To ask older people about their tattoos?

[Had2Be]

If you are older now and your skin is starting to wrinkle/sag, do you regret your tattoos? Not the content but the appearance now your skin is changing. This is not a thread against aging or tattoos, just curious as I’m thinking of getting one.

A lot of it is down to aftercare and the artist's skill. I have tattoos that are 15yrs old and still look nearly as fresh as when I had them done. I use factor 50 suncream on them and I went to bloody good artists.

I have friends who have tattoos that are only a few years old. They don't use suncream, or just use normal factors, plus they went to the shop most people they know use (cause it's cheaper and they can do the tattoo that day/next day/within a week), and the tattoos look faded and blurry.

As far as how they look when I'm old and wrinkly goes, I don't care. My tattoos aren't "meaningful" in a typical "I got a feather to represent me with three birds flying out of it for my three children, and the year I got married incorporated into the stem of the feather" kind of way. Generally they were designed by the artist with little or no input from me. However, they all remind me of great times, conventions I've been to, holidays (built around going to a particular artist) so even if they do end up faded and wrinkly, the memories will still be there.

Mine is upper arm, small and yes it has blurred almost beyond recognition in the 29 years since I got it. But I still like it.

It meant a lot to me at the time, and when I notice the tattoo I think back to that girl and feel compassion and a link to my past.

Your body is not just a vehicle for attractiveness. It's a living record of everything you've been through.

Mine is on my upper back and ten years old now. It looks just the same as when I had it done.

Also worth noting OP that tattoos have come a long way - the inks etc are better now and less likely to age badly.

@KatyN I’m not planning to cover it, just hoping to find out if it will still look good in 20+ years. I’m mid 50’s now so I guess I might be gone before the tattoo gets much older than that

I'm in my mid 40s & had another tattoo done in the summer. And I will be getting another one next year. Couldn't give a monkeys how people perceive older people with tattoos 💁🏼

I feel like if this is your concern then you're not really a tattoo person.

I beg to differ. OP is putting a damn sight more thought into it than most.

Me too.

So many people rush into tattoos and then regret them later. Doing your research beforehand is an excellent idea.

We're all coming at it from different angles, that's why we're begging to differ.

Some people want their tattoos to look good - fair enough - these people often end up getting them removed later, because they fade and blur, unfortunately.

Others don't care whether they look good, bad or indifferent to observers - they see them as markers with a deep personal significance. More like scars than like decoration.

There's no right or wrong, just your own taste which will determine what sort of tattoo you get (if you go for one) and where on your body it will be.

I’m 67 and I try not to waste time on regret. There have been some decisions that I wish I’d never made and that have hurt me but I strive to move on from them. My tattoos are good memories not bad so I don’t regret them.

I’m 42 and have a large one on my ankle that I got when I was 18 (and more on my body that I can cover up if I wish to). I do regret the one on my ankle - mainly because you can tell it’s an older design, modern tattooing has come on a long way and even though it was good for it’s time you can tell it’s old. It ages me I think. But then on the other hand the whole of me is looking older too so who cares really, it’s what happens! These things matter less as you get older I think.

Try posting on this board too, op and see what replies you get there:

www.mumsnet.com/talk/tattoos

I'm in my 40s and have one on my shoulder which was designed by someone who was very special to me and to celebrate a certain moment. No regrets!

My advice to anyone would be to avoid tummy or boobs or any other part of the body which is particularly likely to change shape with age.

Mine are all fine but I tended to get them done on parts of my body that I know won't droop like wrist, lower arm, back.
I would definitely avoid my boobs or belly.
I got my wrist tattoo touched up recently because it had faded a bit. I also make sure I cream them daily.