15 Tattoos That Went Horribly Wrong

When I asked people to send me their bad tattoos for this piece, my favorite response came from Helen, who not only acknowledges that she has a bad tattoo, she actually embraces it. "It's Kevin French from the show Mission Hill covered by Malevich's Black Square, which is really a terrible rectangle," Helen explains. "Then it was laser-removed 24 times after the face scarred through the square like puffy paint."

"Goonies never say die," reads this quote tattooed on the foot of Twitter user @borderlinefemme. "I wanted it to be on the side, but the artist said my foot was too tiny so he did it diagonally," she explains. "Oh, and turns out if you choose a font from a film about 12-year-olds, it will look like a 12-year-old DIY tattoo."

This is the tattoo that belongs to yours truly, folks. It was done in — wait for it — a living room the month I turned 18 by somebody, who barely knew what she was doing. It is patchy and jagged, and if you turn you head to the right, it looks like a sad face. Yes, I regret it. No, I am not getting it removed. Yes, I'm glad it's on my back and I don't have to look at it ... except for when I'm doing roundups of bad tattoos.

Francesca originally wanted to get a tramp stamp "because that was the coolest thing to do in the '90s." Since she was obsessed with her astrological sign, she opted to turn it into a tattoo design — which she subsequently had tattooed on her lower back, as did her boyfriend at the time. And while she hasn't seen her ex since 1999, she's pretty sure he still has it.