Getting a tattoo can be an exhilarating experience. You may have spent months planning what to have imprinted onto your skin, and finally, the day has come for your meaningful artwork to become a permanent part of you. Perhaps you want to honor a loved one through a tattoo of their favorite flower, or maybe you want to celebrate the end of a tumultuous chapter in your life, like battling an illness. Tattoos can be representative of anything, or they can simply be artwork meant to be appreciated for their beauty. Regardless of the intention, only one thing really matters: that you like the final product.

Unfortunately, for every delicately crafted, perfectly executed tattoo, there is a Walmart version with misspelled words, crooked lines and creepy artwork. Getting a tattoo can be the best decision you ever make, if it has cultural significance and turns out exactly how you imagined, or it can become your biggest regret in life. Everyone featured on this list was a little too willing to take that risk.   

For those who are really dissatisfied with their tattoos, removal is always an option. So we reached out to the pros at Tattoo Removal Experts in London to hear a little bit about their process. We spoke to Richard Fullam, the company's director, who explained that, "To remove a tattoo you need a course of laser treatments spaced at least 6 weeks apart. The pulses of light from the laser shatter the ink into tiny particles enabling the body’s white blood cells to pick them up, take to the liver where they are flushed away. The tattoo will gradually fade till in most instances it can not be seen. An average tattoo takes around 6-8 treatments to remove. The process is safe and with the best technology there should be no damage to the skin. It is a bit painful however if you can tolerate being tattooed, then the removal process normally is not a problem."

We also asked Richard how common he thinks it is for people to rush into getting tattoos that they will later regret. "We are getting an increasing number of calls from young ladies, who contact us on the day they get their tattoo, asking for it to be removed. Sometimes they watch the tattoo being inked, know they hate it, but don’t have the confidence to question the tattooist," Richard noted.

"There is always a reason for someone wanting a tattoo to be removed, whether it’s the design, size, position etc. Some are just really bad ideas like a recent client who had his ex wife’s name tattooed on his penis." I cannot imagine how painful that must have been...

"If you are getting a tattoo do your research, find a good tattooist, agree a design then think long and hard whether your going to be happy with it for the long term," Richard says. "Also remember, just in case, that black/grey tattoos are a lot easier to remove than multicolored tattoos."

We also were curious how Richard got into the tattoo removal business in the first place. "Just over 13 years ago our eldest daughter got a tattoo under age, a story which is not uncommon. It was a large fighting fish on her hip which looked terrible. It was agreed that we would try to remove it, so we did our research. In those days the clinics were using old technology and charging fortunes. We saw a big opportunity for a modern approach using the best latest technology at affordable prices, within 3 months we opened ‘The Tattoo Removal Experts’ in Chiswick London and have not looked back. If it hadn’t been for our daughter we would not be here. Let’s face it, tattoo removal was never an option mentioned at the school’s career day."

If you'd like to hear more about Tattoo Removal Experts, you can check out their website right here.

Now, tattoos don’t just randomly turn out terribly. There are various factors coming into play like how skilled the artist is, how sober the person receiving that tattoo is, how long they considered getting the artwork done ahead of time and whether they proofread their design. You would be surprised how many tattoos end up with spelling errors. Or maybe you wouldn’t be surprised; there are plenty on this list right here!

Sadly, it is quite common for people to regret their tattoos. In fact, one survey found that 78% of respondents with at least two tattoos admitted they regret one or more of them. That is a startlingly high number considering that about a quarter of all Americans have at least one tattoo. But according to a survey conducted by Advanced Dermatology, certain body parts are more common for receiving regrettable artwork. The upper back, upper arms, hips, face and buttocks were the most likely to receive a bad tattoo. Interesting that the face and butt made it on that list. I can understand both, but at least one can easily be hidden!  

Advanced Dermatology also found that most regrettable tattoos are actually quite small, with 63% of them being smaller than the palm of a hand. Perhaps these people knew somewhere in the back of their minds that getting a life-size bald eagle plastered on their thigh might not be a great idea. At least when a tattoo is petite, it can easily be covered. However, 30% of the regretted tattoos were larger than the palm of a hand yet smaller than a half-sleeve. So those might be a tad bit more obvious. 

Waiting a few years to get your ink might also help decrease your chances of regretting it. A whopping 46% of the tattoos people no longer liked had been on their bodies since they were under 20, and 45% were done in their 20’s. It is not super clear though whether these tattoos were actually worse than ones they received later, or if it had just been so long since they had the tattoo done that they no longer liked it as much as their newer pieces. Maybe in 10 more years, these respondents will regret more of their ink!