Let the person who hasn't made a bad decision in their life throw a rock at me – I'll wait. Essentially, isn't this what bad tattoos are – bad decisions that everyone can see? Granted, lists like these are good PSAs about why it's good to think (more than) twice before you get a tattoo. Additionally, they allow us to bask in some schadenfreude and be happy that it's not happening to us.
Statistically, it's pretty common to get a tattoo and later regret that decision. According to a 2023 Pew Research Center survey, 24% of Americans regret at least one of their tattoos. Some sources claim that 40% of Brits say the same and even consider having their body art removed. However, that also includes semi-permanent makeup, such as eyebrows, lips, and eyeliner.
#5 Bad Harry Potter Tattoo I Gave Myself While Manic Because My Mom Replaced My Bipolar Medication With Vitamins Behind My Back
A big portion of the folks who are now removing their tats are in their 40s. In a way, it makes sense: Millennials are older now, having kids, paying mortgages, and getting into healthy lifestyles. The remnants of their youth may have lost their power and meaning, so, it's only natural for them to want to get rid of them.
Research on tattoo regret shows that as tattooed people get older, they're more likely to regret their ink. Here are some other factors that influence whether folks regret getting a tattoo, too:
- Whether they were impaired or intoxicated during the tattooing process.
- If the tattoo was on their face, neck, wrist, or fingers.
- Their body had a bad reaction to the tattoo, like an infection.
It also depends on the reason why a person gets the tattoo. For those who do it as a way to immortalize a person, event, or a personally significant phenomenon, tattoo regret is way less common. Those who get their first tattoos when they're older are also less likely to complain or want their tattoos removed later in life.
#11 Work With All Budgets
Although face and neck tattoos are the most commonly regretted, they're also among the least popular. When Advanced Dermatology asked people about their tattoo regrets, only 9% of the people surveyed said they had a neck tattoo. 3% had face tattoos, another 3% had tattoos on their ears, and only 1% had tattoos on (inside?) their mouths.
The most common body parts to be tattooed are upper arms (42%) and lower arms (32%). The ribcage takes third place, with 29% of the people surveyed saying they have a tattoo there, followed by the chest (20%). Upper arms remain one of the most regrettable spots to get a tattoo. Others include upper back, hips, face, and buttocks. Interestingly, folks are also more likely to regret smaller tattoos.
#16 15 Year Old Me Should’ve Never Had A Tattoo Machine
#17 Girl I Went To School With Got Tats From One Of Her Friends In Some Dingy House
#18 My First And Only Tattoo. It Seemed Like A Good Idea When I Was 18 (2002)
Out of the 600 people that Advanced Dermatology surveyed, 46% said they got the tattoo they regret most when they were under 20. 45% claimed to get their most regretted tattoo in their 20s, cementing that the older you are when you get a tattoo, the less likely you are to regret it. I can personally say that’s true: I can't tell you how many stupid quotes from songs or books I would've gotten if I'd gotten my first tattoos before I was 20.
