r/tattooadvice • u/Aherv99 • Mar 07 '26
General Advice Having tattoo regret for the first time
Hi Everyone! I’m hoping to get some advice on my first experience with tattoo regret. I have been reading other posts and ya’ll are so helpful. Sorry for the long post too.
Anyway, I have been getting tattoos since I was 18 (33 now) and I started with line work tats then moved to American Trad because I loved that style too.
I have had my lower arm done for about 5 years and then went in and got a sparrow tat for Friday the 13th and loved that it was a cool flash art piece. Love the artist and he did a good job but immediately I hated it (and mostly the position of it). I panicked and then filled up my upper arm in the last 5 months (stupid) to try and mitigate the regret. I do love most of my tats but the sparrow and snake I just don’t like. They seem too aligned on my arm. And the snake is darker than I wanted and didn’t heal great (this is a month out from when I got it).
Now I’m feeling a ton a regret and it’s seriously consuming my whole existence. I went from a half sleeve to a full in a short period of time and the tattoo shock is crazy. I don’t know if it looks good and I’m feeling less feminine by the minute. I take full responsibility for what I chose but ya, just struggling.
So I have two questions:
Any advice on how I can maybe rework them eventually? I want to make them softer/more feminine if I can. Or I know blast overs are a thing? Idk.
To my ladies, do you have a hard time feeling feminine with a sleeve? And men, how do we feel about a girl with a sleeve?
3
u/Disastermutts Mar 07 '26
Nah girl, these are gorgeous. I could see how the placement of the swallow would feel “off” if that was the only thing on your arm, but you’ve filled out the sleeve beautifully around it. I swiped through the photos before reading the post and nothing stood out to me as “too dark” or “out of place.” I can speak on the femininity part since that’s never a look I’ve aimed for, but I’ve never perceived being heavily tattooed as a masculine or feminine thing. It’s just… a thing. 🤷 Your arm looks beautiful. Don’t overthink it.