We’ve all made mistakes, but when it comes to tattoos they can be a lot more permanent than those exes. Even tattoo artists have been guilty of getting exes names put on themselves so it doesn’t matter if you’re a new tattoo enthusiast or a pro – we’ve been there. Getting an ex’s name is far from unusual, but how you cover it up will make the difference between covering it once and covering it up twice because of a bad choice. Here’s a few clever, and not so clever, ways to make that ex go away permanently.
The “Void”
What once was probably a creative idea has become rather cliché. It’s the cover up with little imagination behind it. “stamping” the word void, often with the rubber stamp itself next to it, over the name of the ex doesn’t make it disappear and while it’s kinda funny, you’re still going to see the exes name. It’s the kind of cover up you get with your bros because you think it’s funny. Your future wife won’t think so and likely will mean that you’re going to have to cover it up again.
Roses
These are the go-to cover up, often because they work and they’re easy. Roses are so commonly found that if they’re terrible looking because they’re a cover up no one will really notice. That’s not to say if you like the idea of roses that this is a bad thing, but there are more individual and unique ideas you could use. The hibiscus flower is almost as common, though they rarely look like actual hibiscuses.
Black Chunks
If you’ve ever seen a tattoo with a huge black chunk in it it’s very likely that this is a cover up. The big black blob is a giveaway that there’s something hiding under there no matter what the final shape is – a big black cross, a black bird, a huge black gaping mouth on a skull, a blob of tribal, a black 8 ball. If it’s huge and solid then it’s probably covering something.
The “Line”
Like the “void” concept, only much simpler, the name is simply lined through and either another one after it or something else pithy like “never again” or “my mistake”. It’s another cover up in progress as this will likely be covered up itself in future.
Feathers
Asides from being one of the most pointless tattoos ever, feathers rarely make good cover ups unless the name is something like “lilli”, “Ili” or anything else that is nothing but straight lines. Rarely do letters and curves fit into a feather which means you’ll see the shapes of the letters easily and spot them.
Good Cover Ups
Instead of the bad tattoo cover ups try and find something original. The easiest way to come up with something that will work is to ask your tattoo artist and figure out something that works for you and that is personal. Some of the more creative cover ups are things like movie scenes, portraits, and painting images. A good cover up doesn’t even look like a cover up.
