These Photos Show What Happens To Tattoos As You Age
This is your future, young people with tats.
Donald Teel on Unsplash Older people with tattoos got them long before they became popular, and probably without giving much thought to what happens to tattoos as you age. They didn't get inked because it was trendy — they did it as a way of expressing themselves in a radical way.
You wouldn't know it by looking at the number of people with tattoos today, but even though the history of tattoos dates back to ancient times, in the modern Western world, tattoos were mainly associated with sailors and criminals until the last few decades. If you had tattoos before the 2000s, especially if you were a woman, society thought of you as hard, weird and strange.
With so much in our society still tailored to the young, older people often feel invisible and are thought of as irrelevant, but when a senior citizen is heavily inked, you can't help but notice them.
The 17 pictures of "old" people below show what happens to tattoos when you age.
There's no denying that tattoos change as you age. Factors such as loss of skin elasticity, sun exposure, weight gain or loss, and natural skin cell renewal may cause tattoos to fade, stretch, grow blurry. The extent of any such damage depends on your nutrition, hydration, the quality of the ink used, and the location on your body, among other things.
Some arguments against tattoos therefore revolve around the thinking that they will look "awful" on wrinkled and aging skin, when actually, older people with tattoos look fabulous. As you can see here, their tattoos tell the stories of their lives even as their memories start to fade.
1. An inked older couple
Shutterstock / Jack Frog
He's completely inked and completely still in love.
2. Punk rock dad with a Social Distortion tattoo on his upper arm
You're never too old to be punk rock.
3. Older woman with an arm tattoo
Shutterstock / Sabrina Bracher
If you think she regrets it, just look at that smile.
4. Man with a face full of tats
Donald Teel on Unsplash
Anybody who's met this man will never forget him.
5. Happy older woman with a full sleeve tattoo
Shutterstock / Whyframe
This beautiful woman must be smiling because her full sleeve tattoo still looks so fresh!
6. Tattooed old boxer
Shutterstock / farinsia
We're sure his tough exterior is covering up his heart of gold.
7. Older man with arm tattoos
Shutterstock / ltummy
If tattoos could talk, I wonder what stories these would tell.
8. Tattooed older BFFs
Shutterstock / YAKOBCHUK VIACHESLAV
If these two stunning older women aren't both BFF and tattoo goals, we don't know who would be.
9. Beautiful older woman with arm and chest tattoos
Shutterstock / Krakenimages
This woman is proof that a woman of a certain age can still be hot — especially with tattoos.
10. Fading hand tattoo on an older man
Shutterstock / MariaNikiforova
Tattoos do fade over time, but in many ways, that just makes them more beautiful.
11. Older man's wrist with TMI tattoo
If you know, you know. And as you age, sometimes it feels like you know too much.
12. Tattooed senior surfer
Shutterstock / DisobeyArt
Could this man get any hotter?
13. Grandpa with a "Mum" tattoo
Mom tattoos are forever.
14. Tattooed older rocker
Hatim Belyamani on Unsplash
We're pretty sure he's still the life of every party.
15. Arm tattoo on an older man with his loving wife
Marisa Howenstine on Unsplash
Another couple proving that even though your tattoos may fade, your love doesn't have to.
16. Older woman with star tattoos on her shoulder
Shutterstock / Krakenimages
This woman's stars shine just as bright as when she first got them.
17. Senior woman with beautiful flower tattoo on her hand
Shutterstock / simona pilolla 2
The beautiful flower tattoo on this woman's hand is almost as sweet as her smile.
Christine Schoenwald is a writer and performer who's had articles appear in The Los Angeles Times, Salon, Bustle, Medium, and Woman's Day.