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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think she will regret her tatoo?

68 replies

MissMap · 25/08/2011 14:19

My DN who has lived with us since she was a young teenager has announced that she is going to have a tatoo tomorrow. As she is an adult I cannot prevent her, but I am so concerned that she will regret it.

She has gone through lots of different phases eg Goth, a failed nose piercing etc.

Are most people that have tatoos happy with them?

OP posts:

LemonDifficult · 25/08/2011 14:23

What's it a tattoo of? I never got a tattoo even though I wanted one, because I couldn't think of an image I wanted with me for the next few decades.

Every girl I know with one dislikes it, but you never know, your niece might be different. Doubt you'll change her mind either way, though.

cookielove · 25/08/2011 14:25

I have 3 close friends that have tattoos, one has a very tasteful butterfly and flower, that looks very pretty, she got at uni, and seems reasonable happy with it now on the back of her shoulder and very small. Another at 18 got a really ugly tattoo (ugly to me) but personal to her, on the back of her hip, she to this day loves it, and lastly my friend when 16 got Thumper, yes thumper from bambi tattooed on her back she regrets it but she does find it rather funny.

I thought i would get one but haven't so far, and don't think i will in the future

MissPenteuth · 25/08/2011 14:25

It depends. Has she wanted it for a long time? Does she want one because she likes them, or because they're popular?

I have two; I don't love the first as it's a bit conventional and the second one is now full of stretch-marks but they're part of my history, part of me, so I don't regret them.

As long as it's not across her face and she's not bankrupting herself to pay for it, it won't be the end of the World even if she doesn't love it in years to come.

Mabelface · 25/08/2011 14:27

I love my tattoo.

ThisIsANickname · 25/08/2011 14:27

tattoos can be removed

ShatnersBassoon · 25/08/2011 14:28

You don't need to worry about it. She won't blame you if she does grow to dislike it.

cardibach · 25/08/2011 14:28

Most people I know with tattoos still love them. And I'm old quite mature. I'd like one but am a chicken.

PissesGlitter · 25/08/2011 14:29

i am happy with my tattoos

MissPenteuth · 25/08/2011 14:30

PisssesGlitter, just out of interest do you also shit rainbows?

LittleWhiteWolf · 25/08/2011 14:30

I have never regretted mine and I've had them for 9 years. I'd be more 'concerned' that she'll get the tattoo itch and just want more and more

RumourOfAHurricane · 25/08/2011 14:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

IWantAnotherBaby · 25/08/2011 14:33

Some tattoos can be removed, but it is usually a long, painful and expensive process, and some colours are practically impossible to remove. I spent a happy 6 months as a junior Dr in dermatology some time ago where many of my hours were spent removing some very unfortunate tattoos with lasers. Most patients needed around 10 treatments to remove a tattoo, each costing around the same as having the tattoo in the first place.

It certainly put me off ever considering having one myself.

Original poster

MissMap · 25/08/2011 14:36

She wants a squiggly line design up her calf. She has beautiful long, slim legs and naturally olive skin. Why would she want to defile them???

She is a stunning girl, naturally beautiful. With many admirers.

I am making her read all replies.

I have told her I am concerned because she has not considered it for long enough!

(ps I look nothing like her, she is my DH's blood relative)

OP posts:

RueyBoey · 25/08/2011 14:37

Well I love my tattoos. I wanted one since I was 16 and finally started getting them at 19. I might when I'm older regret it esp as one is very big (got that one at 21) and can not be covered up easily but they are special to me. And if I do regret it I wont be blaming my parents.

My only thing is what that big one will look like when I'm a 80 yr old nan. - but hey I can be the cool nan not like the ones that knitt.

If she has wanted one for a long time and it is a design that isn't very umm odd (as in winnie the pooh - why why why???)
They can be removed - painfully but can be.
As long as she has thought it though then there we are.

Original poster

MissMap · 25/08/2011 14:38

Thank you I want another baby, her face changed when she read your reply.

OP posts:

x2boys · 25/08/2011 14:41

i have tattoo of a butterfly on my shoulder which i dont regret but its small discreet and tasteful advise her to get it in a plce that can be covered if necessary future employers may be put off by tattos on the face hands or neck etc.

NevermindtheNargles · 25/08/2011 14:42

I've got tattoos and I love them. 1 is awful, but I still like it because of the story behind it.

As a general rule, if you stay away from anything too fashionable and any names except your children, and give them a lot of careful thought it's usually fine.

And FFS get her to go to a good tattooist, not just one that's cheap. It doesn't matter how lovely your idea is and how much thought you give it, you will regret a tattoo that is badly done.

RueyBoey · 25/08/2011 14:43

ohh - on her calf ?? I always think that is manly (but that is another thread).
Hard to cover up ect (this coming from someone with one that begins on her back snakes up her shoulder onto her collar bone and then onto her arm sttopping halfway before her elbow)
Tell her to wait a bit or do what I did - get it done in henna and keep it for months - wear it like a normal tattoo, at the end of that see if you want it permanent.
Calf has got to hurt - could she deal with the pain - can't she start off smaller, somewhere discrete to see if she likes it and pain etc. Again what I did.

DontGoCurly · 25/08/2011 14:44

Uh oh, tattooing the legs. I wouldn't, especially if she has gorgeous legs.

It'll restrict her. For example she wouldn't be able to model. Not that she might want to but you never know.

YABACC · 25/08/2011 14:50

My DD is lovely to look at but has a medical condition which causes her to bruise very easily. She is eleven now and refuses to wear skirts and is nicknamed, "leopard"

She isn't very academic and we have had modelling scouts approaching us ever since she was a baby, but she can't do it even though it would be a way to pay for HE.

So why someone would willingly scrawl on themselves at a young age... well it is beyond me.

LemonDifficult · 25/08/2011 14:51

Calf, that's a shame. Not a discreet one she can cover up when she wants to be another person for a day.

Tattoos are restrictive like that in that you can't just say: well, today I'll be Liz Taylor in Cleopatra, or Helena Bonham Carter in Room with A View, when you've got a serpent and a pack of playing cards snaking out from underneath your clothes!

JanMorrow · 25/08/2011 14:55

If she wants a tattoo, I'd say go for a smallish, discreet one first, like on a shoulder, stomach, hip, maybe upper arm or the like.. get used to that and then consider more at a later date. A massive one on the calf is a bit of a leap.

Xiaoxiong · 25/08/2011 14:56

Or work in a conservative office, Don'tGoCurly. There's a secretary here who has to wear either trousers or thick tights all summer because she's got a visible tattoo on her leg - she is miserable when it's hot.

eurochick · 25/08/2011 14:57

It sounds like it will ruin a lovely pair of legs. It would spoil so many outfits.

Would reminding her of her past, now rejected, looks help talk her out of it? Tattoos are actually very conservative in that way - you cannot change them as you adapt your look as you can make up or clothes. What you like at 20 (or whatever age she is) you are stuck with at 30 and 40. And how many 30 or 40 yr olds on here would happily wear the clothes or make up of 10 or 20 years ago?

FannyFifer · 25/08/2011 14:58

Will look good on a nice slim calf I am sure, not so much if she ever puts on weight has cellulite etc.
Will also draw attention to weight gain in that area.

I have one on my stomach, looked fab when I was young and slim, was 19 getting it done.

Two children, stretch marks, weight gain. It has pretty much vanished underneath my overhang, not a good look.

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