Body art is a beautiful way to express ourselves. But sometimes, what – or who – we feel passionate about changes, and we realize that tattoo parlor visit might’ve been a mistake.
Luckily, these people taught us nothing is truly permanent, even when done with ink.
Whether you want inspiration for covering up a past regret of your own or just some good ol’ entertainment, you won’t regret looking through this list of inventive and funny tattoo cover-ups.
Pikachu’s Part-Time Job
Sometimes people just get a tattoo that leaves them less than impressed – sometimes because they chose the wrong thing, other times because the tattoo artist simply wasn’t very good. This photo shows what can happen when you let someone with little to no experience give you a tattoo. Luckily, whoever he went to afterward was an actual professional, and they managed to cleverly cover their Pickachu tattoo with another Pickachu tattoo.
The second tattoo looks much better and even incorporates the first in a believable way. All it took was an artist with a clever mind and a little bit of skill.
That Escalated Quickly
Some people who have a picture of their former significant other tattooed choose to cover the whole thing up entirely. Not many choose to incorporate said tattoo into a new tattoo that pretty much tells their ex that he/she is dead to them. However, that’s what this person did when they transformed their portrait of their ex-girlfriend into an image of a dead person. It doesn’t get more hardcore than that!
In our opinion, the quality of the tattoo is much better the second time around. The portrait looked a bit simplistic. The shading was also a bit wonky in the original tattoo.
They Spelled Sriracha Wrong
This guy deserves a “thank you” from just about anyone out there dating someone named Sarah. Now, they all know that if they get their girlfriend’s name tattooed on their body, they can just add a chicken and “cha” to the tattoo and quickly start repping their favorite hot sauce. There are literally no consequences for this bad decision. It’s kind of like having a “get out of jail free card” in real life. That is until you realize sriracha is spelled completely wrong.
If you’re not a fan of spelling mistakes, or you just aren’t into getting people’s names tattooed on your body, feel free not to follow this guy’s example.
Gene Turned From Prince Charming to a Frog
While a frog isn’t the coolest tattoo we can think of, it’s certainly a clever choice when you’re trying to cover up an ex’s name. Everyone is familiar with the whole frog turned prince story, but people aren’t likely to guess that this tattoo used to spell out the name “Gene” and shows how Gene, apparently, went from prince charming to a frog. The swirling clouds in the background even add a mysterious vibe to the whole tattoo.
The artist really did a great job blending all of this together; you can barely see the outline of the name anymore. The letter “G” is just barely visible in the foliage.
She Didn’t Come to Play Around
Remember those creative and (somewhat) elegant solutions we’ve seen so far for covering up regrettable tattoos? This isn’t one of them. Someone got a tattoo portrait of their partner but decided it was finally time to have it covered up after they broke things off. However, instead of redesigning the old version into something new, they just colored in the space with black ink. Things must have really gone downhill between these two!
But this might backfire on her. Now, instead of admiring her tattoo, people are more likely to ask some awkward questions.
“This Paperwork Is No Longer Valid”
The best thing you can do when you make a mistake is own up to that mistake. However, we’re really not sure if that rule applies to tattoos. Either way, that’s what this guy decided to do after he and Tracy decided to call it quits. Instead of getting another tattoo to cover-up Tracy’s name, he just got a tattoo of a stamp that said “Void” over the old one.
It’s not the most elegant solution, but it’s pretty funny and shows that he knows he made a mistake. Still, we can’t help but think that a big red “Void” tattoo over your ex’s name looks like a big red flag to most.
The Little Man Came to Fix the Mistakes of the Past
Another pretty creative cover-up idea, this guy decided to have a small painter tattooed over his previous tribal symbol. It’s also pretty cool because the character is made to look like he’s painting over the previous tattoo. It’s a bit tongue and cheek, and whoever did this definitely gets points for finding an original solution to his tattoo problem. And as far as bad tattoos go, there are worst things out there than a tribal symbol!
Who could’ve predicted that these tattoos would look a bit tacky in a decade or so? Okay, probably a lot of people, but still.
Let’s Hope Ralph Lauren Never Goes Out of Business
Here’s another tattoo idea for anyone out there with an ex named “Lauren.” This guy just added a polo player and the name “Ralph” to reference the popular clothing brand. However, if we’re being totally honest, this makes us think of knockoff clothing for some reason. Maybe it’s because the font is all wrong, or maybe it’s because the polo player isn’t quite right, but this tattoo just screams fake.
Now that we think of it, that’s probably because it was originally something else. Also, getting a company’s logo tattooed on you is almost as bad as getting someone’s name.
Red Flag Number 1: His Tattoo
We’ll probably never say this about anything ever again as long as we live, but the “Void” tattoo might’ve been a better choice than this one. We’re not sure what Lori did, but whatever it was, it made this person angry enough to get a slur tattooed over her name. However, it’s only going to make others more curious and make whoever got this tattoo sound a tiny bit (big bit) petty.
While this tattoo certainly makes a statement, it does so for all the wrong reasons. If this person wanted to get revenge, a much better way would’ve been to go on about living their life and just getting the tattoo removed.
Bye Mary, Hello Marge
Getting your partner’s name tattooed on your body is never advisable. However, if you do, then there are a couple of really inventive ways to hide that bad decision. For example, you could just change around a couple of letters and spell the name of an endearing cartoon character. All you’ll need then is a tattoo of that character, and you’re good to go. Tattoos of fictional characters aren’t likely to go out of style anytime soon – especially if it’s someone from The Simpsons.
However, depending on your ex’s name, your choices might be a bit limited. Fear not; there are plenty of other ways to hide the fact that you dated Mary, Carrie, or Larry.
Lesson Learned: Always Hire A Professional
It’s amazing the difference in quality a tattoo artist can make. Take this before and after photo as an example. Someone had a portrait of a woman tattooed on their arm, but it’s pretty far off from the photo they modeled it after. In fact, it almost looks insulting. However, they had the tattoo redone by a real professional, and the difference is really astounding. We hope they gave the artist/tattoo-saver a handsome tip.
We only wish they would’ve included a photo of the woman’s reaction to the original tattoo when she saw it. We’re sure she couldn’t have been too happy about it.
