Tattoos on feet: what has been your experience?

LinaBo
LinaBo Posts: 342 Member
in Chit-Chat
I'm making plans for a tattoo. Well, two, sort of. One is to honour the memory of my cousin, who died 2 months ago in an accident at age 15 (but did so much in his life, he has become a huge inspiration) (and no, it will not be a portrait. I've seen how badly those can turn out!), the other is also family-related, but more to do with my cultural/ethnic heritage. I may find a way of having them flow together, and I want one on the side (outside) of my left foot, and the other is looking like a candidate for an ankle. This is something that I am planning for once I get to my goal weight, and I'm definitely going to do my research and get a safe tattoo from an excellent artist.

I'm just wondering, for anyone who has gotten one on their foot (including the sole, in case I go there), how well the ink has held up over time? Does it fade/blur quicker in that area, given how much friction the feet deal with over time? Have you re-inked, and how long did you go from original ink to having to re-ink?

Replies

  • MrsBully4
    MrsBully4 Posts: 304 Member
    Are you going to honor your ethnic heritage with a sick tribal?
  • McBully4
    McBully4 Posts: 1,270 Member
    I'd imagine the sole of your foot would fade super fast, I have tattoos on my fingers and they faded pretty quick.
  • ItsDawnMarie
    ItsDawnMarie Posts: 81 Member
    I have a tattoo on top of my foot, got it about 6 years ago still looks like new ( =
  • McBully4
    McBully4 Posts: 1,270 Member
    I have one from the top of my foot that goes up the front of my leg a bit and it still looks very nice its about 12 years old.
  • Lift_This_
    Lift_This_ Posts: 2,756 Member
    i have one on each foot and they still have very bright color in then...had them about 6 years or so.
  • LinaBo
    LinaBo Posts: 342 Member
    Are you going to honor your ethnic heritage with a sick tribal?

    Nope. The rough idea, so far, is to have maple leaf outlines (for Canada) with Dutch, Danish, and other flags/symbols from those places as fill-images inside the leaves' borders, the larger the percentage, the larger the leaf. The one for my cousin will include his name, nickname ("Dash") and some winged/forward movement motif. No foreign tribe's sacred rites, nor Chinese menu item names, will be maimed in the process.

    I'm only planning on a tattoo after careful deliberation, which includes asking myself, "will I be embarrassed by this ink when I'm old and grey, and it's shrivelled and blurry?" In this case, I'm sure the answer is "no."
  • jenniprr
    jenniprr Posts: 119
    I have one on top of my foot. I got it about 3.5 years ago and it looks great. I spend a good amount of time in the sun and I just slather it with SPF 50.

    It hurt like a mo fo. But, totally worth it.
  • kristenstejskal
    kristenstejskal Posts: 107 Member
    I have two on my feet (both on top), I would definitely expect a touch up and make sure to get it done during the summer cause you have to wear flipflops for at least two weeks so it doesn't rub. In my experience, both turned out pretty well, ones 3 years and ones 4 years old. After my initial touchups, they stayed just fine! However, a word of caution, I have 9 tattoos and the ones of my feet were definitely the most difficult/time consuming to care for and healed the slowest. Also, none of my other tats needed a touchup but yet both on my foot healed with a small area that didn't retain ink (ALL mine are done by the same artist- I love him). Also, make sure to always use sunscreen. Since the skin is very thin on the top of the foot and sun will easily fade/distort/spread the color over time (definitely will see damage within 20 years if you wear flip flops a lot in the summer).

    I would stay away from getting the underside of your foot done. My tattoo artist friend has both his palms and the soles of his feet tattooed and none of them healed properly or have held up well over time. This is because the skin on our palms/ soles of our feet regenerates extremely quickly due to the wear they receive day to day, and essentially your ink will wear itself out of the skin with all the regeneration.

    Hope I helped! Good luck!
  • totallydevious
    totallydevious Posts: 309 Member
    I have the top of my right foot done, [ going to get my left done this week ] and it looks kinda faded, it healed funny for me, I have 23 other tattoos and this one was more of a bother to deal with and it hurt worse than any I've ever had before but I plan on sucking it up and getting the other one along with getting this one redone, part of the fading problem [ I think ] because she couldn't press as hard and I couldn't take too much of it at one time before needing another break, [ mind you, I have my whole chest done and barely moved for that ] but best of luck to you! I hope you handle it better than me, I was a huge baby! :flowerforyou:
  • Halie_Bird
    Halie_Bird Posts: 47 Member
    The one across the top of my foot hurt worse than the one on the side of my foot and i'd say they for sure hurt worse than the one on my lower ankle...I'd say the pain is definitely manageable and soooo worth it =)
  • Sarah_Wins
    Sarah_Wins Posts: 936 Member
    Just fyi, I've always heard the foot is the most painful place to tattoo.
  • jackieatx
    jackieatx Posts: 578 Member
    I'd imagine the sole of your foot would fade super fast, I have tattoos on my fingers and they faded pretty quick.

    My husband actually did a smushed bug on the bottom of a foot (cute, right?) and it stayed just fine! Depends on your skin, how adept the artist is, and how good their machines are

    Oh and BTW, I would get the outline and shading done all at once. The foot can be painful and its better to just knock it all out at once. And it will cost less than going back in to finish, especially if he's charging hourly.
  • DisneyAddictRW
    DisneyAddictRW Posts: 800 Member
    Just fyi, I've always heard the foot is the most painful place to tattoo.

    I've heard this and have avoid it for this reason. I got my runners for marathons on the front of my ankle and that was horrible. I heard the foot is worse. I'll stick to adding my runners.
  • LinaBo
    LinaBo Posts: 342 Member
    Just fyi, I've always heard the foot is the most painful place to tattoo.

    So I've heard (because it's closer to the bone and nerves, right?) No worries, I have a very high pain threshold.
  • DisneyAddictRW
    DisneyAddictRW Posts: 800 Member
    I'd imagine the sole of your foot would fade super fast, I have tattoos on my fingers and they faded pretty quick.

    I also have a tat on my ring ringer. It looks new 7 yrs later. However my hubby has one and his has faded. Not sure why mine looks great and his is fading. We had the same place and same ink. I guess our skin just took differently to it.
  • amyLhuff
    amyLhuff Posts: 102
    I have both the tops of my feet done and they do fade you just have to be careful of sun. Mine really haven't faded much at all. I wouldn't do it on the soles most tattoo artists won't because that's just gonna fade almost completely away. I love my tattoos but brace yourself it hurts like crazy
  • RockaholicMama
    RockaholicMama Posts: 786 Member
    Just fyi, I've always heard the foot is the most painful place to tattoo.

    I've heard this as well, but none-the-less I'm planning to get a quill on the top of my foot. (I'm a published author, so it's for my writing)
  • annahuebscher
    annahuebscher Posts: 114
    Do it do it do it! I got the top of my foot tattooed three years ago....now of course I'm like half covered, so just be prepared its an addiction. The top of the foot has held up very well, but I wouldn't recommend soles of the foot or toes or anything like that. Everyone I know who's had them done there has been very meh on them and they've faded.

    Stings like a mofo though.....like you're on fire. Worst tattoo pain I've experienced.
  • loseiteli
    loseiteli Posts: 242 Member
    Just fyi, I've always heard the foot is the most painful place to tattoo.

    Truth.

    I have one that covers the entire top and outer side of my right foot. the only area that it fading at all is the wording closest to the bottom of my foot.

    It completely depends on the person as far as fading goes...but no matter, its worth it! :smile:
  • jesusHchris
    jesusHchris Posts: 1,405 Member
    I have the top of one of my feet. I got it in the sweltering heat after a full day of chugging beer at a metal festival. I put my sock back on over it immediately after and wore my normal skate shoes for the duration of the healing. I did wash it a couple of times a day and made sure it constantly had a fresh coat of A&D ointment, like I do with every other tattoo.

    It looks like the day I got it. No issues.

    I honestly think some people way over-think tattoo aftercare.
  • small_ninja
    small_ninja Posts: 365 Member
    I've got one on my ankle - I got it about a year ago and it still looks fine. As for the pain, it was definitely manageable.
  • embersfallen
    embersfallen Posts: 534 Member
    I have 5 tattoos... first was on my ankle.....that one is kind of faded, but I think it was more the artist then anything... 2 other people got thiers that day with me..., and thiers are lighter then all thier others as well... My top of the foot tattoo was the most recent... and healed up beautifully... did not even need any bit of touchup. :bigsmile: My opinion, is to check out some of the artists work if you can....ask around and see how others healed up......my foot tattoo is VERY vibrant... it DID hurt quite a bit... though not quite as much as my back one ( right over the spine in spots... THAT was bad. lol) Really anytime you are closer to bone, it's going to be worse... but not unbearable!!!!! And soooo worth it. :)

    I got my foot tattoo in the summer, and wore the sandals I planned on wearing the entire time of healing. I think that helped, because I did not have a shoe rubbing on it... you would need to be very careful of that depending upon shoe policies at your workplace. If you MUST wear closed shoes, I would say maybe get the tattoo on a friday, or time you will be off for a few days so it at least has time to start healing. My other 2 tattoos are both on the underside of my wrists...and one of those, the right one, did need a little bit of a touchup... i think mainly from the added friction of clothing and even my wrist sometimes touching the mousepad at work as it healed.

    Enjoy your art when you get it! :)
  • tennisbabe94
    tennisbabe94 Posts: 444 Member
    This is where I was planning on getting one, so I'm interested in what everyone has to say!

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