Tattoo regret

[Poppet626]

Hi All,

I am suffering really badly with tattoo regret which sounds silly really.. I tell other people and they just say 'well why get it then?' well I wish I didn't. I liked the idea of it and saw how many women looked sexy with tattoos and was chasing a physical identity I now realize isn't me at all.

I have a few tattoos, I only regret one of them. I have two big ones on each forearm. One I got of some roses year ago which I don't love but I don't feel regret or any feelings about it at all. It's pretty and I'm happy to have it on my body. The other one I got two years ago during a rough time in my life.. its a tree which kind of morphs into a woman. It covers my whole forearm, it's huge and it just doesn't look feminine. With both inner forearms tattooed I feel extremely masculine, I feel like I can never look classy, I always look tacky when my arms are out and it sounds crazy but It almost gives me a dysphoria feeling, it makes me cry and feel ugly.

I want to state that this is in no way me saying that woman with big tattoos in these areas look how I am describing myself, I think many women look amazing with tattoos which inspired me to get them - I just hate the look on myself.

I know you can get laser removal done which I have looked in to but it's very expensive, and takes years. I understand that if I want it gone then I need to suck that up but I earn a minimum wage and I fear that my other finances would severely suffer if I committed to this, and they would suffer for a long time causing me more anxiety/stress etc.

I don't know what sort of answers I'm looking for here.. maybe somebody that feels the same way. It's not an easy thing to admit but it's having a big impact on my self esteem and my body image.

Peace and love to you all.

If you can't afford to get it removed then they have some great make up to cover it. That might make you feel better about your arms.

Get a bank loan and get them removed. I'd personally hate being branded it would drive me insane.

If how they look is affecting you so much, could you do things to earn some extra money like more shifts or car boots to try and earn some money to at least start laser removal?

Agree with Ohmy that you can get done really good make up of you need to confer up for an event?

There are a few ways to deal with this. I think the makeup idea is a good one, but I think longterm you would be better off getting some therapy to discuss how you felt at the time of getting the tattoo, and why the tattoo is triggering such strong negative feelings.

Fwiw, I went through a rough patch in life and got several tattoos in quick succession. I probably wouldn't do it again if I could relive those years, but that version of me has led to this version of me, and that's no bad thing. I see them as momentos of that journey.

I hope you can find a solution that's right for you.

This may not be the solution you're looking for, but is there any option to cover the tattoo with another design or get it embellished so it's more feminine? Appreciate there is also cost associated to that.

Is there anything else you could do to 'style it out'? Maybe experiment with different style tops/blouses and jewellery (bracelets, rings to bring more feminine edge) as well as hair styles and colours?

Exactly why tattoos are a bad idea.
We move on from the original emotion that prompted them.

Get it removed if it bothers you so much. But it'll cost.

Love the idea of styling it out 2764

would If be possible to cover it with a different design? My first tattoo was a complete cliche tattoo which I didn’t love after a while. I got it covered absolutely AMAZINGLY by an incredible artist to a beautiful unique design.
I’ll add that I asked several artists about covering it, most of them said there wasn’t much they could do. This one particular artist said no problem and came up with a design in a matter of minutes! So if one artist says they can’t, don’t give up. Though I of course appreciate that not all tattoos will be able to be covered.