Are you thinking about getting a tattoo somewhere on your body? Or perhaps you already have, and are having second thoughts about the final result? In any case, it’s important to take the time to decide if and what you want to get inked on your body. Otherwise, you could end up getting a terrible cover-up.
The Charlie Sheen
This poor guy was totally ‘winning’ the day he decided to coverup that faded old tattoo with a portrait of Charlie Sheen. We cant make out exactly what the original tattoo said but whatever it was, you can still see parts of it quite clearly.
It seems this tattoo version of Charlie Sheen wasn’t going to cover up much anyway, and hopefully, the artist didnt fill it in later because that would make it so much worse. This tattoo coverup is so bad, we cannot help but wonder if Charlie Sheen himself didnt do this coverup job! While this tattoo might say ‘winning’ it’s actually a complete fail.
Alrighty then
When the tattoo artist who did this coverup was planning what to do, we imagine he thought to himself “I wonder what else could go wrong here”. If the original Ace Ventura tattoo wasn’t bad enough, this Chewy tattoo isn’t much better.
If the weird proportions weren’t bad enough, the eyes tend to follow you like a haunted painting. There is no covering up this coverup, so the best thing you can do to fix it is chop off the ar with a lightsaber!
A simple rose
Everyone gets tired of their tattoos eventually and when this lovely lady noticed her tattoos were looking a little worse for wear she decided she wanted something a little more delicate to cover it up.
It looks like she ended up choosing the entire rosebush because this cover-up extends way past the original tattoo and all the way onto her face! We are not surprised because it looks like she literally has cobwebs coming out of her ears so if anyone was telling her this was a bad idea, it’s likely she couldn’t hear them.
Oh my!
Remember how back in the day when everyone was getting tribal tattoos with reckless abandon? Well, this poor fellow decided that his tribal owl tattoo was so out of date it would have to go.
So he decided to cover it up with a… well we are not sure what it is exactly. It almost looks like he covered his tribal tattoo with an even uglier tribal tattoo. Well, that gets rid of the first problem we guest. Just don’t stare at this one too long because it will give you nightmares.
Laura, definitely Laura
This man likes to prove his love to his woman by getting her name tattooed on his arm. But if I were Laura, I would be a little skeptical about that gesture. After all, there are four other names of women who have already had their names inked and then crossed off.
As for him, maybe wait a bit longer next time before you make such a move. Maybe even get married first, since tattoos are also life-long commitments. As for Laura, a boy she is a lucky girl!
Resentment for life
Unlike the first guy on this list, this woman seems to have learned her lesson. She got the name of her boyfriend tattooed on her back, and the relationship obviously ran its course. Whatever he did to her, it warranted a dramatic reaction on her part.
She clearly has a lot of resentment toward him, as she simply crossed off his name, and then had the words “screw you” inked underneath. I guess it’s safe to say she will never forget him, and those will not be fond memories. And she probably won’t make the same mistake again with her next love.
Oh Santa!
We aren’t completely sure what the original tattoo is here. It could be a blob or a dog or a secret treasure map. Whatever it once was there is no telling what it became. Frankly, we aren’t completely sure what the second tattoo is either.
It seems to be some kind of off-brand muppet or could even be a weird looking abominable snowman. It also looks like Santa is standing next to this strange creature while his sleigh flies off without him. Whoever thought this one up should have included captions.
That’s a big bird
It’s hard to tell what she wanted in the first place. The original tattoo has an image of Hello Kitty, a crown with a bowl underneath, and a bunch of strange partial rings all over her arm.
When she realized she didn’t want to walk around with that drawing on her arm for the rest of her life, she went for the next best thing. A giant crow, sitting on a thorn branch of a rose bush. It might do a good job of hiding the previous tattoo, but this is just a huge blackbird on her arm.
The Crying Railroad Spike
This beauty is another brilliant example of why you should think before you ink. What was once an ex’s name has been transformed by a very ambitious tattoo artist into what seems to be some kind of railroad spike/Pinocchio with weird eyes and tears.
We are not sure what thought process was going on when this person chose this tattoo, but whatever it was he was desperate to cover up his ex’s name. Sometimes, maybe keeping the name is better than the alternative.
We could die tomorrow
Well, this next tattoo is a definite keeper. Originally it was supposed to read ‘We could die tomorrow’ but the tattoo artist made some very big mistakes along the way. The finished product read something more along the lines of ‘we Colvin die tomorrow’.
We can’t be exactly sure that is what it said because it’s just really that bad and it’s possibly not the artists’ fault. We think we know what happened here, either the girl who asked for the tattoo spoke with an accent similar to Hagrids in Harry Potter, or her handwriting is terrible. The coverup is equally bad, however, and it looks like someone grabbed some sharpies and added some stars.
Poor Jen
Breakups can be terrible, especially if you have your exes name tattoed on your skin. However, this can all be fixed with a simple tattoo coverup. At least this is true in theory.
Sadly, in reality, these are the kinds of coverups you are likely to see. We are not sure what this poor guy wanted to cover up his ex’s name with, but whatever it is we hope it brings him the luck of the Irish.
Ricks Boo Bear
Many of us have a tattoo or two that we regret, and sometimes we may even get a tattoo that we think no one else will see. Well, this was the case when Stephanie got this tattoo for her then-boyfriend Rick.
Sadly, when the relationship didnt work out Stephanie decided to get rid of the tattoo. Trouble was even though she had it covered up, it was there to stay forever.
Make a decision
Being decisive is typically good quality. But making rash decisions can also lead to mistakes that can last a lifetime. The initial goal here was to get a Playboy bunny tattoo, which was actually relatively successful.
Perhaps she matured beyond that phase in her life then decided to cover up the bunny with a big heart and a ribbon across it, dedicated to his parents. Maybe then she felt it was too feminine, so she turned it into a whole bunch of roses.
Pikachu can’t draw
If you decide that you want to get a tattoo, make sure you go to a good artist. This tattoo of Pikachu was clearly not very good. But the solution to cover it up was actually really creative. The second tattoo artist drew a much more impressive image of Pikachu and made it look like he was drawing himself.
This way, we can all give him a break if he doesn’t have the best drawing skills. It makes it look like it was done on purpose, and it’s pretty funny, to be honest.
Is it a Crow?
When this guy got sick of his Celtic cross he was so desperate to cover it u that he wasn’t too picky with what came next. Instead of taking the time to choose something great, it looks like he chose to cover the cross with what could be the head of a crow.
The problem is that it looks so weird we can’t be sure that that is what it is supposed to be. It kinda looks like a crow’s head when you look at it straight on, but the minute you tilt your head the dimensions look strange and it could be anything. Whatever it is, this too might be covered up pretty soon.
Evil Ex?
The intention behind this tattoo appears to be centered around love. He got the image of his ex (wife?) inked on his arm. When things in their relationship went sideways, he had to improvise. So he turned a smiley picture into the image of an evil character from a horror movie.
We’re not sure what she did to him to deserve such a gesture, but the new cover-up certainly gets the point across. Now, what happens if they reconcile?
Black blob
It’s hard to tell what was beneath this tattoo, to begin with, but the cover-up just looks like a big black blob of ink on the inside of his forearm. The four types of card suits at the corners is a cute attempt to make this look good, but we’re just not digging the end result.
How bad could the previous tattoo have been to go with this option?
Void please
Another relationship has gone wrong. And another unfortunate tattoo that needs to be corrected. In this case, the person decided to get creative by adding a “void” stamp on the ex’s name.
Still, the creativity here is highly appreciated, so we can’t completely disregard this cover-up attempt.
Name adjustment
There is a clear trend here of regrettable tattoos that include the names of ex-lovers. Hopefully, you’ll know better than to make the same mistake yourself. In this case, the guy appears to be trying to cover up the fact that he got the name Kelsey inked on his arm.
He just added the last name Grammer underneath, and now he pretends to be the biggest Frasier fan in history. Whatever works for you.
Unclear image
This one is all kinds of strange. First, this person must have really loved his Hyundai vehicle in order to get the company logo placed on his body. And whatever rift came between him and his car, and it led to the decision to change to the picture on the right.
It’s still difficult to tell what the goal was here. It would not be surprising to see a second cover-up attempt for him at some point in the future.
The scratch out
Okay so there are plenty of tattoos where people scratch out the names of their exes, but this is taking that to a whole new level.
This tattoo coverup literally scratched out what was beneath it and it looks like a total mess. This must have been one of the easiest tattoos that the artist could think of. Hopefully, the new owner of this art piece never has to answer the question ‘so what does your tattoo mean?”.
Fashionable ex
We love a creative cover-up tattoo. When his relationship with Lauren went sideways, this guy thought about how to get rid of her name tattoo from his wrist. After a great deal of pondering and brainstorming, he decided to add the Polo logo above her name and then the name Ralph above the horse image.
Now, he’s a walking advertisement for the clothing brand. Perhaps he should get a cut of the company sales.
Heartbreak is tough
People react to heartbreak in different ways. When they are in love, it’s all lovey-dovey, and we’ve seen many people get names and hearts tattooed on their bodies. The more disturbing trend is reflected in how they feel following a difficult breakup.
The positive images sometimes turn evil, as is the case here with the devil shaped cover-up that ensued. Hopefully, things get better for him, and he turns the devil into a unicorn.
What’s the difference?
The point of a cover-up is to change the original image in a substantial way so that it cannot even be recognized. But his cover-up attempt appears to be a major fail. If the goal was just to add some color into the tattoo, then it was a job well done.
But the tattoo itself actually looks like it has been rejuvenated. These things need to be considered ahead of time.
Mission accomplished
Well, Edwin’s name is no longer visible, so we’ll give her credit there. But the new tattoo is just not very subtle. It has a huge black arrow streaking across another thick bar, in an attempt to make sure that the name is completely removed.
Sometimes, people can make rash decisions because they want to get something done immediately. But it could be wiser to take more time before you make a final decision.
Black Panther
Whatever this first tattoo was supposed to be initially, the entire thing was actually improved by adding a black panther into the mix. We’ve already seen a lot worse cover-up jobs on this list, which at times made things look less appealing than the original.
At least, in this case, the combination of the colors between the panther itself and the purple-colored roses makes it all come together quite nicely.
The Blackout
Well, there is nothing like tattoo ink clogging up your lymph nodes.
This guy decided that instead of removing his bad tattoos or touching them up it was better to just cover them up completely so he managed to find a tattoo artist who would agree to blackout the entire upper arm and shoulder. It must have taken a lot of ink to get this done and when it fades it will really be ugly. While it may be extreme, at least it got rid of that tribal tattoo he had before.
Colorful skull
This person definitely has an evil side. Even the first tattoo seems like it wasn’t exactly the portrayal of a happy soul.
The first cover-up turned an unclear image into a skull, which is in line with the entire theme here. Then, they tried to make at least it look a little more colorful, by turning it into a skull. But if that’s the goal, at least it does look a lot better than before.
Messy job
Did this tattoo artist even draw a sketch of what the final tattoo would look like? It’s very hard to tell what the first tattoo was, but there really doesn’t appear to have been much of a plan here in the first place. After the cover-up was complete, it’s not much easier.
There seems to be a deformed skull with messed up teeth, half a nose missing, mismatched eye sockets, and some holes and deformities across the entire thing.
Imperfect angel
Here is a cover-up job with a little more planning than the last one. At least, in this case, the tattoo artist sketched out what the new image would look like. And it actually turned out pretty decent.
He was able to draw over a woman standing in a blue bikini, into what appears to be a sad angel, sitting with wings coming out the back and streaking upward. The woman’s legs are still visible, but overall he did a pretty good job.
Paint job
If you can’t figure out how to cover up a tattoo in a way that makes it look good, just take a page out of this guy’s book. He turned an unfortunate tattoo into a creative one.
It was done by inking what looks like wet, black paint over the first tattoo, and added the image of a man who appears to be painting a wall. Pretty cool, actually.
Character transition
You can tell a lot about a person’s character based on the type of tattoo they have. In this case, this person got a tattoo of a mermaid coming out of a flower. When a change was desired, the new tattoo chosen was that of a threatening dinosaur with claws.
One thing is certain – this artist has a lot of skills, evident through the vivid imagery and colors, as well as the complete cover-up of the mermaid.
Nice cover-up
There’s really not much needed to be said here. This woman initially asked to have a man’s portrait tattooed on her back. For whatever reason, she decided to have it covered up. But I’m not sure this is what she had in mind.
Maybe next time be more specific. Simply inking her with an enormous black square does not really constitute a tattoo cover-up. Well, at least not for most people.
Change of heart
Love is a beautiful thing. This woman had the name Nathan tattooed on her back. At some point, she ended up meeting a new man named Ryan Wilson. He probably didn’t like her first tattoo.
So she got creative, adding the words “is nothing on Ryan Wilson” underneath. But at least get the saying right and replace the word “is” with “has.” Oh well, back to the tattoo parlor.
Autocorrect
Modern technology allows for some mistakes when it comes to spelling. Autocorrect steps in and makes our lives much easier. But tattoos don’t work that way. In this case, there were two spelling mistakes made on this person’s tattoo.
The way in which they were corrected looks like the rough draft of an elementary school child’s first essay. Talk about a grammar lesson that this person will all remember.
Two faced
These people are still waiting to have their bad tattoos covered up and we’re hoping they do! We have to give it to this guy that this one is kind of funny and we love that he has even styled his hair to fit with his freaky second face. Imagine how many people he creeps out when they sit behind him.
But with all fails, the quality of the huge tattoo is not good at all. We bet the tattooist hadn’t done too many of these before.
Poor Marilyn
Possibly one of the most glamorous celebrities there has ever been, Marilyn Munroe created this iconic picture with her skirt blowing up and it’s an image that has been plastered everywhere ever since.
There will be plenty of people who have had the mademoiselle tattooed on their bodies, but this has got to be one of the worst. From the skirt down the tattoo is ok, but anything from there up is a big mess. Poor Marilyn.
What are they thinking?
It seems a funny thing that a person can so carelessly have a tattoo and seem completely oblivious to the fact that it will be on their body FOREVER! Well, of course, there is the option to have laser removal but how many of us really have disposable money?
Laser tattoo removal is meant to be much more painful than a tattoo and it can also work out to be much more expensive. After all, it’s not just a bad outfit choice that can disappear after a few weeks.
Pokemon
“Gotta catch em all”, except this one, whatever you do, do not catch this one, as this odd-looking Pikachu looks like he could kill the rest of the Pokemon squad. Aside from the character’s angry-looking face, the outline of the tattoo is poorly done.
In reality, wasn’t the Pikachu character meant to be the cute smiley one? This one actually is not so bad and can be easily corrected. That information must be rather comforting to the owner of this cartoon tattoo.
Translation Gone Wrong
Something to look out for when it comes to having a tattoo in a different language is that it actually reads what it is meant to. This had got to be the most common tattoo fail of all time.
There was a time when this style was in fashion so there’s no doubt there will be plenty that means something totally different to what the person hoped for. In this case, this guy’s tattoo translate as a turkey sandwich. We can only guess what it was meant to say.
IThe Galaxy
There are those of us that love nothing more than watching documentaries and shows about space and the galaxy. Well, we are no different to this lady here. Curious with the truth that earth is in fact in the Milky Way galaxy, she wanted to have it imprinted on her skin forever.
Talking to a tattooist about her idea, he couldn’t wait to show off his artwork, by the time she was done, her chest was covered in color and rather saw. After looking in the mirror, it wasn’t quite what she was expecting.
Not again
Oh, Marilyn, what can we say. Another bodge job of one of the most famous women there has ever been. Due to her popularity, there are plenty of people that want to have the actress tattooed on her skin, and to be honest, it is really an honor.
Wanting to take Marilyn’s face and incorporate it into a tattoo with an old English style rose, the tattoo is a far cry from the original photograph. We can see her obvious joy on the left but the tattoo to the right makes the icon look deeply stressed.
I’ll have that one please
This is a classic case of expensive tattoo artist versus a low-cost tattooist and what a mess it is! Never will we understand why, when it comes to something that will be with you for the rest of your life, would you not just wait until you could afford a good artist instead of going to see your friend down the street.
Considering The Joker is already a scary character, this is the scariest we’ve ever seen him look! The tattoo on the right is clearly carefully done and designed by a great artist who probably didn’t come cheap but does that really matter when the difference is so clearly obvious.