Tattoos are cool, at least in my opinion. In fact, I think they’re so cool that I’m currently considering getting my fifth one. The downside is that there’s always the risk that they might not turn out the way you wanted. About 24% of Americans say they regret getting one or more tattoos.
The people from this list would probably feel the same. We’ve compiled a collection of tattoos of questionable quality courtesy of this subreddit about bad tattoos. So, let their bad decisions be warnings to all of us tattoo enthusiasts about what not to do.
#1 Why Would You Waste Your Hard Earned Money On These Ugly, Horrible Pieces
#2 15 Year Old Me Should’ve Never Had A Tattoo Machine
Let all my friends tattoo their names years ago and am really regretting it not to mention I wouldn’t consider most these people to be a friend these days.
#3 Speaks For Itself
Tattoos are no longer something we associate with subcultures or deviance. More and more people (especially young people) are getting tattoos, so much so that the number of folks with at least one tattoo has almost doubled in the last five years.
Although statistics vary, with some sourcesclaimingthat 40% of Americans have ink on their skin and other surveysshowingit’s only 32%, the trend is still there. Tattoos are experiencing an unprecedented boom in popularity since the number of inked Americans in 2019 was only 21%.
#4 Oh Dear God
#5 “The Cigarette Fairy”
#6 Spotted In A Simpsons Facebook Group
We might think that tattoos are a fairly new development in our society, but non-Western cultures have been inking their skin for thousands of years. Dr. David Lane, the author ofThe Other End of the Needle: Continuity and Change among Tattoo Workers,told Byrdiethat the oldest human remains we have recovered have tattoos on them.
For the longest time, we thought Egyptians were the earliest tattoo artists. But, in 1991, archaeologistsrecovereda 5,300-year-old mummy near the Austrian-Italian border that had many tattoos. Most Egyptian female mummies with ink on their skin were from around 4,000 years ago, making the Italian-Austrian Otzi the Iceman, the oldest inked person that we know of.
#7 Yikes
#8 My Husband’s Arm
#9 Gonna Regert This In A Few Weeks
The word “tattoo” comes from the Polynesian culture. When Europeans arrived there in the 18th century, theymispronouncedthe Samoan word “Tatau” and wrote it down as “tattoo.” “Tatau” actually means “to strike” because the traditional method of tattooing there is hand-tapping.
#10 Someone I Went To College With Got Another $40 For A Chest Piece
i just don’t know what this even is. they’re all this bad. it’s impressively bad ngl.
#11 Just Saw This Posted An Hour Ago
#12 S**ty Or Brilliant?
The most tattooed living person in the world is from New Zealand. It’s the performance artist and street performer Gregory Paul McLaren. He hadhis first tattoowhen he was 16, his second one at 18, and after that, he got tattooed regularly “as much as he could.” As Lucky (that’s his stage name) jokes, he has one tattoo, the biggest in the world. But in some places on his body, he actually has three or four layers of ink.
#13 Wife Found This Masterpiece On Fb
#14 Placement Was Not Considered
#15 It Just Looks Like A Colorful Rash
Did you know that Winston Churchill was possibly inked as well? Some sources claim that he got a tattoo of an anchor after his military service. Butothers sayit’s just an attempt to make him more rebellious and relatable to the masses, much like his mother, who, as an aristocrat, supposedly had an ouroboros tattooed on her wrist. There is no physical evidence of these tattoos, so, historians are skeptical.
#16 Girl I Went To High School With Made A Horrible Decision
#17 Saw This At A Party
#18 I Saw This Monstrosity On Snapchat
Do you know another unlikely person to have had a tattoo?Thomas Edison! He had a quincunx tattoo: four dots arranged in a square or, in other words, how the number five appears on a dice cube. But Edison didn’t invent the tattoo pen; it was Samuel O’Reilly in 1891. Edison did, however, invent the electric pen that later evolved into the tattoo pen.
#19 “I Would Like A Well-Shaded Tattoo!” Tattoo Artist: Don’t Say Anything Else!
#20 It’s Not Me, It’s You
#21 Regret
One of the most common concerns for many tattoo owners is how to keep them looking fresh and vibrant for as long as possible. People like to say that tattoos “fade” into the skin, but the reality is a bit more morbid. Our immune cells, called macrophages,gradually eatthe ink and disperse it. So slather that SPF and moisturizer on your tattoos as much as you can to prevent them from aging poorly!
#22 Shi**y Execution
#23 Isn’t It Supposed To Be “Real Eyes, Realize, Real Lies.”
#24 Artist I Found On Insta
Some 60 years ago, there was a ban on tattoos in New York City. In 1961, lawmakers deemed tattooingunlawful, and it wouldn’t be until 36 years later that people could get tattooed in NYC again. The main reasons were health concerns (hepatitis and other infections) and the city trying to improve its reputation, since many associated tattoos with criminality.
#25 Artist I Found On Insta
#26 Dragon Bite That Looks Like Herpes
#27 The “Coverup” Is On The Next Slide
Yet, back in the day, tattoos weren’t always for the criminals and the outcasts. In the late 1800s, there was a tattoo shop for London’s elite on Jermyn Street in a high-end fashion district. He supposedly had many celebrity and influentialclients, among whom were Queen Victoria’s sons and the kings of Norway and Denmark.
#28 People Seem To Either Love It Or Hate It
#29 Yikes It’s Performance Art It Doesn’t Have To Be Hygienic
#30 I Can’t Wrap My Head Around The Shadow Placement
But what about you, Pandas? Do you have any tattoos? Did all of them turn out okay? And if some of them weren’t what you expected, what did you do? We have more examples of bad tattoos from this subreddit, so if you’re interested, head overhereandhereto either have a chuckle or learn what tattoo never to ask from your artist.
#31 I Normally Really Like This Artist’s Work But This Is Terrible 🙁
#32 You Know What Would Have Been Sick
#33 Can Anyone Explain What This Means?
#34 No Words
#35 Someone I Went To Hs With, I Had To Pause And Take A Breath After Scrolling Into It
#36 Has This Really Not Been Posted Here?
#37 Done By The Owner, 28 Years Of Experience
#38 Artist I Found On Insta
#39 My Dyslexic Son’s Tattoo – He’s Keeping A Postivite Attitude
#40 My Son’s Ex
#41 We’ve Seen Sh**ty Trump Tattoos, Why Not Sh**ty Harris Tattoos?
#42 Thoughts On This? Yes It’s A Tattoo
#43 What Am I Even Looking At
#44 Is This Shi**y?
#45 My Artist Said My Arm Was Starting To Look Like A Restroom Stall
#46 My 18 Yo Son’s New Tattoo
#47 Supposed To Be Doll Joints. From Another Sub
#48 A Walk-In My Artist Did
#49 Artist I Found On Insta
#50 Blackouts Are Old Now, Pinkouts Are The Next Big Trend!
#51 At Least The Hair Will Grow And Cover It?
#52 It’s His Birthday. 😭 Just In Case He Forgets
#53 Bottom Text
#54 ‘freehand Ocean Design’ She Did On Herself
#55 Not Sure If “Shi**y Decisions” Belong In This Group Or Not, But
#56 Found On Facebook
#57 My Wife’s Tattoos
#58 An Acquaintance Of Mine Just Got Her First Ever Tattoo…
#59 Oh My
#60 Found It On Instagram
#61 Hitachi Magic Wand
#62 Twilight Tattoo No One Asked For
#63 Artist I Found On Insta
#64 A Friend Of Mine Got This Done Recently, And I Don’t Know What To Tell Him
#65 Terrible Tattoo I Found On Instagram
#66 Maybe I’m Just A Hater But…😬
#67 My Boyfriend’s Chest Tattoos
#68 Wicked…ly Bad
#69 Be Brutal. How Bad Is It?(Less Than 1 Hour Old)
#70 What I Got
#71 Decipher That
#72 Artist I Found On Insta
#73 Just Saw This “Mozzarella Sticks” On Ig
#74 Trump Tattoos Are Just Shi**y
#75 Cash Only I’ve Had Them For 12 Years Got Them At Age 11 😂
#76 Local Artist With 20 Years Of Experience
#77 Yeah, What’s Stopping You?
#78 Been Getting A Lot Of Mixed Reactions To This, Is It Really That Bad?
#79 Is It That Bad?
#80 I’ve Been Told No One Can Tell What My Tattoo Is, Is It That Bad?
#81 I Got This As An Ad. Not Sure If This Is Terrible Or If I’m Just Old Fashioned
#82 I Just Saw This.. No Words
#83 Found On My Ig And He Has 75k Followers 😬 They Are So Bad
#84 Post Was Removed So Fixed
#85 Posted By A Pretty Prominent Shop In My City
#86 Please Convince My Wife To Find A New Artist
#87 Quite The Collab
#88 Orange
#89 Are These Actually Bad Or Are My Friends Messing With Me
#90 Facebook Discovery
