Demi Lovato’s 10 Best Tattoos (And 10 That She Never Should’ve Gotten)

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Demi Lovato rose to fame when she was cast in the Disney Channel original movie Camp Rock and later its sequel Camp Rock 2: Final Jam. Demi would later go on to land a role in her own TV show on the channel called Sonny With a Chance since her incredible voice had managed to turn a number of heads. Demi's voice became one of the main things that she was known for, so it comes as no surprise that the former child star is still known for this quality. Of course, Demi's acting was the thing that stood out in the early years, since she was cast in Barney & Friends when she was just 10 years old. It was while she was portraying Angela on the show that she met Selena Gomez, who became a lifelong friend.

It was the success of Camp Rock and its soundtrack that later led to Demi securing a record contract and becoming one of the best known former Disney stars in the channel's history. During her time in the spotlight, Demi has shown off a number of tattoos that all have different meanings, but even she has admitted that she now has an obsession with getting tattoos. Demi has 20 tattoos in total right now, and while she will openly admit that there are many that she regrets, it seems that there are also a few that look incredible and were definitely worth the pain she went through to turn her memories into works of art.

Best: Expressing Her Faith

Demi Lovato has always been open when it comes to her faith, so it probably comes as no surprise that she decided to add a tattoo to her collection to ensure that the world knew how much this religion meant to her.

Demi had a black cross tattooed on her hand just below her pinkie finger back in June of 2011 and it was one that she admitted she had because she wanted to show off her Christian faith. Demi later stated in an interview that the cross was something that she wanted in that specific place so that all of her fans would see how much her faith meant to her every time she picked up the mic. It seems that even though Demi herself has admitted that she regrets a number of her tattoos, this is probably not one of them since her faith has always been something that has helped her through some of her toughest times.

Worst: "Let Go And Let God"

Much like her black cross tattoo, Demi got a tattoo that reads "Let Go & Let God" spanned across both of her feet back in September of 2012. At that point, Demi already had a number of tattoos that had incredible meanings behind them, so it seemed that this one was another nod towards her Christian faith.

Demi showed off her new tattoo in a number of Twitter and Instagram posts after she had it done and it seems that the tattoo isn't one that is of the same quality as many of her others. Feet are among the worst places for someone to have tattooed because of the bones, which make it incredibly painful and the tattoos themselves often don't look very good when Demi is wearing shoes. It is well-known that the singer developed an obsession with tattoos and it seems that this is one of the ones that she will live to regret.

Best: "Now I'm A Warrior"

Demi has always been quite open about the struggles that she has faced in her personal life and it seems that sometimes she needs to remind herself of everything that she has overcome to be where she is right now.

Demi had the words "Now I'm a warrior" inked on her back in May of 2013, the same day that her fourth album Demi was released. The tattoo is one of the lines from the closing song of her album called Warrior where she has been able to turn many of the struggles she has faced in her personal life into an art form. It seems that these obstacles have since gone on to make her a stronger person. This tattoo, even though it is only four words, will forever remind Demi that she is a fighter. She has already proven that so many times in her young life.

Worst: "Faith"

Demi's Christian faith has already been mentioned to be the reason behind two of her tattoos but it seems that this is one of the actresses tattoos that wasn't related to her religion.

Demi had matching tattoos with her friend Lauren Martin who she met when she was receiving treatment at Timberline Knolls. This is something that both of the women decided to have done to remind them of the battle that they had overcome. Demi admitted that this was a tattoo that she had done without telling her father, and it seems that she has gone on to have a number of things inked onto herself without his approval, because she is always thinking about when and where she can have her next one, which could be why many people were under the impression that the former child star had become obsessed with getting inked.

Best: Demi's Flock Of Birds

Demi had her "faith" tattoo a few years before she decided to go back and have a flock of birds surrounding the word. Demi had 12 birds tattooed on her arm surrounding her earlier tattoo back in 2012 and it seems that these birds have an incredible meaning for her.

Demi herself admitted that these birds are her symbol of freedom and the twelve birds relate to the 12 steps in the AA recovery program. This was the first big tattoo that Demi had and it later appeared on the cover of Demi’s self-help book entitled Staying Strong: 365 Days a Year. Each bird that the former Disney Channel star had tattooed on her represents one of the steps towards her freedom from substance abuse, which makes this tattoo one that is not only meaningful for Demi herself, but for many of her fans who supported her throughout her addiction.

Worst: Rock N Roll

Fingers are probably among the worst places that anyone can ever get a tattoo because of the fact that your fingers are used so much every day and rub against other fingers, which means that before long something that should have been permanent actually begins to rub off.

Demi had this tattoo done because she claimed that even though she herself is seen as a pop artist, she has always been a fan of rock. The tattoo consists of the words "rock n roll" down her middle finger and it seems that it matches her friend Hanna Beth Merjos' tattoo, which consists of the same words down the side of her hand. This was an odd tattoo for Demi to have since her friend had already had her version of it for a number of years, and it was a bad place for her to put it.

Best: Her Father's Favourite Number

Demi revealed her latest tattoo back in 2013 which was the number three in Roman numerals on the side of her left wrist. The singer stated that the tattoo was in memory of her father Patrick who had passed away a few months earlier after a long battle with cancer.

Demi admitted that she hadn't been close to her father throughout the last years of his life because of his problems with alcoholism and mental illness, something that Demi later suffered with herself. The number three is significant because her father was a fan of NASCAR racer Dale Earnhardt who was always seen driving the number three car. Despite their strained relationship in his later years, it seems that Demi opted to have the tattoo so she could remember her father in a positive light.

Worst: "Peace"

Much like Demi's "rock n roll" finger tattoo, the actress decided to have the word "peace" tattooed on the side of the middle finger of her left hand. It seems that this was perhaps one of the worst tattoo decisions that Demi made since the ink on the tattoo has already begun to run off and the "e" is now no longer legible.

Back in 2011, when Demi first had this tattoo done, she bragged about the fact that she had 12 tattoos and they were all in discreet locations on her body so that she could easily hide them or cover them up. It seems that this could have been why she opted to have this tattoo on the side of her finger because it isn't something that would be seen unless someone was looking for it. Now that she's older, it seems that this is definitely one of the tattoos that Demi would add to her list of regrets.

Best: "You Make Me Beautiful"

Demi had her first ever tattoo when she was just 16 years old, even though she didn't show the tattoo off until much later when she was 18 because she thought that she needed to keep her image quite clean cut to fit in with her job with Disney.

Demi had the words "You make me beautiful" written across her ribs. These words were lifted from the song "Beautiful" by Bethany Dillon. This was a song that Demi claimed changed her life, which is why she decided that her first tattoo should honor the song. Demi said that she first heard the song when she was 13 and it managed to change the way that she looked at life from that point. She said that the main reason that she connected so deeply with the song was because she had struggled with eating disorders, self-harm, and low self-esteem for many years and it finally felt as though her whole life was put into perspective.

Worst: Turquoise Feather

Demi began showing off her newest tattoo back in June of 2013 when she revealed that she had gotten a turquoise feather tattooed behind her ear while she was on her Warped Tour. Many of Demi's fans have followed her obsession with tattoos over the past few years because it seems that Demi always has meaningful ink added to her collection but it seems that this one was one of her tattoos that she admitted didn't actually mean anything.

She said that it was something that she thought looked like a fun idea but later stated that it was just stupid. The tattoo itself is quite well hidden when Demi has her hair down so at least there are times when she can hide it. Perhaps one day she will have this one covered up as well.

Best: Rose Tattoo

It has already been mentioned how much Demi felt the need to pay tribute to her father with her tattoos following his passing back in 2013, and it seems that she went on to have a number of other tattoos on the same arm as her "III" tattoo, including a rose.

Demi had the rose tattoo touched up back in 2016 when she visited tattoo artist Bang Bang so that it reached around her arm and allowed her to add more leaves to it. The tattoo itself is one of the most iconic one that the singer currently has, and now it seems that she has been able to allow it to go side by side with the one she had done for her father as her own personal tribute to one of her biggest fans.

Worst: Lips

Demi and her friends Hanna Beth Merjos, Ivey Ensley, and Lauren Pietra all had the same matching tattoo done back in July of 2016, which was designed based on Ivey's lips. While Demi had her tattoo on her wrist, Ivey and Hanna had theirs on their collarbone.

Demi came to hate this tattoo. It was another spur of the moment decision she made during her Warped Tour and she stated that it ending up looking like a certain body part. Her comments about the tattoo went on to cause her problems with the tattoo artist who drew it for her when she stated that Demi was rude and didn't even pay for the tattoo to begin with, even though it was exactly what she asked for. It was obviously one that Demi later lived to regret since her knew rose tattoo up her arm is the one that she opted to have a few years later to cover up her past mistake.

Best: Family Member's Birthdates

Demi first showed off one of her biggest tattoos back in October of 2014, which contained five birthdates in Roman numerals down her left-hand side. Demi had this tattoo done late at night following her concert in New York City and it seems that each date is the birth date of one of her family members.

Demi's mother, older sister, half-sister, step-father and real father are all included in the tattoo with the only member of her family that wasn't added to the masterpiece being Demi's older half-sister Amber, who she didn't have a lot of contact with at the time. Amber was the daughter of her estranged father and the singer had no idea that she even existed until 2012. It seems that this is one of the tattoos that Demi opted to have to show how close she is to her family and how much they have helped her throughout her life.

Worst: Hasty Cover Up

Demi's lip tattoo has already been mentioned and it was also stated that the spur of the moment decision to have the tattoo was one that the actress lived to regret, so much so that she decided to have the whole thing covered up in April of 2015 when she began showing off a grey scale image of a rose.

Two of the darker leaves of the tattoo managed to cover up the original tattoo and Demi herself later admitted that she was not in the right state of mind when she had the original one done, which could be why she went on to regret it. The actress seems happy with her new piece on her forearm and as seen above, it seems that she has even gone on to add to the original tattoo over the past year as well. Perhaps this is a lesson not to make spur of the moment decisions to have tattoos that are permanent.

Best: Demi's Trip To Kenya

Demi decided to have a tattoo to commemorate a trip that she took to Kenya back in 2013. The actress had been able to remain sober for a number of months and with her twenty-first birthday coming up, she thought that a party would boost temptation after she had done so well.

Instead, she decided to take a volunteer trip to the Maasai Mara Region of Kenya where she worked with the charity WE and helped to build a new school. This was something she gained a lot of perspective out of and decided that she wanted something to remember such an eye-opening trip. She revealed her latest addition to her collection in August of 2013 which was added to the inside of her right arm and stated that she opted to have the outline of Africa itself rather than Kenya because it was more recognizable.

Worst: Dreamcatcher

Demi's sides are reaching the point where they are completely covered in ink. The singer already has her family's birthdates down one side and her "you make me beautiful" tattoo along with feathers added to the opposite side, but it seems as though this wasn't enough.

Demi later went on to add a dreamcatcher style tattoo to her lyrics on her side which looks like a squashed circle down her side. It seems that since she has now had this tattoo updated three times, she could have attempted to put too much in such a small space. Also, because they were all done at different times, the colours and shading is different on all three pieces which stops the tattoo from completely coming together. It was a nice idea, but it seems that this was one that didn't work out as well as it did in theory.

Best: Tribute To Her Dog Buddy

Demi added a faint quote to her foot back in September of 2015 which reads "Buddy was here." This was the actress' tribute to her dog Buddy, who passed away a few months before. It seems that Demi picked out the quote and the backwards "Y" on purpose so that it looked like a child's handwriting.

Buddy was a Christmas gift from her boyfriend less than a year before in 2014 and it seems that she had become quite attached to the Maltipoo puppy and was heartbroken when the tragedy occurred. Demi later went on to have another dog called Batman a few months later, but it seems that the singer still holds Buddy in high regard and even tweeted to say that even though she has a new dog in her home, it seems that she will always have Buddy in her heart.

Worst: Pinky Finger Smiley Face

Demi has already admitted that there are a number of tattoos that she has had over the past few years that have been spur of the moment decisions that she went ahead with and then later regretted. It seems as though her smiley face tattoo on her pinky finger could be one of the ones that she adds to this list.

Demi's reasoning for the tattoo was that "life's too short not to have a tattoo on your pinky finger," which in itself is obviously not a great reason. With many tattoos on the inside of her hands, like her "peace" tattoo, it seems that this one will probably begin to rub off because of the grease on our fingers and how much we use the tips of our fingers on a regular basis. Even if Demi doesn't regret this tattoo right now, it will be one that she is constantly forced to have redrawn when it consistently rubs off.

Best: "Stay Strong"

Demi has always been quite open about her struggles with an eating disorder and it seems after spending three months in rehab back in 2011 after she reached a point where she needed professional help, Demi decided to have the words "Stay Strong" tattooed across her wrists.

This is perhaps one of Demi's best-known tattoo pieces and one that she really needed at the time. Demi had the tattoos on her wrist to cover up the places that she used to cut when she was suffering with these issues and saw them as a representation of how far she had come when it came to her growth and recovery. Even though Demi has since had a number of tattoos added to her arms with their own individual meanings, it seems that she has always ensured that these two words are the most prominent words that she has on her wrists.

Worst: Lion Tattoo

With almost 20 tattoos on her body right now, it seems that Demi was running out of space for her most recent addition, but she still managed to find a spot. Demi showed off the tattoo of a lion's head on the back of her hand last year but it was reported that Demi could have copied the design from fellow celebrities Cara Delevingne and Justin Bieber.

Ever since Cara showed off her much smaller lion tattoo on her finger, it has become iconic and one of the most in-demand tattoos of the past decade. Bieber was the next celebrity to show off his version of the tattoo but on his chest, before Demi decided to have hers on the back of her hand. While the tattoo itself is one of her best, the placing of it is definitely something she will live to regret if she decides to step back into acting in the future.