Tiny tattoos: 21 real-life ideas for your next inking

A new era of tattooing is here - one that is simple, stylish and elegant...

Tattoos: love them or hate them, we're all fascinated by them. And in our opinion, the smaller, the cooler. There's not much reasoning to it but looking and admiring at a delicate tattoo, so carefully designed and curated on the body, is something of an obsession amongst us at Marie Claire HQ.

Whether it's the actual design, the colour of the ink, or where it's placed, checking out and admiring tattoos has become one of our favourite past times, enhanced further buy the wonders of Instagram.

When we're not checking out the latest tiny inking from the likes of Kylie Jenner, Care Mulligan and Anne Hathaway, we're scrolling through our Insta feeds admiring bloggers, friends and hipster tattoo parlours and their subtle designs.

Our favourite models and A-list celebs have helped to totally transform the rep of tattoos. No longer associated with footballers or bold and garish designs, they're delicate, petite and oh-so-arty. What you choose says a lot about you so getting it right is so important.

Whether you're looking to add to your inkings or debating which design reflects your personality, this gallery is sure to inspire. We?re rounded up some of the coolest, cutest and beauty-centric designs out there.

Tattoo artists from Los Angeles to Tokyo are inking customers with minimalist designs from geometric shapes to delicate patterns. But that doesn't mean these shapes and symbols haveany less substance or meaning. In fact, they take the more subtle approach to capturing something significant such as the shape of the skyline of a city you grew up in or the branch of a special tree. There's plenty of ideas here to inspire your very own minimalist tattoo.

If you're a little nervous about a permanent stamp, the best way to start is with something small. Luckily, we have endless inspiration of real-girl tattoosthat will leave you feeling less anxious about expressing something on your skin. Whether you're looking for a mark with meaning or just a fun design, get some inspiration from Instagram and Tumblr?

Tiny tattoos

First up is a cool and subtle design fromglittergalaxystars/tumblr. We love.

Hailey Baldwin Tattoo

Hailey Baldwin has had a tattoo done that her parents would actually approve of. NYC-based tattoo parlour West 4 Tattoo, shared her new tiny tatt on their Instagram account and spilled the beans that special design was created for her by BFF Kendall Jenner: 'P R A Y on @haileybaldwin created by @kendalljenner tattooed by #jonboytattoo 🙏 #hillsongnyc #11.'

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Tiny tattoo

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