The 2025 Trend of Regretting your Tattoos

Hello! At Speakeasy tattoo in Los Angeles California I am learning all I can about tattooing. Something specific caught my eye on the internet this week and I felt now is a good time to address it. 

I am sure many of you have seen the trend going around of people showing their tattoos they regret online. Mainly on TikTok and Instagram. While it is completely valid to share your regrets online, it seems that because this type of video gains more popularity, more and more people are claiming they regret their tattoos for internet popularity. 

Some tiktokers have turned to the internet to share their regrets with tattoos claiming they got them for the wrong reasons or wanted to look cooler. Lots are claiming that the tattoos they got when they turned 18 or in their 20s are a mistake and wish they never got them. However these people are claiming that you will 100% regret any tattoos put on your body when that is completely untrue. 

The real purpose of these videos is to start internet fights in the comment sections so that the video gets more publicity and more interaction. The people in these videos complain about how their identity has changed in their 30s or they wanted to look cooler or they got a matching tattoo with a friend they don’t talk to anymore. While these are technically valid complaints to have, they are complaints because they were decisions made with poor judgment. One girl got a small tattoo she regretted at 18 and then got it covered up with a huge snake a year later and now regrets the snake. If you regretted the first tattoo, you probably should have not gotten another one and yet she has several more. 

This type of media is meant to scare people and gain publicity and possibly even profit from that fear. Tattooing is a sacred art that is passed on from mentor to apprentice for years. Just because someone got a tattoo that was trendy at the time does not make them a victim of tattooing. It makes them a victim of trend searching. 

This is the same thing that is happening with these videos. It is becoming a trend to regret your tattoos and post a tattoo regret video online. Never chase trends because they will fade and you’ll be left with something you did not appreciate fully in the first place. So as the people making these videos are victims of trend searching for their tattoos, they are also continuing to chase trends by making these videos. 

My thoughts on the whole thing lead me to this: Everyone should take time to really understand themselves before getting a tattoo. You can do this at any age at any time. If you take the time to really understand what you want in life and what you want to represent, you will be fine.