Hell yeah, I want a tattoo! That's what people who are about to get tattoos are thinking. But many people have regrets— one study estimates that half of all tattoo-getters later seek the services of tattoo-removers, and it makes sense: forever is a long time. That Sonic the Hedgehog you were so sure you wanted at 16 doesn't fly at 28. And this is to say nothing of the inevitable force of gravity (a reason, in our opinion, to go for the upper back or nape, or any place where the skin pretty much stays put until you die.) But beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and the beholden—if you love your ink, we love you, you go girl, etc. Really.
Temporary tattoos, on the other hand, take all of the risk out of body art. And all the fun! you might be thinking. What about 24-karat gold leaf ones? Made by Dior? Thought so. And it gets better: the designs in Dior's limited-edition Les Ors de Peauset are dead ringers for the brand's fine jewelry, including charms, rings, link bracelets, and loop-like cuffs. Once applied (peel off plastic, place on dry skin, moisten the back, hold for 45 seconds), they glint like the real thing, and for a fraction of the price ($120). Why not throw a few on for New Year's Eve—no matter how rough your reveling, you can't lose these guys! Consider them the cheapest gold jewelry (or, actually, the most decadent temporary tattoos) you've ever bought. No, think of them as 'Ephemeral Skin Jewels,' as the packaging calls them. And $120 seems totally reasonable for ephemeral skin jewels.
Aside from an ephemeral skin cuff positioned around her bicep and a link bracelet on her wrist, Marte Mei Van Haaster needed little in the way of gilding for our shoot. The radiant Dutch model (wearing her own low-slung Marc Jacobs satin overalls and VPL bra) looks straight out of an Old Masters painting, save her now-signature shaggy bob, which, she told us, wasn't a strategic decision so much as a necessity. (Before she burst onto the scene in Marc Jacobs' fall 2012 campaign, she was a textiles student, and her long waves were getting caught in the weaving machines. Yikes.) All Emily added were some strategic highlights (Giorgio Armani Fluid Sheer in Shimmering Beige), a little bronzer for depth (Laura Mercier Sheer Crème Color), and a glossy Eight Hour Cream lip. And then she was (temporarily) golden.
Marte Mei Van Haaster, in Marc Jacobs overalls and a VPL bra, photographed by Emily Weiss in New York on November 19th, 2012.
