18 Before-And-After Photos Of Tattoos And Cover-Ups That Prove A Bad Tattoo Isn't Forever

    If you can't see it, it doesn't exist.

    Ajani Bazile-Dutes
    by Ajani Bazile-Dutes

    BuzzFeed Staff

    We recently asked the members of the BuzzFeed Community to show us their bad tattoos and the amazing cover-ups they got. Here are the best tattoo glow-ups:

    1. This angel that got a beautifully detailed upgrade:

    A poorly done tattoo of an angel and a beautiful cover-up of an angel
    buzzfeed.com

    "This terrible angel tattoo that I got during a drunken college night vs. this awesome cover-up that I love!"

    —a451f8c189

    2. This underwater-themed tattoo that got an epic makeover:

    A blotchy tattoo of a starfish and beautiful cover-up an underwater scene
    buzzfeed.com

    "The original was supposed to be an underwater-type scene in watercolor and the dude just completely botched it. I had it covered up about two months ago."

    —lilladylili

    3. This rose transformation:

    A blotchy tattoo of a rose a beautiful detailed cover-up of a rose
    buzzfeed.com

    —lindsaya43cd11aac

    4. These stars that covered up footprints and a shoddy tattooed name:

    A poorly done tattoo of stars and footprints with the name "Michael" and a cover-up of bigger stars and the name "Michael"
    buzzfeed.com

    "This is my before and after. Such a huge difference. It looks so much better."

    —michelleandresh

    5. This colorful flower that replaced an ill-fading tattoo:

    A faded tattoo of angel wings and initials and colorful cover-up of flower
    buzzfeed.com

    "The original tattoo was supposed to be my twin brother's initials, who died by suicide when we were 17. The artist shaded it way too dark and it faded poorly. I decided to get a massive cover-up with our birth flower!"

    —kabauer

    6. This disfigured lightning bolt that got hidden by a Scottish thistle:

    A tattoo of a lightening bolt that looks like a twig and cover-up of a Scottish thistle
    buzzfeed.com

    "I had an idea for lightning that just ended up looking like a vein. I’m obsessed with my cover-up. It's a Scottish thistle in honor of my grandparents. I love it so much and I’ll be turning it into a half sleeve. I can’t wait. I love that a failed tattoo turned into a beautiful piece."

    —kelseylurvey1

    7. This unintentionally phallic tattoo that's now covered by gorgeous wildflowers:

    A tattoo of a stethoscope that looks like a penis when a watch is worn and cover-up of a beautiful flower
    buzzfeed.com

    "So I went to school to become a paramedic. After graduating, I decided to get a stethoscope tattooed on my wrist to celebrate, which was all fine and good, until I put on a watch. I literally had this tattoo for 10 years before my brother one day asked me why I got a penis tattooed on my wrist. I had never ever noticed that when my watch covered the middle of my tattoo it looked like a dick!!! It’s now been covered by wildflowers that represent my children and my late mother."

    —afazz

    8. This tattoo that was covered with a vibrant and dreamy scene:

    A bad tattoo of the comedy and tragedy masks and a huge cover-up of a bird and trees
    buzzfeed.com

    "I was super excited to get my first tattoo and I tried to cram a lot into one piece. I wanted to represent my art, faith, and sexuality all in one design. I liked the concept, but it didn't turn out great and I wasn't super confident as a tattoo customer at the time, so I settled for a design I didn't love. There was also a line of red in the yellow band of the triangle that the artist messed up among other frustrations. I now have a great artist back home and she worked with me to cover it up. This picture just shows the completion of the covered portion but the whole piece is a full half-sleeve on my forearm."

    —l43a497689

    9. This goat that shape-shifted into a dragon:

    A tattoo outline of a goat smoking and huge cover-up of a dragon
    buzzfeed.com

    "Covered up my crappy (but sick) $20 goat with a dragon."

    —wickedsword78

    10. This amateur sunset that turned into something of great quality:

    A poorly done tattoo of a sunset and a cover-up of an cute animal
    buzzfeed.com

    "In my early 20s I thought it was a good idea to get a rather large sunset thing on my back from a woman who had ONLY DONE TWO TATTOOS PREVIOUSLY. Not only was the work shoddy, but the placement was weird (lower back, but off to the side 'cause I didn’t want a 'tramp stamp'). Fast-forward a decade and I finally bit the bullet and paid over $1,000 to cover it up. I had to go big because of the weird design and placement. Think before you tattoo."

    —crazyjenn

    11. This blotchy ink that was covered by a work of art:

    A smudged tattoo of a name and cover-up of Tim Burton-esque scene
    buzzfeed.com

    "I always go to a professional for my tats. I decided to let a family member who was trying to start his own tattoo business put my daughter’s name on my shoulder 'cause I figured you can’t screw up a name, right? Wrong. After years of having an ink blob on my arm, I finally got it covered up with the start of a full sleeve. Lesson learned. Leave it to the professionals!"

    —baseballmel

    12. This faded tat that was upgraded with a detailed horse:

    A huge very faded tattoo and a huge cover-up of a horses face
    buzzfeed.com

    —emmylou13

    13. This scenic and chromatic cover-up:

    A tattoo of a quote and a colorful cover-up of a tree, the ocean, and sunset
    buzzfeed.com

    "One of my favorite tattoos."

    —kristynjanelle

    14. This blurry bird that became a lovely flower:

    An extremely faded tattoo of a bird and a detailed cover-up of flowers
    buzzfeed.com

    "A blurred hummingbird everyone thought was a bruise turned into this beautiful piece."

    —kat9426

    15. These gorgeous flowers that camouflage a teenage stick-and-poke:

    A faded butterfly tattoo and a wrap around cover-up of flowers
    buzzfeed.com

    "My stick-and-poke with my boyfriend's initials in the wings that I did myself in high school vs. my gorgeous floral wrist wrap now! Major upgrade!"

    —bellatrixter

    16. This carelessly drawn phoenix that got a much-needed enhancement:

    A half-done tattoo of a phoenix a completed colorful version
    buzzfeed.com

    "I was 19 and wanted a small phoenix tattoo about the size of my palm. I went to a tattoo artist who others I knew had gone to and he said he could do it. He slapped some Google image on me, made it bigger to 'fit the space better' and I didn’t say anything because maybe bigger wouldn’t be such a bad thing, right? After 45 minutes, he said I was twitching too much and he was going to just 'trace' where the paisleys would be for the next session. He SCRIBBLED SPERMS on my body with a tattoo gun. My new tattoo artist managed to work around it and make it great, but it ended up costing three times as much as it would have if I’d gone to her in the first place. And it’s a LOT bigger than my palm. Lesson learned: don’t just go to a tattoo shop. Go out and find your artist."

    —everythingisstressful

    17. This owl that disguised a poorly done heart:

    A tattoo of heart with "equality" written inside and a cover-up of a colorful owl
    buzzfeed.com

    "I got my first tattoo when I was 17 and it was a heart that said 'equality' but it was done at someone’s house and the quality was horrible. I also was tired of the tattoos facing me instead of out. Just got them covered."

    —babybiekman

    18. And this peacock that veiled an unflattering quote design:

    A poorly done tattoo of a quote a a huge cover-up of vibrant peacock
    buzzfeed.com

    "Someone told me this Muhammad Ali quote 'described me' and over the years it became more and more unflattering. My friend/tattoo artist came to the rescue with my gorgeous peacock. It's my favorite tattoo!"

    —lindseyb4a334f6e9

    Do you have botched tattoos that you got covered up? Show us in the comments!