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WHAT ARE PEOPLE'S BIGGEST BODY ART REGRETS?

Dr Stephen Crabbe, a linguistics expert from the University of Portsmouth, commissioned a survey of 1,000 UK residents who had already confessed to regretting their tattoos. 

Around 18 per cent of the UK population aged 18 years and older admits to having body art, according to the study.

They found out what tattoos they had, why they got them in the first place, and why they changed their mind about them.

Almost one third (31.34 per cent) of men and 24.33 per cent of women regretted daubing someone's name permanently on their body.

Specific designs stood out for condemnation. For men, a tribal theme (12.81 per cent) and Asian characters (12.53 per cent) were the other most popular designs they held regrets about getting.

Women felt star constellations (15.95 per cent) and Asian characters (12.64 per cent) were most likely designs to regret. 

One aspect found by the survey was that 15.64 per cent of women felt judged by their tattoo, compared to just 9.54 per cent of men.

Around one third (29.50 per cent) said they had considered getting a tattoo removed but hadn’t yet gone through with it and around one quarter (24.50 per cent) already had removed a tattoo.

Around one third (28.30 per cent) answered that they would rather cover the tattoo up than have it removed and just 17.70 per cent admitted that they would leave the tattoo as it was and not cover it up.

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