too dry.
07:58It's been kind of good.
07:59I do feel more me, and I think my dad would think it's cool.
08:05I absolutely do feel badass.
08:11Have a nice day.
08:14I'm going to see you next time.
08:16Bye.
08:16I'mwork.
08:17Bye.
08:18Bye.
08:19Bye.
08:20Bye.
08:20Bye.
08:20Bye.
08:20Bye.
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