London biotech company CipherX is offering a CipherX Microdot tattoo system that applies permanent designs with a disposable microneedle patch instead of a conventional tattoo machine, according to a hands-on test by The Verge’s Jess Weatherbed. The pitch is obvious: less pain, less noise, and fewer of the needles people actually fear. The unresolved part is just as obvious: whether the finished tattoo ages like a tattoo or like a biotech demo.
CipherX says each Microdot patch is about the size of a US quarter and uses microscopic biodegradable needles to place pigment in the upper layers of skin. Weatherbed reported that the application took seconds, followed by a 15-minute wait while the patch remained covered on her arm.
How does the CipherX Microdot tattoo work?
The process uses a guide disc to mark placement, then a handheld applicator presses the patch onto the skin. In Weatherbed’s test, CipherX CEO Ferdinand Kohle applied a “Bold Sparkle” design by lining up the applicator with ink guidelines and triggering it, leaving a patch with 112 microneedles embedded in the skin.
Microneedles are tiny projections that can pass material into shallow skin layers without the same puncture depth as a standard hypodermic needle or tattoo needle. The Verge noted that similar microneedle technology already appears in some cosmetic products, and that microneedle tattoo patches have been studied since at least 2022.
Weatherbed described the sensation as closer to a light touch than a painful procedure. She also reported no bleeding, scabbing, irritation from the microneedles, or healing period comparable to her conventional tattoos, though a branded sticker placed over the bandage pinched her skin and was not required, according to Kohle.
What can you actually get?
The current product is narrow by tattoo standards. CipherX offers about 15 designs, only in black, with no customization and a maximum diameter of 15mm, according to The Verge. That makes this less a replacement for a tattoo artist and more a small-format permanent stamp, which is a strange little niche to build a company around, but a niche all the same.
- Current designs are fixed rather than custom.
- Black is the only available ink color.
- Designs cannot exceed 15mm in diameter.
- The service is currently offered through approved London pop-ups with trained practitioners.
- The reported price is £50, or about $66.
CipherX is working on more options, according to The Verge. The company previewed additional colors, an invisible UV-reactive ink, and a larger patch size. It also plans to add more designs and work with established artists on future releases.
The patches also have body-placement limits. The applicator needs a flat enough area and skin that can be lightly stretched, so bony spots may not produce a clean result. CipherX is not applying the tattoos to faces, necks, hands, or groins, which The Verge reported is a company comfort boundary rather than a technical claim.
When could CipherX sell at-home tattoo kits?
CipherX showed a prototype kit that could be mailed to customers for home application, according to The Verge, but the company has not provided a launch timeline. Weatherbed reported that CipherX had not responded to a timeline request by publication time.
For now, age checks are handled through trained practitioners at approved London pop-ups. That boring compliance detail is probably the thing standing between a tidy little mail-order tin and a predictable mess of people permanently applying tiny icons to themselves without much adult supervision.
The permanence claim still needs time. Weatherbed said the tattoo darkened over two days, but after five days the design still appeared dotted at close range and had settled into a black that looked faded rather than fresh. CipherX may have made tattooing quieter and easier. Whether it made a great tattoo is the part that has to survive more than a week.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.
