Love or loathe Tattoos

Missfoodlove, I hadn't heard the phrase "jobstoppers" before - this will be very true, I think, in some jobs. Personally I would never have a tattoo and I think many of them can look ugly, though I acknowledge that it's an individual's choice and preference. I have said before on GN that I see older people at the gym, with wrinkling tattoos - this is not an attractive look, IMO. (I predict that in the future, people who can undertake the effective removal of tattoos could make a very good living from this.)

DD works for the trade association that oversees regulations and safety for paint and inks. Tattoo ink is the only ink in the world that does not have any regulations regarding it's safety for use. Nobody in our family has a tattoo needless to say.

Some have spelling mistakes! Hilarious ones shown in the newspapers sometimes but must be awful to trust your tattooist can spell then discover... not!

A friend of mine has a daughter with an art degree. She has her own tat parlour now and earns £50k p.a.! I think she charges by the hour and some designs need several sittings.

I dislike them and would never have one. But wouldn't stop anyone else.

I wouldnt want one but if someone does then thats up to them.

It's those huge holes in ears that make me cringe. But again if someone wants them then thats fine but I will probably be looking at the fkoor while talking to them!!

Each to there own . Although I find them tacky . People who have tattoos always look rough to me . I know they say you should never read a book by its cover but that is my personnel feeling about them .

Talking of spelling mistakes on tattoos reminds me of a funny Mac cartoon in our paper just after Harper 7 Beckham was born.

It showed David having his daughter’s name tattooed on his back but the tattooist misheard him and had put Half Past 7 !

The assistant was in the doorway looking anxious and showing the tattooist the proper name !

What was funny was that it’s perfectly possible to imagine it happening as Beckham does tend to mumble.?

Think the look awful, but each to their own!

I have just one, a bouquet of poppies on my upper arm which I love, more than 20 years old & the colours haven't faded. My DD who's had several major surgeries on her tummy has recently had a whole cottage flower garden tattooed to cover the scars. It's really beautiful & has made her happy with her body again.

Riggie I’m with you on the holes in the ears thing - it’s gross, and will look truly dreadful in years to come when the cartilage in the ear is stretched! I have 3 tattoos, and am contemplating more, both DDs have them, and 1 SiL like anything, I think it depends on the individual and the tattoo.

Personally I can't even bear to have my ears pierced, but find discreet tattoos acceptable if that's what people choose to do. Not on the face though. I am fascinated as to why people do it.
Am going to look up the psychology of tattoos.
Some of the art work is wonderful.

I think they are the ugliest thing ever invented - and they are permanent (except by painful laser removal).

I dislike them, but each to their own.
My GD announced she was getting one, but was at great pains to tell us all that we wouldn’t be able to see it and was annoyed when I asked what was the point of getting one then?
I laughed when, on one session of Say Yes To the Dress, the bride wanted a dress that would hide her tattooed shoulders; they were beautifully done roses as well.
It wouldn’t be a hard decision for me as a school governor faced with 2 equally good candidates, one visibly tattooed and one not. The next thing will be yet another category to add to the discrimination list.

Some tattoos look amazing whilst others make me wonder, "What were they thinking?". But each to his/her own. I don't have one but that's more through cowardice than dislike. I'd like a slim, neat dragon with a long tail along the edge of my foot but there's no flesh there (even on me) so would be agony to have done. I have no pain threshold whatsoever. It's zero. I cried when I had my ears pierced. I was 48.

I like them if they are tastefully done. I'd love a one of a tabby cat (small) but I hate pain and needles.

My daughter has a few. I had my first last year (in my 40s). I hadn't done it before because there was nothing I wanted on my body, not because I didn't want one or didn't like them.
I struggle to understand the complete black out tattoos but I don't judge anyone's choices.

I have piercings aswell, have had them since a teenager. They are not a new phenomenon!

I appreciate them as a form of art when they are well done but I can't imagine ever having one. I have one son who has loads of them, as does his wife. Our other 5 children don't have any but I think that the one who does have them has always pushed the boundaries and is "quirky". I wouldn't change him for the world.

I have three tattoos and an saving up to turn one into a Dream Catcher X

I have three and love them, I'm in my 50s and saving to have one turned into a Dreamcatcher, I think they are more the norm, than they were years ago, and people shouldn't judge just because of tattoos or piercings,my daughter has both, she is the kindest most gentle person you could meet, she suffers with anxiety and they give her so much confidence, so I NEVER judge a person on how they look

I rather like the fact that my children don't have them

It makes them different in today's world where every man and his dog has one

My DH hates them. He goes on and on about them! My son has tattoos, and tbh they are quite ugly - in my view anyway.

I don't have a hissy fit every time I see one like DH, but most I see just look messy rather than artful.

Loathe them especially on women.

My darling dad had rather a lot of tattoos that he had done while abroad during WW11. They were all beautiful works of art but one in particular stands out for me. Many years later in his seventies he had to lose one of his legs. He had a very subtle tattoo of a naked lady sat on a swing and he was more upset losing that than his leg I think bless him.

I have no strong feelings about them and believe it's a personal choice.
I did watch a programme some time ago about medical tattoos and that was fascinating....people who'd had breast surgery (the scar area is tattooed to make the pigmentation of the skin in that area appear more like the unaffected skin that surrounds it and areola restoration) and Vitiligo colour restoration (typically very minor areas ).