Tattoo artists have taken to Reddit to let people know what designs they've had to refuse, even if a client is adamant about it. And amongst all the answers, there's been one that has cropped up repeatedly...
Now, getting a tattoo is (or should be) a serious life decision. Not only will whatever you choose to get inked be permanently imprinted on your skin, but you'll also have to explain your choices to everyone else around you, including future partners.
While some designs you can get away with, others are harder to cover up, and some requests are so flat-out risky that tattoo artists refuse to do them completely.
Taking to Reddit, someone asked those who work in the industry what tattoos they've refused to do for clients, and let's just say their answers were nothing short of interesting and - in some cases - utterly hilarious.
"My dad is a tat artist and once refused to do the Disney princesses all down a 40-year-old mans arm, (this guy had other badass tats of skulls and women) he wanted to do it for his 6-month-old daughter but my dad 'just couldn't do it'. Later that week the man came back crying and thanked him because he found out that the 6-month-old was not his," one Redditor replied.
Yikes.
Others outlined more serious refusals, such as one user who wrote: "A friend of mine is a tattoo artist. Won't do any of the really well-known gang symbols - his reasoning is that the gangs have their own people to do it and someone coming into his shop is probably a poser who's going to get killed for it."
But overall, there was one design that kept coming up... Names.
"Girlfriends and boyfriends names. Even husbands and wives names are kind of a bad idea as its not unusual for the relationship to go south after getting the tattoo," wrote one user.
Another agreed, saying: "I know a lot of tattoo artists and a lot refuse to do couple or name tattoos because most people regret them."
One Redditor added: "Currently with a tattoo artist, and yes, couple's names are on the never, not doing it list."
However, that doesn't stop some from following through with the risky request.
One amazing reply read: "A guy came into my work the other day with one of those traditional loveheart tattoos on his arm, but with 'NUTELLA' where the name was. When we asked him about it he said it was a cover up, his ex girlfriend was called Ella. Best tattoo ever!"
And another user explained how an artist "tattooed my name on my boyfriend's arm... after we'd been dating for all of 3 months."
But thankfully she has no regrets as of yet because they're still together.
The moral of this story is: No matter how much you love your partner, don't tattoo their name on your body.
