Temporary Custom Tattoos For Your Sexy Self

I am assuming that since you clicked through to read this post, you are searching for temporary custom tattoos because you want to either:

A. Play around with sporting tattoos, but before you make a commitment, you need to live with your design for a bit.

B. Wear a temporary tattoo as a temporary-but-still-high-quality accessory and you want to create your own custom design. Probably because you don’t want to run into some bro at a party who has your same tat. Wouldn’t that basically make you married?

Gotcha. Here is what to do.

First of all, in my day, the only temporary tattoos were drawing with Bic pen on your arm. I got my first real tattoo at 21 and it is a tiny star that my dog used to mistake for a fly and try to bite off my leg.

My next tattoo was at age 28, and it is a snake wrapped around an egg. I had it done in Chicago by a freaking master tattoo artist. I’m still thanking all of the Egyptian, Greek, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim gods out there that I didn’t go to some hack. My tattoo artist was legit, and completely passionate about his art form.

Sometimes when you are a youngster and you’ve slurped down 2 martinis at the bar, you don’t make the best decisions, and you might just get a shit tattoo that you will regret majorly in 5-10 years. I’m here to steer you away from that.

Think of me as your tattoo mom. I’m not your real mom, but you respect me more than your real mom because I’m much cooler, and I will still ground you if you don’t listen to me. Or cut off your trust fund. Whatever.

Inkbox

Inkbox makes quality long lasting temporary tattoos. Their tattoos are semi-permanent- meaning they last up to 1-2 weeks. Now they won’t look as pristine and fresh that whole time, but yes, they last a lot longer than most temporary tattoos.

Inkbox uses a vegan, cruelty-free plant-based ink formula that sinks INTO your skin- not as far as a real tattoo, but it doesn’t just sit on the top layer of skin. This is how it can be much monger-lasting than temporary tattoos you may be used to.

How to Apply Inkbox Tattoos

Applying a semi-permanent tattoo is slightly more labor-intensive than the tats that peel off after a day. But it’s worth it!

1. Clean the area where your tattoo will live with the included primer wipe.
2. Place the plastic sheet with the tattoo on it face down on your chosen body part.
3. Leave it on for one hour.
4. Within 24 hours, your tattoo will darken and sink into your skin.

Using Your Own Custom Design

You can choose from any of Inkbox’s designs, and browse by size, category, style, or artist… or you can make your own custom tattoo design! All you need to do is upload your image to their site and you can make light edits in there.

Keep in mind what looks best in tattoos: dark lines, not too much detail, high contrast. Especially with darker skin, you are going to want to make sure your design is contrasty enough against your skin. (Remember: the design takes 24 to up to 36 hours to fully develop, so don’t freak out if you can’t see it well at first!)

The cool thing about trying your own custom tattoo design is that you can test out how it will look before you jump into the real deal.

Oh! And if you want to make a semi-custom tattoo design, or get a little help while you are designing, they have tons of cool fonts and images to use while you’re in there designing.

Another Way to Make a Custom Tattoo

Probably my favorite thing about Inkbox is their tattoo marker! As a lifelong doodler, I am completely excited about this cool marker.

The tattoo marker uses the same ink as their temporary tattoos, so it will last, plus it has enough ink in it for about 5 sleeves!

The marker tip allows you to get thick or thinner lines, depending on the pressure and angle you are using it.

Creating your tattoo with the marker is easy – just draw a way and then use one of the (reusable) development patches for 60 minutes to protect and seal in the tattoo.

Watch this short video to get a feel for the tattoo marker, and I dare you to not be inspired:

Yet Another Custom Tattoo Resource

Yes, not kidding, Inkbox has created the coolest app that lets you upload or draw your custom tattoo, trace it off the screen using their tracing pen, then transfer it to your skin with stencil cream.

You still need to draw over it with the tattoo pen and use the little patch for an hour, but this is a super transfer method!

Here’s more on that:

Where to Find Tattoo Designs

Okay, so you’re set on a custom tattoo design, but what if you hate drawing or you need a little inspiration for what to get?

Inkbox has a tattoo quiz on their site that might be helpful in narrowing down your style. Plus, a good quiz is always fun. Of the designs they recommended for me, my favorite was this one, which looks like a cool pointillism drawing.

I also like Creative Market whenever I am looking for simple line drawings – they have so much good stuff to choose from.

Designspiration might give you some good ideas.

Do a search on Pinterest for tattoo designs. Or here, I did it for you.

Or Instagram!

Browse through old sketchbooks – you never know what treasures you will rediscover there.

And don’t forget to show me your cool custom temporary tattoos! @artmakespeople