Placement Tips If You Want A Tattoo On Your Leg

Many exciting tattoo trends have been inspiring us to get ink in 2023, as there are numerous eye-catching ideas. Some trendy tattoo ideas include edgy designs (because the glam ghoul aesthetic is peak 2023), simple line-focused tattoos, loud sticker-inspired artwork, and somewhat sparkly looks (via HelloGiggles). Thus, 2023 tattoo trends offer something for everyone, whether their aesthetic is goth, minimalistic, bold, or glamorous — or a little bit of each.

If you've never gotten a tattoo before, that appointment will likely be one of the most exciting days of your life, as you'll be getting art applied to your body to help you express yourself. To anyone wondering about the most ideal location for a first-time tattoo, legs are a good idea. When you get a tattoo on your leg, the tattoo artist probably won't have to get too close to your face, and you'll have more room for the design than on some other parts of your body. Plus, leg tattoos can usually be as visible or covered up as you want them to be, depending on what you wear. But where exactly on your leg should you get the tattoo?

People often get their first tattoos on their thighs for good reasons. If you've never gotten ink before and are scared of the pain you might experience, the higher outer thigh is one of your best bets. According to Healthline, the fat on this upper area of your leg should prevent you from feeling too much pain, and getting the tattoo won't interfere with too many nerve endings. However, don't make the mistake of assuming that you'll experience the same bearable pain level on every part of the thigh, as inner thigh tattoos can be significantly more painful.

Indeed, the inner thigh can arguably be one of the most uncomfortable places to get ink due to sensitivity, rubbing against your garments and undergarments after you get the artwork, and the tattoo artist potentially having to get close to intimate body parts to create the design, per Tattoodo. If you truly want a tattoo on your inner thigh, don't rule out the idea, though — take some time to think about whether you believe the extra pain will be worth it. Whichever part of the thigh you decide to get tattooed, a couple benefits of choosing the thigh include having more space for the design than smaller sections of your leg and it being an easy spot to cover up with clothing if you don't want everyone to see your tattoo in some settings.

If you'd prefer to get a tattoo on your calf instead of on your thigh, the good news is that getting ink on this area of your leg won't be severely painful, either. The fat and muscle in this section of your body will prevent you from dealing with excruciating pain during the process, along with there being not too many nerve endings (via Healthline). So, calf tattoos are another option for people looking for leg tattoo areas without excessive pain. Furthermore, a calf tattoo is an excellent option for anyone who wants to flaunt their ink more than they would be able to show off a thigh tattoo, but still needs to have the option of covering it up sometimes.

Although the calf may not provide as much room for artwork as the thighs, you can still get stunning designs for this area. For example, a tattoo artist named Jessica Bank shared a video showing an intricate full-calf tattoo that took over five hours to create. The design was beautiful, as it featured flowers, a stunning blue butterfly, and many other elaborate details, proving that the calf can be a promising canvas.

Let's make one thing clear: Ankle tattoos are adorable. Like the wrist, the ankle serves as an ideal canvas for dainty, alluring body art. After all, there are more than 200,000 posts dedicated to #ankletattoo on Instagram at the time of writing, as there are so many fun design ideas for ankle ink. Some cute ideas include bracelet-inspired tattoos that wrap around the ankle, ethereal details such as a moon and stars, a little animal, or beautiful floral art. Moreover, ankle tattoos rarely seem overpowering since they tend to be small and are so low on your body. But as gorgeous as they look, getting them doesn't feel so good.

The ankle area is typically more painful than the outer thigh or calf for a tattoo. "The farther you get from the heart, the longer it takes for that area to heal, so you have to be more diligent with aftercare in these areas," Jennifer Schloth, a board-certified dermatology PA, told Byrdie. Your ankles are far from your heart, so get ready for a lot of pain and aftercare. Since this part of your body doesn't have much fat but does have a lot of bone, it will likely hurt — but the specific level of pain depends on the person, per Authority Tattoo. Whether or not you opt for an ankle tattoo all depends on how much pain you're willing to go through for that stylish new ink.