It’s the most generic question any person that gets tattoos could get. “Won’t your tattoo look all old and saggy when you’re 70?” My personal favorite response is simply that, well, my skin isn’t exactly going to look great when I’m retired. But all the same, the question is based off all of the horror stories everyone has seen. But what those people should realize with proper care and proper placement, it doesn’t even have to look terrible as you age. When perfectly, preserved, a tattoo doesn’t just fall off for no reason. As a perfect example I would like to direct your attention towards the woman who was frozen in ice for 12 THOUSAND years. That’s roughly 200 lifetimes. Now obviously you are not going to be spending the rest of your life frozen in ice, but the principle is the same, there is no inherent reason a tattoo can’t stay good looking with time. The woman is known as the Ice Princess, and she’s pictured below. It isn’t perfect, because of the whole 12 millennia passing thing, but nonetheless looks amazing still.
The inner forearms (in between the inside of your elbow and your palm), are absolutely great places to get a tattoo to avoid degradation over time. Compared to the top of your forearms, you may notice the inner being considerably lighter. This is because it gets far less sunlight. Now, it does get more sunlight than areas that are always covered by clothing, but not all that much comparatively to other places on your arms. As well, forearms are one of the hardest spots to gain muscle or put on fat. Now, while the outer forearms still have trouble, it is far easier to actually experience growth of it, whereas it’s very difficult to do so for your inner forearm. As well, you will not experience nearly as much abrasion. Especially if you live in warmer areas, when you sweat and wipe your sweat off your face, you rarely use the inner forearm to do so.
Another thing that needs to be factored into your decision, is avoiding areas that will often wrinkle. With that in mind, there is an area right below your hairline, above the middle of the neck, that does not have too much movement going on at any one time. This is definitely a more feminine spot (or at least considered to be so, not like there is a rule saying it is). Not where your hair ends though, but where your hair stops growing. For women, it can be shown when you want, a huge plus, and covered when you want it to be covered. Covering it also protects it from sun damage.
In between your shoulders and upper chest, near your collarbone, is another great place to get a tattoo. Same principles apply, while your stomach may grow and shrink, near your collarbone you will not store very much fat or muscle, and a tee will block the sun. Though you may want to consider the fact that anywhere near that area will be more painful than your average tattoo.
