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Everyone makes mistakes—it’s part of being human. When it comes to tattoos, though, those mistakes are a little harder to undo. Once the ink is on your skin, it’s not something you can simply wash away.

Even so, that doesn’t mean you have to live with a tattoo you regret forever. Skilled artists can take bad or unwanted designs and transform them into something completely new. With the right cover-up, most people would never even guess there was anything underneath.

Here are some of the most impressive before-and-after transformations, courtesy of r/Tattoocoverups.

#1 4am Stick And Poke Upgraded

Image credits: rumour13

#2 Before And After

Image credits: Difficult-Moose56

#3 Best Tattoo Cover-Up I’ve Ever Seen

Image credits: wise_banana-_-

#4 Cover Up Ink

Image credits: alyn404

#5 Ghibli Cover Up

Image credits: RattyMctatti

#6 20-Year Old Faerie Gets New Life

20 years ago I gave a picture to a friend so he could create a tribal faerie tattoo design. It became a blob over time. Two months ago, a new (and amazing) artist looked at the blob and said he could fix it. He turned the old one into sticks and leaves on the ground under the new one. (Side note: the new one is based off the same pic the original one was, randomly). So happy with how it turned out.

Image credits: Sad-Illustrator-2700

#7 Sad Bear Coverup

Image credits: Gentle_Biscuits

#8 Side Coverup With Flowers

Image credits: yerae_tt

#9 Deathly Hallows Coverup By Silas, Esoteric Tattoo. Portland Or

Image credits: 1800stabyou

#10 My Sh**ty Skyline Watercolor Coverup

Image credits: madzquinn7

#11 Panther On A Panther LOL

Image credits: antonioottat1980

#12 Coverup After 18 Years

Image credits: Own_Competition_2182

#13 Rose Tattoo Coverup

Image credits: yerae_tt

#14 Show Me Your Tits! Bushtit, Wrentit & Titmouse Birds. Scar Cover Up From Top Surgery

Image credits: inkbypush

#15 My Artist Just Got A Lifelong Customer

Image credits: sentient_potato97

#16 After A Decade Of Believing It Would Be Impossible, I Finally Got My Embarrassing Mistake Covered

Image credits: BakedBen420

#17 Ex Boyfriend Initials Coverup!!

Image credits: littlebabby

#18 Inverted Flower Ghibli Coverup

Image credits: Jsweezy26

#19 Got This 30 Year Old Flash Tattoo Finally Covered Up

Image credits: HooKerzNbLo

#20 Reassurance 🙁

I posted on here before because I wanted to get a cover up since my mom does not support me as a lesbian and stands up for her family who support Trump and has disowned me. The original tattoo is first. I just got it covered up, and everyone is telling me it looks so bad. I’m really sad. I really loved the idea and it was very symbolic to me and I think he did a pretty good job, but now everyone has me feeling like trash. It’s obviously swollen and fresh here but I guess don’t comment if you’re just going to make me feel worse because I can’t handle any more of it this week….

Image credits: coolcatsam

#21 I Presented My Artist With Quite The Challenge And I’m Happy With The Results

This was actually the third time getting this tattoo worked on. The first time was done on some girls kitchen and I don’t even have photo evidence of that. It was BAD (kids, please wait until you can pay for a good tattoo before getting one). The before picture I posted here was actually after another proper artist fixed it up for me. I know, it’s so awful but she did the best that she could; my foot was pretty chewed up.
So yeah, I’m not embarrassed of my tattoo anymore. It’s still healing and that process hasn’t been fun but it’s so worth it!!!

Image credits: Chicky_Melly

#22 Blackwork Coverup

Image credits: average_gremlin

#23 My Cover Up!

Image credits: AgeInternational5130

#24 Coverup I Did Last Summer, Now One Of My Favorite Pieces

I regretted so much about tattooing this mantra.. it was really important to me at the time and had a big connection with to my dad, who I’ve since gone NC with after learning a lot of disturbing things about him. Now what used to be a painful and embarrassing part of me is one of my favorite pieces i have.

A few notes. The center face was empty space. This is half of the mantra, it continued on my chest (i did a separate coverup of that, which i also love).

When i approached this artist i asked how she felt about a coverup and sent her pics of the original. When she said she was open to it, i sent a few samples of her work that i liked (similar “bug babe” designs) and then told her she could design anything she wanted to cover / fill the space, that i really liked heavy black, and that i was comfortable going as big as she wanted.

Booked two days back to back, about 9hrs total.

Super happy with the results.

Image credits: lucyjuggles

#25 Cover Up #2 Done

Image credits: h00d_r4t

#26 Phil Hatchet Yau, San Diego

Image credits: Few_Worry_5595

#27 Just Wanted To Show Off My Cover Up Tattoo

Image credits: Rough-Mix-5839

#28 Bad Trad Is Now Good Trad

Image credits: emilymakesgames

#29 Name Coverup, Done By Me

Image credits: Aetherwyn

#30 I Could Not Be Happier

Image credits: beautiful_g1rl

#31 With No Help From This Sub Other Than “Kenough” Finally Got The Cover Up

Image credits: Odd_Confection_1108

#32 Covering Skin Grafts And Scars With A Phoenix Tattoo By Adam Sky, San Francisco, California

Image credits: Tattoodles

#33 Finally Got The Mistake I Made At 18yo Covered Up And I Think You’re Going To Like What I Went With

Image credits: ReefsnChicks

#34 Ex Best Friend Drew The Og Tattoo. Finally Got It Covered With A S.A.P (Sick A** Possum)

Image credits: Wild_Mention_5309

#35 I Should’ve Done This Sooner

Image credits: jordannbennett

#36 Lost 70 Lbs So Far And Got A Zelda Tattoo Coverup To Celebrate ✨️

Image credits: amathestria

#37 It’s Like It Never Existed

Image credits: Aquilleia

#38 Cover Up By Mike Eaton, Tattoo Asylum, Durham Nc

Image credits: Tattoo_Asylum

#39 Coverup By Yerae, Chronic Ink, Toronto

Image credits: yerae_tt

#40 Cover Up!

Image credits: seahorse921

#41 Very Pleased

Image credits: Elle_Cee00

#42 Been Drying To Get This One Covered Up For Years, Couldn’t Be Happier With The Results

Image credits: charliepiper

#43 Finally Blasted Over A Mistake From 10 Years Ago

Image credits: PlantbasedSadness

#44 Upgraded Birb

Image credits: MzMeow42

#45 Cover Up By Daryl Watson @ Tower Of Hearts In Leeds

Image credits: MissFaithless

#46 Chest Panel Cover Up!

Image credits: Ok_Dragonfruit7956

#47 Don’t Get Matching ‘Best Friend’ Tattoos

Got matching ‘best friend’ tattoos with my now ex best friend. Got it covered less than a year later. I decided ’no matter what, no matter where’ didn’t include her trying to sleep with my husband.

Image credits: OctopusMushroom

#48 Got My Cupid Covered By A Sap

Image credits: melaine0

#49 Finally Covered This Quote I Regretted Getting

Image credits: rib1356

#50 My Cover Up

Image credits: crystalpetals44

#51 😅

Image credits: tacarl2808

#52 Drunk Tattoo .. Coverup Is Beautiful

Image credits: Waste_Ad6587

#53 Bye Bye Bridget, Hello SAP

Image credits: Phi_Schrodinger

#54 A Long Journey Has Finally Come To An End!

I got a sleeve that I hated the second it was done. I was young and naive, not knowing how to stick up for myself with a difficult tattoo artist. He didn’t listen to my ideas and it made for a totally different tattoo than I had wanted. After a year of trying to love it, I took my own fate into my hands and went through with the removal process. I did 5 sessions over the course of 2 years and this week I finally got my very long awaited coverup. I’m over the moon with it. Now THIS is the sleeve of my dreams! I order it’s the original sleeve, the last stage of laser, and now the coverup! 🙂