Tattoo Regret – Which Tattoos Are Regretted The Most?

When we’re full of excitement, on our way to the tattoo shop, the last thing we want to think about is – will I regret this tattoo in the future?

Older generations have fixated on tattoo regrets, so much so that for many of our parents and grandparents, tattoos can only be gotten in the army or prison.

This still didn’t stop the popularity of them rising in the past decades.

Nowadays, tattoos are very common among people of all ages, professions, ethnicities, and tax brackets.

But, that doesn’t mean all tattoos are cherished equally. Some end us being a source of shame and regret.

And we went on a hunt to understand – how did these tattoo regrets come to be?

The Research

Why do people regret some of their tattoos?

We conducted a survey in the past few months where we asked 15 questions relating to different aspects of tattoo regrets.

Size, age, placement, reasons for regret were the most important topics for us to cover in our research on tattoo regrets, as we wanted to help our future clients understand how to avoid regretting their tattoo art.

In this blog post we crunch the data to bring you the breakdown of this complex topic.

Key Takeaways

65% of people regret only one of their tattoos, with 21% regretting 2 tattoos of all their tattoo artwork.
Majority of people that regret the tattoo they got when very young, 49% of them even before they turned 20. Another 40% regretted it after getting it in their 20s.
Out of tattoo placements, most people (43%) regret an arm tattoo, followed by a shoulder tattoo (17%).
The usual “job stopper tattoo” don’t get regretted often – neck tattoo and hand tattoo was regretted by only 7% for the former, and 12% of the latter among our surveyors.
Least regretted tattoo placement is the hips and feet.
Small tattoos are regretted the most, with 60% of people preferring not to have gotten it.
Among the most regretted tattoo styles are traditional (29%) and black and gray (29%).
Not liking how the tattoo turned out is the most common reason people regret their tattoo, followed by no longer resonating with the idea behind it.
Most common details in the regretted tattoos are lettering (32%), flowers (22%), and the heart (18%).
Getting a tattoo on an impulse was most regretted (37%), whereas people who had the tattoo idea for years regretted it the least.
Flash tattoos from the tattoo shop are some of the most regretted, but the tattoos that the person drew a sketch of and gave to the tattoo artist was the least regretted.

Who Is More Likely To Regret a Tattoo?

Women are more likely to regret one of their tattoos compared to men and non-binary people.

There’s many different interpretations that can be behind this reasoning. It can be the stricter beauty standards on women, which makes it easier to deviate from said standards

Another point can the ever changing trends for women that also translate to women’s tattoos, which leads to wanting to change your tattoo.

Furthermore, the people with 5+ tattoos are actually most likely to feel remorse about some of them.

women more likely to regret their tattoo

The Older, The Wiser?

Younger people are usually discouraged from getting tattoos.

Many tattoo shops only allow tattoos after turning 18, whereas some tattoo artists may even have stricter policy about age, and based on our research – rightfully so.

49% of people regret the tattoo they got before they turned 20.

Another 40% say they regretted their tattoo that they got in their 20s.

As the age goes up, the tattoo regrets diminish significantly. This could be impacted by the fact that as time goes by, you become more sure in yourself, your interests, and own up to yourself more.

Nevertheless, it’s safe to say if you are afraid of tattoo regrets that it’s better to start doing permanent body modifications later in your 20s.

The regret for tattoos gotten after turning 50 goes down to zero, making it the best age to start if you want to not worry about coverups or laser tattoo removal.

when are you most likely to regret your tattoo

Do All Tattoos End Up Being Regretted?

Usually, among all tattoos one person has, only one tattoo gets regretted, as 65% of people note.

This goes to show that tattoo regret in itself is not that common, and it doesn’t mean it will affect all the tattoos one has.

As you start getting more tattoos, you become more sure of your preferred style, you have a better eye for choosing the size and placement, as well as you learn how to pick a tattoo artist that is skilled and you trust.

A rotten apple can happen in any fruit basket, but in case of regretted tattoos – it doesn’t mean all have to go!

What Tattoo Placement Is Most Likely To Be Regretted?

Usually everybody knows more or less which part of their body gets exposed the most based on their clothing style and lifestyle overall.

And that very often goes into the decision making process to choose where they want their tattoo:

Do they want to show it off?
Are they ready to take extra care of it during sunny days?
What impact will that tattoo have?
Which placement will suit the design best?

Now, certain placements are more hidden than others, such as hips, stomach, lower back, for some also thighs.

Shoulders, back, chest, and legs are more flexible, where one can choose how often they want to expose that part of the body.

But, how do placements relate to tattoo regret?

The more exposed parts of the body are also among the most regretted tattoos – where arms lead with 42%.

This could also be explained by arms being the most common tattoo placement, as well, as it’s easy to take care of during healing, and to be flexible in both showing it off and hiding it.

It is also one of the least painful placements to get, especially the forearm.

The surprising data is that the so called ‘job stopper tattoos’, that are highly exposed tattoos such as face tattoos, neck tattoos and hand tattoos are not among the highest positioned ones.

Face and neck tattoos have only 6 and 7% regret, whereas hands do have a higher percentage.

The hand tattoos could be explained by blowouts and fading, which they are famous for, which could drive down our own liking for how the art is aging.

which tattoo placements are most likely to get regretted

The Bigger, The Better?

Majority of people regret a small tattoo, with 60% of participants in our survey confirming so.

One possible interpretation could be that bigger tattoos usually are a more expensive investment (both money and time-wise) that people don’t likely take.

More thought behind the tattoo, less likely for it to be regretted down the line.

Smaller tattoos can be flash tattoos, or something one can decide on a whim to get during a walk-in appointment (in less than a couple of hours) and those impulsive decisions have a greater likelihood of getting regretted.

tattoo size that gets regretted the most

Old School Loses To New School

American traditional style, or the so called “old school tattoo style” is in fact, head to head with the very common black and grey style as the two styles most regretted by people (29%).

Reasons for this can be many.

One of them being that the traditional style has been around for the longest time out of all possible styles, making the pool of people who got them bigger, which could lead to more people regretting them.

Additionally, old school tattoos are commonly done as flash tattoos that are displayed in the tattoo shops for the walk-in sessions, which are very commonly regretted, too.

Neotraditional style

tattoo style that gets regretted the most

What Is The Actual Reason Behind A Tattoo Regret?

Most common reason people do not like how their tattoo is because how it turned out, as they made up 38% of the participants in our poll.

Another 36% of people mentioned that they just no longer resonate with the idea behind their original tattoo.

For the ones who got their tattoo a while ago, about 16% mentioned that their tattoo aged poorly.

This means that choosing a good tattoo artist is as important as ever to avoid botched artwork, blown up tattoos or even worse – so called burgered tattoos.

Even though some people think it’s bad luck to dedicate a tattoo to a loved one, only 19% of people regret their tattoo because they are no longer close to the person they dedicated it to.

25% of people are disillusioned with the style they once liked, regretting their tattoo for its style and hoping to turn it into something more modern.

most common reasons behind tattoo regret

What Tattoo Symbol Gets Regretted The Most?

Writing tattoos seem to be the most regretted ones, as 32% of people said that they regret the most a quote, letter or a simple word they got done.

It’s followed by flower tattoos, that are incredibly common and thus one of the more regretted tattoo symbols.

Tribal tattoos follow suit at 12%, which could be connected to the rise of tribal tattoos in the 90s and early 2000s, which some people might feel disconnected from nowadays.

Religious and spiritual themes are the least regretted tattoos, along with mandalas and angel wings.

Most Common Tattoo Symbols To Be Regretted

Getting Tattooed On A Whim Is Not The Way To Go

We asked the participants of our survey how long they thought about the tattoo they regret before they inked it.

And we were not surprised that the impulsive decision to get a tattoo on a whim ended up causing most regrets – 37% percent to be exact.

Mulling over the new tattoo for just a few days already drives down the regret to just over 20%.

Taking over a month to decide reduced the regret further around 10%.

And the tattoos that are regretted the least? The ones that the person has been thinking about for years!

Should You Get a Flash Tattoo?

Further supporting the claim that you should think about the tattoo you’re getting a while longer is the fact that 37% of people regret the flash tattoo they got.

Another 23% were disappointed by how their tattoos turned out after using a design they found on the internet, and showing it to their tattooer.

The least amount of people regret a tattoo they designed themselves, or at least sketched it out to be the base of the design.

Do You Go For The Laser Or A Coverup Tattoo?

Over 60% of people are considering getting laser tattoo removal for the tattoo they would like to get rid of.

It’s a painful option, and can get expensive as the exact number of session cannot be known in advancd.

Laser tattoo removal is also a lengthy process, as in between each session you need to take some time to heal.

But, for some it’s the only way forward, especially if you don’t want to do a coverup tattoo.

That said, even more people are actually interested in adding artwork on top of it. 74% say their would cover the tattoo they regret with a cover up tattoo.

In certain cases, laser tattoo removal is the necessary step before covering up your tattoo. This mostly happens when the person wants to change the style from a dark one to a lighter one, or when the old tattoo is too dense to be covered with something modern.

Are you looking for a custom tattoo design? We got you.

FILL THIS FORM

Our expert tattoo artists will provide a quick initial draft to get you going.
Happy inking ❤

Milena Petrovic

Co-founder of Tattoo Stylist

About the author

Milena has decided to start an organization that will create a safe environment for everybody to get their first, second or third tattoo and to encourage young people to transform their ideas into tattoos safely, with talent and vision.

You can find her writing about tattoos on Quora or updating our Pinterest profile with awesome tattoo ideas!