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“Tattoos are permanent. What are you going to do with them when you’re older?” Probably every tattooed person has heard this question at some point in their inked life. Or maybe you’re the person usually asking this question, and you’re here out of curiosity about how aged tattoos actually look. It’s a legitimate question, just slightly annoying because we tattooed people know perfectly well that our designs will stay with us forever — tattoo laser removal excluded.
Let’s start by saying that seniors with tattoos totally rock, and it’s never too late to get one. My own grandma got her first ink at the age of 84 in 2016, and she has loved it dearly ever since. Of course, there’s the one-million-dollar question: How do old tattoos look, considering how much skin changes throughout a lifetime?
When you think of tattoos, you probably picture fresh, bold designs that scream with youthful energy — but I’m not going to sugarcoat this. Tattoos can change a lot after many years, some to the point of being barely recognizable, due to exposure to the elements and natural aging. This is even more true for those tattoos that haven’t seen an ounce of sunscreen or proper hydration since being imprinted on the skin. And trust me when I say that adequate aftercare, which lasts forever, makes an insane difference. Let’s add that some body parts, like fingers, are not too fond of ink and will make your design prematurely fade like cotton candy in water.
That said, you’ll be happy to know that most people don’t regret getting inked in the least and sport their faded tattoos with pride! If you’re now even more curious about the appearance of tattoos after years, say no more. Here’s a picture collection of healed tattoos that show the before and after of both colorful and totally black tattoos so you can see the difference yourself. They may change in color, texture, and shape, but rest assured, they will always hold a special place in their owners’ hearts!
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#1
January 2020 Vs. June 2022
Genericist 1 year ago
I love this, it makes the dog look softer and more floofy. 10/10 good boi/girl
#2
Then And Now. How My Colorful Tattoo Held Up Over 26 Years. By Dave Fox In '96, Philadelphia, Pa
ConstantlyJon 1 year ago
This is the kind of tattoo I wanted to see in this thread. I want to see how they look after decades, not 2 years of slight fading after the artist probably used a filter on the fresh pic anyway.
#3
A Little Over 5 Years And About A 20 Lb Weight Gain Apart
#5
What Aging And 20 Years Can Do To A Tattoo. I Watched My Father Get This Tattoo When I Was A Kid. The Second Picture Was Taking Just Before He Passed
#6
A Sailor Jerry Tattoo Aged 53 Years, Really Cool To See
#7
Day 0 Vs. 10 Years Later (Tattoo By Kerry Irvine Of Skunx)
#8
1 Year Old Tattoo
Nancy Rémillard 1 year ago
That saturation at first was still incredible but second looks like a real decent tat... Like I'm not even sure the first one is untampered
#9
Fine Line Tattoo By Greg Howell In Fredericksburg Va. Healed 4.5 Years
#10
My 83 Year Old Dad's Tattoos
#11
Fresh Vs. 1 Year Healed, On My Right Hip
#12
24 Year Old Mark Mahoney Fine Line Tattoo
#13
14 Years
#14
12 Year Old Roland Topor Illustration
#15
Almost 2 Years Aged, Happy So Far!
#16
Fresh Vs. 4 Years Old
Feathered Dinosaur 1 year ago
Don't like how this one aged. Very fine lines tend to blur with age
#17
White Lettering Tattoo Fresh And 1.5 Years Healed
#18
Fresh Vs. 2 Years Later
#19
Fresh Vs. 5.5 Years Later. Lost Some Weight Since Then And Am Really Happy With How It Aged Considering I Have Eczema
Amanda Turner 1 year ago
Having a tattoo where eczema flares up is ROUGH! Need to itch. Can’t mess up ink. Can’t leave scars. Paid too much money. But the ITCH 😵💫
#20
A Little Hard To Take A Photo Of This One. Fresh Vs. 3 Years Healed!
#21
Six Year Old Watercolor Tattoo By Royal Jafarov, NYC
Shawnna Clement 1 year ago
I don't think most tattoo artists explain how much red, orange and gold fade and change over time.
#22
Fresh, And 8 Years Old
#23
Delicate Floral Half Sleeve 2018 And Now (About 2.5 Years Aged) - Done By Kelsey Havel At Greenlion In Grand Rapids, MI
#24
2 Weeks Vs. 5 Years
#25
Fresh Vs. 3 Years Healed. Possible Filter Used By Tattoo Artist On The Fresh Picture
#26
Almost 9 Year Old Tattoo On My Ribs
#27
Coming Up On Ten Years. Still Looks Great
#29
7 Years Apart
#30
Fresh December 2018, Now February 2022
#31
7 Years Of My Linework Rose
Shelley A. 1 year ago
Nice detail 🙂 Oddly, I like how your tattoo aged. To me it looks better than when it was first done. I can say that I have never seen an aged tat look better than it did when it was first done. That's very interesting and actually pretty cool 😎
#32
15 Years Old Vs. Refreshed Last Year
#33
Dragon Tattoo, 20 Years Later
#34
2.5 Year Old Single Needle Skeleton
#35
Plague Doctor. May 2020 Vs. Jan 2023
#36
Traditional Thigh Piece - 1.5 Years Later. Artist Is Jimmy Snaz
#37
My 4 Years Old Anchor Tattoo
Cindy Trusty 1 year ago
This isn't the same tat. Look at the top crossbar. First is shaded red and curved up. Second is shaded blue and curved down. Or am I imagining this??
BeepBeepBoopBoop 1 year ago
its probably an angle difference. The body is very curved right there and the first picture looks more straight on like it was taken by another person, while the second one looks like it wasn't as straight on. It definitely looks like the same tattoo in other aspects. Same four dots at the bottom, same wood lines, and the little loop at the top isn't perfectly rounded on the top right
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#38
Watercolor - Fresh Vs. 5 Years Healed
#39
Just Wanted To Show How Better The Big Pieces Hold In Comparison To The Smaller More Detailed Ones
Shannon McGill 1 year ago
In so many of these pictures, the person looks practically jaundiced in the first one. It's hard to tell how much the tattoo has changed because the skin looks so different.
#40
1 Year Healed! Done By Kelly Doty At Hellheim Gallery In Salem, MA
#41
Eagle Coverup Is 47 Years Old And The Flower Behind Is Older Than That
#42
My First Tattoo Aged 21 Years. First Time I've Looked At It Close Up In Years. I'm Impressed With How Good It Looks Still
#43
My Friend's Tattoo. Thought Ya'll Would Be Interested In Seeing This Baby Aged
#45
First Color Tattoo Is 10 Years Old Today
#46
My 25 Year Old Line Work (Done In 1996)
#47
Two Years Ago And Now - What Do You Think?
#49
Happy Halloween! Fresh Vs. 5 Years
#50
Fresh, 5 Years Healed And The 50+ Year Old Tattoo It Was Based On
#52
For Anyone Wondering How Finger Tattoos Age When You Work In A Kitchen. August 2020 Vs. April 2021. 9 Months
Did you hear that? 1 year ago
Hands get washed a lot ( or, should be) so the turnover in the cells is higher.
#54
Wondering How Watercolour Holds Up? This Baby Is 10 Years Old
#55
2 Years And 1 Month Old! Some Of The Line Work In The Tail Is Missing Now Because Of Eczema
#56
5 Years Of My Lion
Heather Vandegrift 1 year ago
This is an example of fine detail done on a large piece so it lasts. The same dot work on a smaller scale would merge together into a blob
#57
Touch Up And Recolour On This Cute Fairy
#59
Footsteps On The Beach With A Modern Twist July 2017 (Fresh) And July 2022 (Today)
#60
Single Needle, Fresh Vs. 4 Years
#63
7 Year Old Finger Tattoo. My Tattoo, Done By Myrhwan At Giahi, Switzerland
Feathered Dinosaur 1 year ago
Same problem as above, very fine lines and on an area where the skin gets stretched a lot to boot. Not my cup of tea
#66
2018 Vs. 2021 (Tattoo By Caesar Bacchvs)
#68
My First Tattoo - 6 Years Aged
#69
Reworking A 22 Year Old Tattoo With Old English Font
#70
One Year Apart - Traditional Crying Heart
Amanda Turner 1 year ago
1 year isn’t “aged” there hasn’t been enough time for it to age…this thread was so disappointing
#71
21st Tattoo Hitmontop, Done On February 26, 2015
#73
March 2018 Vs. Now
#74
Coconut Crab
Feathered Dinosaur 1 year ago
Still looks good. I'd like to know how much time has passed, though
#76
8 Years Old - No More Colour
Heather Vandegrift 1 year ago
Red is the biggest color molecule, so whether it's hair color or tattoos, it fades fastest
#78
Mermaid
#79
4 Year Old Thigh Pieces! Fresh (Jan 2018) Vs. Now (Jan 2022) Lost A Fair Amount Of Detail But I Still Love It!
#80
Fresh Nov 2014 Vs. Now Nov 2019. 5 Years Old
#81
2.5 Years Aged Fine Line Rib Piece
JC Fenimore 1 year ago
I've been looking at getting these fine line florals and i may still, but i didn't expect them to blur so quickly. Still beautiful, though.
#82
I Think It's Healed Beautifully
tvnutt1976 1 year ago
Clearly the person has line work added AFTER them original session. I would have liked to see it w/o the line work.
#83
What Do You Think? 3 Years Ago Vs. Now
#84
2018 Vs. 2022. Really Unhappy With How This Is Looking Now. Does Anyone Think There Is Still Something To Save?
#86
Palm Tattoo Healed/Fresh. 7 Years Old
#87
October 2017 Vs. Today
#88
Oct 2018 To Today January 2023
#89
Death Card Jan 2019 - Aug 2021
#91
Fresh Vs. 3 Years. Never Got A Touch Up Since The Artist Moved To Another State Shortly After I Got This
#92
3 Years Ago Vs. Now
#94
6 Months Bold Will Hold Skelly
Add New Image
What do you think ?
Undercover 1 year ago
Thanks BP for that eyeopener. Until now I thought that just low-quality tattoos fade out so much and I was considering getting one myself. No hate, but I just don't like the way tattoos age and I won't get any. I don't want to spread any hate, this thread just helped me immensely on my decision ❤👍 although I really enjoy the craftsmanship and the ideas that go into body art.
Darian Starfrog 1 year ago
Quite a non event.. 1 yr? 2yr? 5yr!? Lol just wait till all today's face tattoos age! Can't wait to see those face blobs! 🤣
Cerridwn d'Wyse 1 year ago
One thing that I think makes an unfair comparison is. It is very obvious in some cases that the initial pic was photographed with a real camera and good lighting and the 2nd one is taken with the cell phone.
Jasmine Liljensøe 1 year ago
This thread is disappointing. Some of these aren't even the same tattoo for before and after. And 1-3 years isn't that much time to show how much a tattoo changes. I have tattoos on my feet done in 2010 that have literally lost all their color. I also have some others done around the same time that haven't changed much at all. It all depends on the scale of the tattoo, the talent of the artist, the placement on the body and the aftercare (wear sunscreen!)
PeepPeep the duck 1 year ago
I love the art, but hated seeing comparisons of 1- 4 yrs 😆 you can look at anyone at work or home for that, we wanted the 20yr plus’
Undercover 1 year ago
Thanks BP for that eyeopener. Until now I thought that just low-quality tattoos fade out so much and I was considering getting one myself. No hate, but I just don't like the way tattoos age and I won't get any. I don't want to spread any hate, this thread just helped me immensely on my decision ❤👍 although I really enjoy the craftsmanship and the ideas that go into body art.
Darian Starfrog 1 year ago
Quite a non event.. 1 yr? 2yr? 5yr!? Lol just wait till all today's face tattoos age! Can't wait to see those face blobs! 🤣
Cerridwn d'Wyse 1 year ago
One thing that I think makes an unfair comparison is. It is very obvious in some cases that the initial pic was photographed with a real camera and good lighting and the 2nd one is taken with the cell phone.
Jasmine Liljensøe 1 year ago
This thread is disappointing. Some of these aren't even the same tattoo for before and after. And 1-3 years isn't that much time to show how much a tattoo changes. I have tattoos on my feet done in 2010 that have literally lost all their color. I also have some others done around the same time that haven't changed much at all. It all depends on the scale of the tattoo, the talent of the artist, the placement on the body and the aftercare (wear sunscreen!)
PeepPeep the duck 1 year ago
I love the art, but hated seeing comparisons of 1- 4 yrs 😆 you can look at anyone at work or home for that, we wanted the 20yr plus’
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