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Are you thinking of getting a tattoo? Your new tattoo might look pretty awesome now, but have you ever wondered what it’d look like when you’re older? There are many reasons and factors why this happens, and many answers to the question of how tattoos age. 

One way to keep your tattoo looking fresh and prevent it from aging is to ensure that you follow the proper healing procedures, as even the best tattoos can be affected by not taking proper care. Most parlors will advise you about care and tattoo aging, so make sure you pay attention!

As tempting as it might be, don't spend too much time touching your new tattoo idea that came to life, as this can lead to discoloration and infection. If your tattoo is new, then try to keep it out of the sunlight, even when it’s fully healed. Make sure you always moisturize your skin with the highest SPF sunscreen on any exposed tattoos whenever you’re out and about.

Finally, never forget to search for a highly skilled and qualified tattoo artist, as he is the one who will execute the work, making sure you won't regret it. Now scroll down below to find how some of the old tattoos look today—not all of them stood the test of time.

What Happens to Tattoos Over Time?

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When it comes to aging, the type of tattoo ink can make a big difference, for example, with cheaper ink often fading much quicker than higher-quality alternatives. 

The color of the ink makes a big difference, too, as the lighter the ink, the faster it fades (remember that next time you’re thinking about getting one of those white ink tattoos!). Another thing to consider is the placement of your tattoo, as this can also influence the speed of fading. 

Tattoos on areas that see a lot of activity, such as your feet and your fingers, are much more likely to fade than tattoos on your back or chest, for example. Also, the design comes into play, too—the smaller and more intricate the tattoo’s detailing is, the more chance it will get blurred years later. 

If body art fades with time, what do tattoos look like when you get old? Well, check out this tattoo aging time-lapse compiled by Bored Panda to see for yourself how aged tattoos look now.

#4

Fresh And Aged Tattoo

Fresh And Aged Tattoo

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Stacy Lauren
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Watercolor sucks. A lot of tattoo artists go too light handed and don't go down far enough. When it didn't hurt much at all, it won't stay as much

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Snafflepuss
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah, this brushstroke style is notorious for dropping out because is not contained within black lines.

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Dannielle Dycus
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The issue with water color tattoos and soft shaded inks is they will not only fade more quickly from washing or being in the sun but the ink is not placed as deep in the skin as you would regular lined tattoos or deep shading so the skin will shed out the inks. It also depends on how well you take care of it.

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Shannon Alexander
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Watercolor can be done successfully when the Artist is truly skilled! Research...u get what u pay for.

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Lucky Lambdin
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This tattoo is particularly trashy-lookin. Weak, ill-conceived & rather poorly done. Looks like a big mistake in the "later" photo.

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Laura Henri
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

most watercolor tattoos will look like nothing in a few years

getin avatar
get in
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

People don't listen, stay out of the sun. Mine still looks fresh and it was done over 30 years ago. I'm 63 now.

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Lou Varner
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

true the sun will cause fading you can see tan lines on her she didn't take care of her tat i have several that are more than 20 years old that are protected from too much sun and they look as good now as when they were fresh

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Mary Luke
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is why when I asked my artist for watercolor without lines he said no. Lol.

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Michel M. Prins
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Still looks pretty nice :) The subtle colors in the second one gives it more mystery :)

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Monica Wu
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Holy c**p, now I see what they mean about watercolor tattoos now. My tattoo artist was telling me how all those trendy watercolor / painting tattoos look stunning fresh but won't look like that over time.

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Alli B
Community Member
5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I would have kept the notes, but wouldn't have done water coloring. at least the color will fade away and you'll have an awesome tattoo again.

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Shanel Sions
Community Member
5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It just needs a touchup as is typical of colorwork, but I agree the black scale still looks great.

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Barbi Harmanová
Community Member
5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

i wonder how many people think she got beaten up whenever she wears a collar... the red on the neck it must look like a bruise

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Dreolin2004
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's a real shame. That one is really beautiful, still cool looking though.

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Cecilia Weber
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

From the tan lines, it's a safe bet she doesn't get sunblock on the tat, considering how washed out it is

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Joseph Ryan
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

amazing how the hair has faded too! (lol) Better scapular definition/posture too. Still looks good.

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Coley Forrester
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What the f**k is this a tattoo of anyway? She better hope it fades all the way off...

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Julie Atwood
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I always wonder about these water color tattoos, they just don't LOOK like they'd last long.

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Cheryl Birkhimer
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How long from "fresh" to "later"? Something tells me it's not too much later. Rather sad.

getin avatar
get in
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

People don't listen, STAY OUT OF THE SUN. Mine still looks FRESH and I got it 30 years ago.

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Marie-Louise Avery Linklater
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Red and violet colours tend to be 'fugitivr'. I think the components of the colours in oil paints etc that make them lightfast are elements like cadmium that are poisonous. They obviously also become more diffuse with time. Being tattooed totally incompréhensible to me!

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Melissa Swanepoel
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Water colours tend to disappear faster, besides you can get touch ups on all of these tattoos

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Bel Panado
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I really thought the red part was blood. This is how clueless I am with tattoos :(

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Heather Gillis
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

hands and feet will always fade fast.. we use them the most, and hands are washed frequently (hopefully)

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Savannah
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Normally tatoos with color fade faster, its just the different ink doesn't set into the skin as well

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brandon sat
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

i wouldn't use the word normally since my half sleeve is about 10yrs old and hasn't faded one bit.

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Joshua Pullen
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is due too not saturating the skin enough, but can easily be touched up.

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Lucky Lambdin
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This tattoo is particularly trashy-lookin. Weak, ill-conceived & rather poorly done.

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Susann Campbell
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The way I see it is the Artiest was stingy with the ink and she should go back and have it redone free.

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Amanda Weaver
Community Member
6 years ago

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This is why people need to get off the bandwagon

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#5

Intricate Tattoo 10 Years Later

Intricate Tattoo 10 Years Later

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J.E.C.
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I mean, it is small print very close together. You know it is going to bleed a little so this was a bad call, the tattoo artist should have told them this would happen. Maybe they did..

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#6

Aged Finger Tattoo

Aged Finger Tattoo

When I had decided to get the tattoo done, I knew that the area was not ideal and that the tattoo would fade at some point. I made a point to follow the aftercare instructions "to a T". My expectation was that I would have this tattoo for longer than a week.

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Martha Liebenberg
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's called a blowout. Happens when the needle goes too deep into the skin. Fingers are very hard to do, the skin is flimsy. It could happen the most skilled artists. It's just a poor choice in placement. That's all.

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#7

Back Tattoo After Healing

Back Tattoo After Healing

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Laury M.
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Lighting, camera angle and quality are all wildly different, so that's not entirely fair.

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#9

Aged Wrist Tattoo

Aged Wrist Tattoo

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Michel M. Prins
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Interesting tribal design. A quick touch up should do the trick, that's the nice part about a tribal tattoo

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#10

Small Tattoo After 7 Years

Small Tattoo After 7 Years

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#12

Celtic Tattoo 15 Years Later

Celtic Tattoo 15 Years Later

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Michel M. Prins
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The dark tone of the current one actually compliments the fact that it should represent an ancient Celtic symbol. Giving it a touch-up would be nice, but won't be all that necessary

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#14

Aged Neck Tattoo

Aged Neck Tattoo

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#15

Tiny Aged Tattoo

Tiny Aged Tattoo

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Luc Mailloux
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Where on the body is this? Context would be great... Looks like the foot to me, which would make this fading make perfect sense.

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#17

Aged Shark Tattoo

Aged Shark Tattoo

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#18

Aged Mouth Tattoo

Aged Mouth Tattoo

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#19

Finger Tattoos Months Later

Finger Tattoos Months Later

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#21

Finger Tattoo 6 Weeks Later

Finger Tattoo 6 Weeks Later

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Crazy Cow Lady
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This one almost looks intentional, like the words really disappearing, like they do on the map.

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#23

Aged Tattoo

Aged Tattoo

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Pe Ka
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How much better cameras they've had 14 years ago!!! Unbelievable :)

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#24

Faded Tattoo

Faded Tattoo

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Wanni
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I don't know why artists did tattoos on this parts of a boby. They know that the tatt fades out on feets and fingers

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#26

Faded Palm Tattoo

Faded Palm Tattoo

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Cat Meow
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not sure what they expected when they decided to get a tattoo on their palm

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#30

Aging Of A Finger Tattoo

Aging Of A Finger Tattoo

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Most Popular Questions About Aging Tattoos

Despite ink changing over the years, this doesn't mean old people with tattoos look bad. We have answered some of the most popular questions about tattoo aging, so you can be more prepared.

Do Tattoos Fade Away When You Get Older?

Many people wonder what will happen to their tattoos as they age. Will they fade away or lose their vibrancy? The answer depends on several factors. Your tattoo may  begin to fade due to aging skin, natural skin cell renewal, ultraviolet rays, ink quality, and poor tattoo aftercare.

Have you ever seen an old person with tattoos? As you probably noticed, they may become blurry, dull, or wrinkled, while others maintain their look longer. Generally, tattoos on old people's skin tend to fade more than on younger ones because the aging skin loses collagen and elasticity, causing it to stretch and sag. 

Additionally, factors such as diet, weight gain, weight loss, and smoking can also affect the appearance of tattoos. Some tattoo styles, such as watercolor or colorful tattoos, may be more prone to fading than black or tribal tattoos.

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Therefore, before getting tattoos, consider these factors and choose a design that will age well. Prevent tattoo aging by taking good care of it by applying sunscreen, moisturizing, and avoiding infections. By doing so, you can enjoy your tattoo for many years.

What Are the Possible Options to Consider With an Old Tattoo?

Ultimately, a tattoo is a part of your skin and will change as you change. You could find yourself getting a tattoo cover-up, a new tattoo that hides the old one, or a laser removal.

However, both options can be expensive, painful, and risky and may not guarantee a perfect result. A touch-up is a great way to refresh the beauty and brightness of your tattoo. Still, it should be done by a professional and experienced tattoo artist, as a bad touch-up can ruin your tattoo even more. 

How Do Fine Line Tattoos Age?

Fine line tattoos are a popular tattoo style created using a single needle and has  thinner and more delicate lines. This technique is often used for small tattoos or small details in larger tattoos.

However, fine line tattoos are more prone to fading, blurring, and distortion over time, leaving you with a design that looks very different from the original. 

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