“Got My Embarrassing Mistake Covered”: 80 Tattoo Cover-Ups So Good You’d Never Know What’s Underneath
Everyone makes mistakesāitās part of being human. When it comes to tattoosthough, those mistakes are a little harder to undo. Once the ink is on your skin, itās not something you can simply wash away.
Even so, that doesnāt mean you have to live with a tattoo you regret forever. Skilled artists can take bad or unwanted designs and transform them into something completely new. With the right cover-up, most people would never even guess there was anything underneath.
Here are some of the most impressive before-and-after transformations, courtesy of r/Tattoocoverups.
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#10
20-Year Old Faerie Gets New Life
20 years ago I gave a picture to a friend so he could create a tribal faerie tattoo design. It became a blob over time. Two months ago, a new (and amazing) artist looked at the blob and said he could fix it. He turned the old one into sticks and leaves on the ground under the new one. (Side note: the new one is based off the same pic the original one was, randomly). So happy with how it turned out.
#17
I Presented My Artist With Quite The Challenge And Iām Happy With The Results
This was actually the third time getting this tattoo worked on. The first time was done on some girls kitchen and I donāt even have photo evidence of that. It was BAD (kids, please wait until you can pay for a good tattoo before getting one). The before picture I posted here was actually after another proper artist fixed it up for me. I know, itās so awful but she did the best that she could; my foot was pretty chewed up.
So yeah, Iām not embarrassed of my tattoo anymore. Itās still healing and that process hasnāt been fun but itās so worth it!!!
#22
Coverup I Did Last Summer, Now One Of My Favorite Pieces
I regretted so much about tattooing this mantra.. it was really important to me at the time and had a big connection with to my dad, who Iāve since gone NC with after learning a lot of disturbing things about him. Now what used to be a painful and embarrassing part of me is one of my favorite pieces i have.
A few notes. The center face was empty space. This is half of the mantra, it continued on my chest (i did a separate coverup of that, which i also love).
When i approached this artist i asked how she felt about a coverup and sent her pics of the original. When she said she was open to it, i sent a few samples of her work that i liked (similar ābug babeā designs) and then told her she could design anything she wanted to cover / fill the space, that i really liked heavy black, and that i was comfortable going as big as she wanted.
Booked two days back to back, about 9hrs total.
Super happy with the results.
#37
Reassurance š
I posted on here before because I wanted to get a cover up since my mom does not support me as a lesbian and stands up for her family who support Trump and has disowned me. The original tattoo is first. I just got it covered up, and everyone is telling me it looks so bad. Iām really sad. I really loved the idea and it was very symbolic to me and I think he did a pretty good job, but now everyone has me feeling like trash. Itās obviously swollen and fresh here but I guess donāt comment if youāre just going to make me feel worse because I canāt handle any more of it this weekā¦.
#47
Donāt Get Matching āBest Friendā Tattoos
Got matching ābest friendā tattoos with my now ex best friend. Got it covered less than a year later. I decided āno matter what, no matter whereā didnāt include her trying to sleep with my husband.
#63
A Long Journey Has Finally Come To An End!
I got a sleeve that I hated the second it was done. I was young and naive, not knowing how to stick up for myself with a difficult tattoo artist. He didnāt listen to my ideas and it made for a totally different tattoo than I had wanted. After a year of trying to love it, I took my own fate into my hands and went through with the removal process. I did 5 sessions over the course of 2 years and this week I finally got my very long awaited coverup. Iām over the moon with it. Now THIS is the sleeve of my dreams! I order itās the original sleeve, the last stage of laser, and now the coverup! š
#69
My Sister’s Tattoo Rework
An artist wasnāt able to finish the original tattoo which was supposed to be an eye. She eventually decided to make it a golum 2 years later
