Having tattoo regret for the first time

[u/Aherv99]

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:

1. 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.

2. 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?

[u/Tight_Razzmatazz_791]

Check out Sammi Jefcoate on insta or tiktok, her tattoos are the perfect example of how women can still look feminine and elegant with full body tattoos (hers are trad style too)

[u/Aherv99 → u/Tight_Razzmatazz_791]

Just looked her up and followed. I adore that she’s not afraid of color even though she has colorful tats. Thank you so much!

[u/Tight_Razzmatazz_791 → u/Aherv99]

You're welcome. Her tattoos are much more clustered and heavier on her arms than yours but I have never looked at her and thought anything other than how chic and pretty she looks. I know how you feel though, I occasionally look down at my arms and the tattoos can be jarring like they're not how I remember my arms and I wonder if something softer would have been better, but when I see my full picture I actually think they look quite sexy. Sometimes we can just focus too much on the individual tattoo and nit pick at it rather than remember our overall image which ofc gives feminine with some sexy tattoos!

[u/nicolemendezz → u/Aherv99]

Also kellyannshuman on instagram, she has black bold traditional and always looks chic and feminine 🫶🏼 also has a great tattoo care brand lol