As years go by, more and more people want to have tattoos. Naturally, that means that tattoo regret rates are rising, too. Research shows that in the 11 years between 2012 and 2023, there was an 11% rise in adults who said they regret at least one tattoo that they have.
Bad decisions are funny when they’re not yours. Knowing that, Bored Panda has made another compilation of regrettable tattoos for people to learn from and chuckle at. Some of these were bad from the very start – at the stage of conception. Others, however, became victims of poor execution. Still, let it be a lesson: always think twice (maybe even more times?) before you get your tattoo.
#1 Oops!
Image source: Lisandra Bader
#2 A Memorial Tattoo To Face Life Without Mom
Image source: JohnSockefeller
#3 Bad Tattoo
Image source: Lisandra Bader
#4 Feeeeerosious
Image source: Kazzer Rover
#5 Bad Harry Potter Tattoo I Gave Myself While Manic Because My Mom Replaced My Bipolar Medication With Vitamins Behind My Back
Image source: reddit.com
#6 Uppercase Lion With Lower Case Face
Image source: flippermode
#7 Came In With A Sad Wolf, Came Out With A Lion Imposing Respect
Image source: AK611750
#8 Divorced My Wife And Didn’t Want To Do A Cover Up
Image source: micahlachauffer
#9 Wolf Goes Aroooo O_o
Image source: AK611750
#10 Found This “Coverup” In A Hobby Group
Image source: Uncannydaniel
#11 Saw This In The Wild. Forever Bad
Image source: Dry_Afternoon5338
#12 A Personal Submission
Image source: Top-Asparagus1918
#13 I’m… Really Trying To See The Vision. Supposed To Represent A Mom & 2 Kids
Image source: Pinguu2222
#14 Daughter Of A Friend Paid $300 For This Tat
Image source: i-am-foxymoron
#15 My 18 Y/O Brother Got A Tattoo For His GF Of 3 Weeks
Image source: t4aco2
#16 My Coworker Got This, What Do We Think?
Image source: FestivalGenius
#17 Touch Up From A Local “Artist”
Image source: _Nightfall___
#18 Hmmm
Image source: reddit.com
#19 Lucid Drams
Three years together and she’s out here proudly wearing “LUCID DRAMS” across her chest like it’s some deep life philosophy. It’s supposed to be Dreams. Nobody caught it. Not her. Not the artist. Just permanent, confident nonsense right above her heart.
We went out and she kept showing it off, talking about the “meaning,” while everyone did that quiet side eye thing. Someone even asked her to spell it and she did, loud and wrong. A dram is a shot of whiskey. She’s literally flexing Lucid Alcohol Units.
I’m not saying anything. If you don’t proofread something that lives on your body forever, that’s your problem. I’m already tired of calling it an “inside joke” so I don’t look dumb by association. I’m not putting a typo in wedding photos.
Image source: Zonky
#20 My Friends First Home Tattoo
Image source: Misovo_
#21 Is This Guy Salvageable?
I have both arms done for the most part and this was the one time I went to someone other than my normal guy (albeit this guy being from the same shop.) the work was really good fresh but I don’t know if it was the ink or what; didn’t experience any infections or bad healing. It just ended up looking awful. I don’t want to cover it up, I like the tattoo. I want my regular guy to save it but I don’t know if it’s salvageable. Thoughts?
Image source: Additional-Deal-3108
#22 Update On Tattoo Everyone Hates LOL
Okay I went to urgent care lol, doctor prescribed me 2 creams and an oral antibiotic. I’d like to thank everyone who was helpful and actually answered my question compared to the ones who took it as a chance to get their corny one liners out. And for those who were wondering, my friend did it but we’ve done tats in other styles and the plan was to just get it professionally recovered if it doesn’t work out. But yeah if you’re ever wondering if your tat is infected (pic three) then yh you should see a doctor.
Image source: Cognacquuen
#23 My Brother’s Classmate’s Tattoo
Image source: reddit.com
#24 Rate My Tat (Be Honest)
Image source: Penguin_Can
#25 Yep. That’s A Crab
Image source: JellyRainbowJem
#26 Is This Fixable? Or Should I Just Get It Removed?
My brother was doing his first realism tattoo on me- it was free, so I wasn’t expecting all that much. Didn’t come out too well so I was hoping to find some answers here. Thank you!
Image source: EmbarrassedPoet4116
#27 What He Wanted / What He Got
Image source: KishimoHotagara
#28 Can’t Believe Someone Did This On Purpose
Image source: Moclown
#29 A Bobby Pin- Done By Billy Gamble At Top Secret Tattoo, Waco, TX
Image source: terminalbachelor
#30 My First And Only Tattoo. It Seemed Like A Good Idea When I Was 18 (2002)
Image source: Demonic-Tooter
#31 My One Of A Kind Hand Tattoo
Image source: Low-Common2692
#32 Everything Happens For & Raisin
Image source: Skyler Myers
#33 Here We Are Again!!!
Image source: Bruno Pereira
#34 Is This Even Fixable??
I got this tattoo by my best friends roommate, who had done some work on her. This was nowhere near my first tattoo ( I have about 30 and have been getting tattoos for almost 30 years. I knew better than to get a home tattoo. Not his fault it got infected by a dog stepping on my foot at the dog park, but his touch up made it worse. The paw print is MUCH bigger than original and the stupid pink “splash” of color makes people think my foot is scarred up. It’s my most hated tattoo. So, opinions? Will this be a huge and expensive cover up? Or is there no hope?
Image source: reddit.com
#35 Nothing Beats A Rose? Right?
Image source: Harry_Cornt
#36 Here’s My “Leg Sleeve” From Back When I Was Manic
Image source: 2mangoes5dollarsTBLS
#37 My First Tattoo I Got Back In 2015… My Ex Did It
Image source: reddit.com
#38 Got A Drunk Tattoo 2 Years Ago In A Kitchen At 2am, Covering Soon
Image source: Chanfaded
#39 Tattoo I Got At 15… Getting It Lasered Off In 2 Months
Image source: Angelinterviews
#40 Girl I Went To School With Got Tats From One Of Her Friends In Some Dingy House
He’s no longer tattooing, so sorry if you wanted one of these bad boys.
Image source: beeyyut
#41 Work With All Budgets
Good news folks, this artist works with all budgets and has lots of availability! Don’t walk, run!
Image source: Training_Smile4723
#42 Do These Count
Image source: Somethingclever13
#43 Someone I Went To College With Got Another $40 For A Chest Piece
Image source: rnegvn
#44 Yikes
Image source: Sam Deards
#45 Found In The Wild. I Have No Words
Image source: CynicInRVA
#46 Infection, Where The Hell Have You Been Loca?
Image source: slowfadinglight
#47 My Tattoo Got Infected And Came Off
Image source: Necessary_Debate_719
#48 What Should I Do?
Image source: reddit.com
#49 Bad Acab Cat Is Just What I Needed
Image source: JimBobBoothray
#50 How Bad Is This?
Image source: Lazzy_fat_cat
#51 My Very First Tattoo In 1994 When I Was 15
Image source: Coco_B_trappn
#52 Misspelled Word On My New Tat
Image source: femmesaturnx
#53 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.
Image source: Confident_Ice_5690
#54 This Masterpiece. Yes, This Is Real
Image source: Scarlett
#55 I Let My Sister Practice On Me When I Was 17
Image source: obamacare4566
#56 Looks Like A 10 Year Old Drew This If You Ask Me
Image source: facebook.com
#57 Ben 10
Image source: Lisandra Bader
#58 Had An Artist Tell Me The Edges Will Always Look Weird Cause Of How My Skin Moves. Is There Any Hope For Fixing It?
I’ve had different 2 artists go at it. The original artist who did it didn’t pack the ink in properly so it almost fully fell out. Second artist went over it properly and said the edges will always look weird. After the second artist it got super infected and scarred badly. After that I gave up on fixing it. It’s been a few years now and I’m thinking about trying again but I’m also scared of it getting worse.
I’m just curious to get some opinions. I’m in no rush to fix it. Considering this was the most painful experience ever.
Image source: katanderso
#59 This Is My Only Tattoo. I Got It At 16 For Free
Image source: Chris Mims
#60 Punisher
Image source: Aisyah Zahara
