% of people who regret tattoo's

Reg'stoy

I often drop in and check out this forum and as someone who views tattoos as somewhat ........... I won't say vulgar, my first experiences of tattoos were the hardshaws in school and their 'homemade' crosses and initials done with a compass and fountain pen ink but as something ...... well lets just say I have yet to see one that has taken my breath away in a good way, some have most certainly done it in the bad way.

Now I have no problem with people getting them done and from what I have read in the stickies it seems a fairly regulated practise but I couldn't help noticing that two of the newer threads were about tattoo removal. We all know the phrase 'Marry in haste repent at leisure' and I was just wondering how many people regret their tattoo's. I have spoken to people of a certain generation who given the choice would travel back in time and slap themselves silly over their Irish flags and other adornements.

I remember watching London Ink on discovery when one guy wanted an Italian phrase tattooed on his forearm only to realise he had miss-spelt it :eek: and we have all heard the urban myths about Chinese characters not actually meaning what you thought they did.

Anyway I digress, what I was wondering is there a type of temporary tattoo which you can 'wear' and see if it suits you (bad choice of words but you get my drift), I understand that Henna only works with certain designs or so I believe.

So folks be honest and hands up, who here regreted their tattoo and I'm not talking years or decades later (I don't want to go down the road of "what will it look like in ....) but quite literally there and then or days later. One poster in one of the removal threads gave out about a tattoo he got and how bad it was, surely he must have broke out in a cold sweat every time he saw it.

I don't mean to sound trite about what is obviously a great passion for a large number of people but for an individual thinking about getting one (not me you understand) who ends up on this forum looking for advice they should be able to see the good and the bad stories.

biko

Perhaps some sort of poll would help?

Reg'stoy

biko wrote: »

Perhaps some sort of poll would help?

Jayus would't have a clue how to set that up, I bow to your nearly 7000 posts (wow) if you would want to do one.

Will

ive had my tattoo a little over a year now, my first one. i dont regret it a year later. i chose to have where it cannot be seen unless i show someone.

the foreign language tattoos can be silly, like why ink something that you dont understand, or have no fluency in it.

There was an american girl about a year ago who got an irish tattoo on her back. She wanted it to mean drug free (shes straight edge), cutting story short she got what translated "free drugs" on her back. she says she doesnt regret it though :-/

Khannie

Wilburt wrote: »

There was an american girl about a year ago who got an irish tattoo on her back. She wanted it to mean drug free (shes straight edge), cutting story short she got what translated "free drugs" on her back. she says she doesnt regret it though :-/

Weirdest thing...I was (literally) just downstairs talking to my wife about that very tattoo.

I have two friends that regret theirs.

Will

yeah its funny, i just went back yesterday to the page on modblog and was laughing about it, she was so adamant that it was right even though we were telling her (politely) that it wasnt

am i bovvered

I'll throw a curveball to you reg'stoy... I regret putting off this tatoo, I considered it for 9 years and finally decided to get it last year, its my wife's name and the "A" is the first letter of my sons name and the "e" the first letter of my daughters name, the star is for a baby we lost.
Some people might not like the look of it and this was the main reason I didn't get it done but then I realised...so what, I love it and wish I had got it years ago.
summer 2006 130.JPG

Reg'stoy

am i bovvered wrote: »

I'll throw a curveball to you reg'stoy... I regret putting off this tatoo, I considered it for 9 years and finally decided to get it last year, its my wife's name and the "A" is the first letter of my sons name and the "e" the first letter of my daughters name, the star is for a baby we lost.
Some people might not like the look of it and this was the main reason I didn't get it done but then I realised...so what, I love it and wish I had got it years ago.
summer 2006 130.JPG

Your post above is the very reason we should be discussing the good tattoos along with the bad. I view your's amoung the former because firstly it is not generic and by that I mean it is unique, only today one of the younger guys in work revealed three large stars (I've seen similar posted here) on his forearm. Various comments ranging from cool to sweet I was thinking of getting the same were uttered, looking back now I wish I had asked why? and what does 3 large stars on your forearm mean to you.
You will always look at your tattoo and know exactly why and what. At this point I must apologise if I offend anyones choice of stars or similar de reigeur tattoo but I do feel that something as permanent as a tattoo should not be taken lightly maybe I am over thinking this but I must repeat 'permanent'.
Perhaps others might comment as to what emotions they feel when the look at their's, be it pride in what they view as a thing of beauty or a memory prompt as in your's.

Will

mine reminds me of my year abroad, brought a lot of change from moving out of home, learning a new language etc.
wasnt ment to be so, i just view them as art but when i see it i think of the stuff outlined above

angry_badger

Ive got 7tattoo's just now, i don't regret getting any but i do dislike one of them, reason being its too small for the place where it is, had i gotten it bigger then it would look fine, it was my first so i guess i just jumped in an didnt think about it properly, thats not to say tho if i had the chance to go back an change it i would, its part of my life story now so it stays!

As for the rest, they were all done for a reason, the most recent's being a butterfly surrounded by a sun in a tribal style and latin scrypt across my stomach, the butterfly was very much a spur of the moment decision but due to the story behind it i know in myself ill never grow to dislike it! The scrypt signifies my state of mind around that time and acts as a reminder that life can be very harsh at times!

Crumble Froo

mine are all little momentos of huge moments and events in my life. i dont regret them at all, and i doubt i will. about a year and a half since my first one, and i have four now.

Le Rack

Got my first one in September and love it, it's a little flower I've been drawing everywhere since I was about ten so has some signifigance (I really can't spell..) to me, for the first few days I was sorta think, bloody hell ye ba$tard, mostly cuz it was irritating me but now everytime I see it I think Yay!

An ex of mine however, got a number of tattoo's while in college, round the 18/19 mark, (26 now) he was in college in London, and exceptionally republican at the time, still is but anyway, got "Tiochfaidh ár lá" across his shoulder blades, "Eire 32" (if that's correct) on his pec, and another one that fails me now, and he hates them now, still proud, but doesn't like the fact he got that inked on him, and is getting them covered. Despite those he has dog paws also, one for his dog that died, and another smaller one for that dog's puppy that was attacked and killed, which he loves, and a band of flowers around his bicep, can't remember the meaning behind it but another of extreme sentimental value to him...

Me? I'm off to get my second one soon enough!

Reku

7 tattoos, got my first about 6 and a half years ago.
The symbol ones are all custom ones I did up myself and the text ones are lyrics from particularly obscure songs that mean a lot to me.
No regrets so far as I made sure to wait until I was certain I'd drawn the symbols perfectly before getting them inked since it's far easier to redo a drawing than a tattoo.
The text ones even if I were to end up regretting them years from now it wouldn't really matter too much as I got them done in a white UV ink so, assuming the 2 new ones heal exactly as the first did, once healed they'll be very hard to see except under strong UV light (a blacklight lamp).
The main reason I got them done in the UV ink though was that the meaning I attach to the lyrics tends to be a little too personal to keep having to answer what they mean when people see them. Also I was initially hoping that they might be completely invisible under normal light as one of the custom symbols I'd like to get on my face, but alas I'll just have to wait until I retire (at least then I won't need to care about people's views on the tattoo on my face since I won't be looking for any of them to employ me).

At the moment I have a few more symbol ones I want to get but it's a matter of getting the drawings of them absolutely perfect, so as you'd imagine it can take a great many tries to draw them.

Star Lord

My 1st tattoo, a tribal style dragon, I found the design on an art website, kept going back to look at it, saved a copy of it and kept it for a couple of years, and never went off it, so I knew it was the one for me. Had it done a year ago there in November.

The second one is a lot more personal to me, my phoenix. I went through a pretty serious illness that had changed my whole body. I had surgery, came through it, and went back to being myself again afterwards. So to me the whole rebirth/renewal symbology is a deep and powerful thing. It's also something that keeps cropping up unexpectedly in my life!

I've personally found that when people regret tattoos, it's generally because it's either some piece of flash they chose off the wall 5 minutes before getting it done, or following some fad, or some political statement that they thought was great at the time.

Quattroste

I always wanted a tattoo for years (kinda repeating myself on this a lot lately, sorry for those who regularly read!) but was talked out of it by parents and my uncle. My uncle had tattoos so I believed him. However many years later (I'm 36 now) and I still wanted to get one so I did. I mean how can I go 20 odd years wanting a tattoo and then suddenly regret it?

Anywho I designed one myself that means a lot to me and got it done about 3 months ago. I love it. Will I regret it (even) later in life........ nah, I'm not the regret type .

tread_softly

Reg'stoy, do you believe there has to be some sort of personal meaning behind every tattoo?

i don't believe that at all, out of my 7 tattoos, only one could be said to be carrying meaning as it's my boyfriend's name. but as for the rest, they're all just something that aesthetically pleased me. fair enough, some are from games and books i find very interesting but that's not really too personal a reason is it?

you hear people, especially on miami ink and the like, going on about getting tattoos in memory of people or to signify an important even in their life, but that certainly doesn't encompass everyone who gets them done.

yes, a lot of people do regret tattoos, especially when they don't have a certain reason for getting them, but that's their own stupidity for not thinking them through properly.

Poppy84

The best piece of advice i got when i was getting my tattoo was "you get the tattoo you deserve"
In other words if you take your time on deciding, find a design you love and think about it you wont regret it, but if you are hasty you probably will.

Those who genuinely love tattoos will never regret it - thats my belief.

I love my tat n i will never ever regret it

Sean7

A mate of mine done one of those 'homemade' ones on himself years ago with indian ink. He really regretted doing that later. He then got it covered with a proper tattoo which he seems to like.Me personally, I love them and can't see myself regretting any of mine. I'm just worried about the day I have no space left on my body.
I imagine this is a bad forum to get unbiased views as most people frequenting this forum would be people who have something done and are thinking of getting more. If you posted this in AH the response would be completely different.

Crumble Froo

tread_softly wrote: »

Reg'stoy, do you believe there has to be some sort of personal meaning behind every tattoo?

course not! i remember a 'what does your tattoo mean to you' thread here a good bit back, and there were plenty of people who got the ink because they love the artwork behind it, and how it looks.

hehe, anyone else absolutely dying to see how emz's sleeve is gonna turn out?

Will

was chatting to her yesterday, she doesnt know what to do with it. still chattin with jani about it though. itl be interesting all the same

SexyD4Lady

Got my first tattoo today- a black treble clef on the inside of my left wrist, about an inch long, 2cm wide.

Dunno if it's the fact I'm not used to it, or the fact that the blck ink still looks so fresh and prominent, but I'm not completely sure now that it was such a good idea :S

Typical, after I've wanted ink for years!

Crumble Froo

twill fade down when it's all healed up, don't worry about that. how long were you planning it for?

SuzyS1972

I have 7 now and only one I dislike - it's going to be a hard one to cover up but I will get there eventually once I decide what I want to cover it with !

All of the rest I love - they don't particularly mean events in my life but are designs I have drawn etc and I am very happy with - going for no.8 soon - I usually leave a year between them to see if I really want another and to research and design the next.

Obviously from user-names it's hard to tell who is male and female but I wondered are there many ladies out there with multiple tattoo's ?

Most of my friends really hate them or have one they got as a teenager and regret .

Sean7

Personally, I'm quite partial to a lady with multiple tattoos.

tread_softly

i'm a "lady" and i have 7. same situation as you, none of them hold any particular personal meaning but that doesn't mean i don't love them!

SexyD4Lady

narco wrote: »

twill fade down when it's all healed up, don't worry about that. how long were you planning it for?

Had been planning on getting a tattoo for about two to three years, and have wanted the treble clef for about 8-12 months. Just woke up and the scabbing looks ok- very mild. Still not too sure if I "LOVE" it, though.

Crumble Froo

ha, i have ink done on my wrist, and, tbh, i barely even notice that it's there anymore.

adn susiS1972, yep, im a 'ladyah' too with multiple tattoos...

Master-Decoy

you can go to tattoojohnny.com and pick one out,they can send you a transfer of the tattoo so you can try it on for a few days and see how you like it.Having tattoos myself,I noticed(bear with me here)that i didn't notice and more often forgot they were there.The simply become part of your view of the world,they certainly do not always stick out to the owner in the way they do to other people,and as such,if your a confident person,you'll get whatever you will and it won't/shoudn't phase you in the way your afraid of now. ^^

Reg'stoy

Master-Decoy wrote: »

you can go to tattoojohnny.com and pick one out,they can send you a transfer of the tattoo so you can try it on for a few days and see how you like it.

Firstly thanks to everyone who posted a reply, all of the posts made very interesting reading. It seems that once you cross the line and get one, the second and subsequent tattoos seem to be a given. I like the idea of the transfer (brings back memories of the pop eye tattoos you got with chewing gum).

I'm just wondering here but do you have to book an artist or can you just walk in and quite literally pick one off the 'rack' and get it done there and then. I ask because there appears to be a lot of similar themed tattoos, is there a cyclicial thing with tattoos as there is in fashion.

Once again thanks to everyone for posting.

Crumble Froo

usually you have to book it, particularly if it's in any way big. i think you best bet would be to book it anyway.

although, if your tattoo is kinda themed to what a lot of other people's are, are you absolutely sure you want it, even if it turns out that a lot of other people have the same thing?

Dirk Gently

One of my first ones was a mid sized celtic thingy on my arm. In my noob wisdom I decided to get green shading done on it. Didn't even look half bad, until I got a few more cool black, and black and grey ones, then it looked really out of place. Spot the early tattoo kinda thing.

I got a black tribal tatt above and around it since and got the artist to go over the green bits and shade them darker. Was suppose to go back to finish it off but never did. It's on my to do list. I'm going around with a half touched up tatt over a year now. I'm a lazy bastard