53 Tattoo Ideas That Actually Look Good, I Promise
In case you need some tattoo inspiration.
We asked the BuzzFeed Community to show us pictures of their favorite tattoos. Here are the ones that'll probably make you want to get inked.
1.
"After a breakup from a toxic relationship, I needed to have something to remind myself who I am."
2.
"My tattoo artist replicated a picture I had taken out of an airplane window while flying over the Andes Mountains. That trip was so special to me, and this was the perfect way to memorialize it!"
3.
"I’ve been obsessed with Star Wars my whole life, and I love the idea of space ship schematics in general, so this was perfect."
4.
"This is Pablo the Penguin. He’s my most recent tattoo from 2018! He’s my absolute fave of my seven tattoos."
5.
"My two-faced tattoo. Some random guy chose it for me, and I absolutely love it."
6.
"I'm a book lover at heart!"
7.
"My homage to California. The artist is from there, too, so it made it that much more special."
8.
"My T-Rex tattoo is a reminder to always be fearfully great."
9.
"Mandala, my amazing artist, wanted to do this one. He’s done almost my entire sleeve of tattoos that all have significant meaning, so letting him do something he wanted was a no-brainer!"
10.
"My muses. Credit to @girlknewyork."
11.
"I got this butterfly in honor of my grandma after she passed away. She loved butterflies and wanted me to get one for her. I added my own flair to it. It's also a cover-up because I had some pretty intense scarring from a previous tattoo because the artist put red ink in, and I'm highly allergic to red tattoo ink."
12.
"This is my most recent one, done on my upper arm. The drawing is a cartoon panel from Gunnm (Battle Angel Alita). The main character is one of the only fictional heroes I admire and identify with. To me, she symbolizes how women can be strong and empathic and kind, all at the same time. I feel like her determined gaze in the image says it all."
13.
"It's an homage to my career as a costume designer and my collection of dress forms."
14.
"My Breaking Bad piece."
15.
"My whole life I have felt a connection to the Vermeer painting 'Girl with a Pearl Earring.' Now I have her with me forever. ❤️"
16.
"One night in Chicago, my friend and I randomly decided to get matching tattoos."
17.
"My beautiful lil' tiger! I’ve always loved them, and to me they symbolize feminine strength and power."
18.
"I got this tattoo after my dad died. I read the poem I Carry Your Heart With Me (I Carry It In) by E.E. Cummings at his funeral."
19.
"My The Lion King tattoo. I love this movie so much, and it's practically my life philosophy: Mistakes hurt a lot, but learning from them is even better."
20.
"Done by Cody Moore at Alchemy Tattoo Collective in St. Louis."
21.
"I don’t have any heartfelt stories to go with this. I really love fountain pens and writing things by hand, so I got a wee fountain pen nib. Out of 40+ tattoos, this one takes the cake for me."
22.
"Inspired by Princess Mononoke."
23.
"My mom passed away from pancreatic cancer. Flamingos were her favorite. My sister, aunt, cousin, and I all got flamingos in honor of her. Each of us has our own flamingo to represent her."
24.
"Wearing the color yellow around my grandpa was an inside joke between him and the grandkids. Whenever one of us would wear yellow, he would tickle us until we laughed so hard that we could barely breathe. I got this tattoo of one of the yellow sunflowers from his funeral to always be reminded of him."
25.
"My tattoo reminds me of my little brother who was born too early and didn't make it. It also means that we need to be more kind to each other and use our hearts more often."
26.
"Always shooting for higher! I loved the whimsical and subtle colors this artist incorporated into my tiny tattoo."
27.
"My favorite Shakespearean quote, from The Tempest. Even though in the play it has a slightly different context, I’ve always loved the idea that everything you’ve done makes up who you are, but it’s only the start...what’s yet to come is the real story."
28.
"From The Giving Tree, which was my favorite book as a child."
29.
"My Unalome tattoo."
30.
"I designed this flower myself in honor of my grandma who had the most beautiful garden, which she loved and tended to until the day she died."
31.
"My Mulan concept art tattoo."
32.
"I got these little rainbow dots to show that I'm proud of who I am, and it makes me happy whenever I look at it."
33.
"His imprint is always with me."
34.
"My tattoo represents feminism and also the importance of not giving a sh*t. It reminds me that it's my body, and I can do what I want and love who I want."
35.
"I got this gorgeous galaxy tattoo last January. It's pretty much impossible to tell, but it's actually a cover-up tattoo. I had a cross there for years from when I was young, religious, and hadn't yet figured out I was gay. I'm getting married this year and decided it was finally time to cover it because I didn't want a cross in my wedding photos, and I didn't want to have to pick a dress based on what would hide my back. Now I have a super-cool space tattoo, and I made sure to include Pluto because I will die on the hill that it's still a planet!"
36.
"My little tattoo doesn’t have a specific meaning, but I always get questioned about it."
37.
"My twin sister has the other half."
38.
"My silhouette of Edward Scissorhands and Kim. I adored the movie growing up. The song Kim dances to in the snow while Edward sculpts the ice was my son's lullaby when he was a newborn."
39.
"My A Clockwork Orange tattoo."
40.
"J.R.R. Tolkien's drawing of Smaug from the original manuscript of The Hobbit."
41.
"My full moon and new moon, for all the goddesses and badass women out there."
42.
"I have loved David Bowie since my teens, and I really wanted to get a tattoo commemorating my love for his music. I had a vague idea of what I wanted, but when an artist I followed on Instagram posted a flash sale, I knew I had to get it. This is the result, and I'm absolutely in love!"
43.
"I have the invisible child from Tove Jansson's short story with the same name. Having grown up with Tales From Moominvalley, it was just a matter of time before I chose to immortalize my childhood memories."
44.
"This one is my Star Wars–inspired tattoo. I'm a huge fan, and R2-D2 is my favorite character."
45.
"My tiny musical note is a simple way to show my love of music. It was also my first tattoo."
46.
"My mother, godmother, three godsisters, and I all have this tattoo on our left wrists. I absolutely love it! I feel that it bonds us all together."
47.
"A souvenir from the desert."
48.
"A shooting star, symbolizing new beginnings."
49.
"I never really wanted a tattoo, but then I did...this one."
50.
"I went deaf in my right ear when I was a freshman in high school. I've made jokes about it ever since then, and it's one of the funniest, if not one of the worst, things to ever happen to me. I got my tattoo to immortalize my twisted sense of humor, but also so my family actually knows which ear I can hear out of."
51.
"I got this little guy because I'm a seaman, and I wanted something ~deep~."
52.
"Because sometimes you go through the dark side to get to the light. You grow. Also...VADER. ❤️"
—and8
53.
"My mom's signature."
Want to show off your own tattoo? Upload a picture and tell us about it in the comments below!
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and clarity.