Tattoos are for life, not just for a season, so if you’re planning on getting inked you might want to be wary of jumping on any trend bandwagons you may live to regret.
One person who knows this more than most is celebrity tattoo artist, Kevin Paul, responsible for tattoos on the likes of Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles, Rihanna, James Arthur and Rizzle Kicks.
He told HuffPost UK that he warns his customers against trendy choices.
“I often tell people not to have fashion tattoos, as they’re the ones people always regret,” he explained.
According to Paul it is “hard to predict” where the trends will go next but if he had to put money on the most popular trend for the whole of 2017, he says it would be mandala patterns.
A mandala is a circular figure that represents the universe in Hindu and Buddhist symbolism.
The 38-year-old also says that black silhouettes of trees are growing in popularity this year.
However, there is one design he is sick of seeing and it is not what you would expect.
“I’m looking forward to the pocket watch trend dying out! About 10 people a week ask for them,” said Paul.
And other tattoos he doesn’t like doing are: “lettering, tribal tattoos, clocks, clouds and angels”. So remember that next time you’re picking out your design.
In an interview with HuffPost back in February, Paul admitted that he didn’t understand why Ed Sheeran gets so much criticism for his tattoos.
Paul helped Sheeran design his now infamous lion tattoo on his chest, which Sheeran admitted to GQ, had been widely criticised by the press and his fans.
“I don’t know why it got bad press - maybe just because it was so much bigger than any of the other tattoos he had done at that point,” Paul said.