A heavily tattooed woman who spent years getting ink added to her body has revealed why she now hates her tattoos and regrets getting any of them.
Alexa Locke was celebrating her 18th birthday when she got her first tattoo done. It felt like such a special moment, and she could hardly wait to grow her collection. But now, as a 37-year-old mom, Locke deeply regrets getting the 25 to 30 tattoos she has, telling Newsweek that she got them done “very quickly and far too young.”
The tattoos are predominantly on her arms, including a full sleeve that she got done 15 years ago. She also has designs on the top of her foot, her neck, and behind her ear. Not only has it been time consuming to get so many tattoos, but also costly. Locke predicts that she’s spent over $10,000 on tattoos since she was 18.
“I started regretting them once I became a mother,” Locke, of northern California, said. “The judgement and stereotypes around tattoos are still very strong, which is disheartening, but reality.
“I hate how everyone’s first impression is that I’m a tattooed woman. I am so much more than that. Who I was 20 years ago is nowhere near the woman I am today, and when people look at me, they just see her. The woman I am now is far more educated, mature, and secure in herself.”
How Locke feels now isn’t a reflection of others who choose to get tattoos or have done in the past. As pieces of art, “they are beautiful” and the tattoo artists couldn’t have done better, but Locke only wishes they weren’t on her body.
If she had to pick her favorite tattoo, Locke says it would be the clock on her hand that has wings and the time she was born. The sentiment behind that one is that time flies by. Meanwhile, her knuckle tattoos that spell out “stay true” are her least favorites.
“They are beautiful, and my artists did an amazing job, I just wish they were hanging somewhere in my house and not on my body. While I don’t like the ones on my body, I still admire all tattoos,” she said.
Getting tattoos removed is an option, but it’s expensive and painful. Locke has been to two sessions so far to remove the knuckle tattoos, but the pain was simply “excruciating.”
It isn’t always easy for people to talk about their tattoo regrets, but Locke didn’t want to keep shying away from how she felt. She posted a video on TikTok (@lexaterese) in July explaining why she hates her tattoos, and the clip went viral with over 6.4 million views and 463,100 likes at the time of writing.
Locke hadn’t come across many others who felt the same way about their tattoos, but she’s been amazed by the online response to her post. She’s delighted that it could resonate with so many people and offer some valuable support.
Locke said: “Millions of people related to me and felt alone in their regret. It’s embarrassing and that’s why no one talks about it. No one wants to admit mistakes they have made that are permanently on their body.
“Regret is a normal feeling to have, especially when you have grown as a person and matured into a better version of yourself. The hate I have been receiving has been mainly from the tattooed community. I will never understand how people could take my story and my opinion as a personal attack on their tattoos.”
As for any other young people who are considering getting a tattoo, Locke urges them to think it through and wait until you’re older and “have found your identity.”
In the days since the TikTok video went viral, it has amassed over 18,100 comments from internet users who praised Locke for her honesty, and others even shared their own experiences.
One comment reads: “You are literally the only person besides myself that I have ever heard say they hate all their tattoos. I regret every single one of them.”
Another TikTok user wrote: “I’m so sorry you’re dealing with this! Thank you for being so transparent!”
While another person replied: “I wish I would have waited till my brain was fully developed to get my tattoos.”
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The post Millennial Mom Spends Thousands on Her Tattoos but There’s One Huge Problem appeared first on Newsweek.
