25 Blast Over Tattoos That Are Better Than Cover Ups

A blast over tattoo is a form of cover up tattoo that doesn’t fully cover the tattoo below, effectively creating a dynamic, layered ink look. A tattoo on a tattoo! It’s a solid option for those with little room left to work, meaning, no places on the body left to tattoo! A blast over tattoo is a great piece for any serious ink collector!

These tattoos vary in color, style, and execution so there’s plenty to explore in this diverse sub-genre of tattoos. If you’re older ink is beginning to fade or you’re simply looking for a change, a blast over might be the perfect option for you as these designs look very unique and will appeal to most hardcore tattoo lovers. We discovered some truly incredible examples to inspire you! Here are 25 blast over tattoos that might make you reconsider your plan to cover up an older one!

Hissss

Bring new life to a faded tattoo with a blast over like this one! Bold and black is a popular choice for people who get these blast over designs. Isn’t it haunting?

Reveal

Here, we find a partial blackout tattoo that reveals colorful ink underneath and helps to bring life to the floral shapes. If you’re wanting to revamp a very colorful tattoo, recycling the pigmented inks underneath is a smart way to go!

The Web

This very tidy spiderweb tattoo looks smart on top of a faded, bluish grey one. Spiderwebs are a classic design that you really can’t go wrong with.

Double Blast

In these face and neck tattoos, we find traditional designs covering an ornamental mandala-inspired design that’s seen happier days. If you’re trying to spruce up a larger design, multiple smaller designs work well.

Woof!

Here’s a fairly ominous looking big bad wolf on top of various other tattoos. Any design with “blank” or negative space will act like a window revealing the past.

Butterfly

Reintroducing pitch-black ink to a tattoo sleeve brings depth and visual interest. Here, we find a butterfly that looks as if it’s landed right on top of this person’s hand. Blast over with a butterfly!

Twist the Knife

Well, this skull looks really dead as the design has done a lot to ensure it. There’s a dagger through the eye socket and a snake ready to strike. Danger! Danger!

Boba

We find Boba Fett’s helmet here with an interesting geometric pattern. As you can see this new tattoo covers an older one that’s got blue flames. We love this creative design!

Dynamic

Please, always lean into your colorful and creative tendencies. This bold black and neon orange flower looks remarkable on an older black and grey design. What a dream!

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Strange Face

This is probably the weirdest blast over tattoo we stumbled across. A minimalist cat has been partially covered with a trippy, angular face. We don’t know why, and we don’t care.

Abstract on Portrait

A delicate black ink portrait that’s seen better days can barely be seen underneath these thick bands of black. We love the way this design turned out and would recommend people considering a blast over to pair complex designs with minimal ones.

Whisper

Do you think this person likes tattoos? We love this big snake’s head tattoo that covers some existing designs. Black and red will never do you wrong.

Meow

This person has decided to go with some yogi vibes to cover up existing work. We love the way the full-color sits on top of the faded grey.

Beauty

This is a traditional portrait that looks so haunting on top of an almost invisible tattoo beneath. Again, don’t be afraid of color when going for one of these cover ups.

Eye Spy

This is drama! By choosing a flat design like this, the tattoo artist contrasts busier designs below to the pop art-style eye. What a cool look!

Shattered

An old tattoo of Snow White has been obscured by a black ink tattoo that looks just like shattered glass. We wish the artist who shared it would have told us the story behind this one. Did she have a bad meeting with Grumpy?

Be Bold

This vaguely psychedelic design is remarkable. It resembles a totem pole and has heart and flower shapes included. The result is a dreamy tattoo that looks wholly original.

Cat’s Meow

A fat cat is getting his time in the sun with this fun design. This looks both bold and playful and we’re not mad about it.

Golden Smile

Check out this cowboy! A skull is topped with a cowboy hat and flower. Traditional designs like this one will never go out of style!

La Fleur

Why so indifferent, black flower? This tattoo looks so young, fresh, and irreverent. We love a good flower tattoo, so naturally, we’re obsessed.

Neck Blast

These wisps of black ink accentuate the shape of the neck and complicate the existing design even more. What a thrill!

Purrrrfect

This fancy feline makes for an attractive blast over on the chest. We love the way the lines that compose it have a gentle fade. As you can see, each line gets bolder the further it moves from the center of the cat’s face.

Take to Heart

This stunning sacred heart tattoo shines on top of a faded floral design. In general, we like to see a little more of the old design shining through, but this one completely works.

Vermin

“All the flies and all the fleas are left to me as company. Added more vermin,” the tattoo artist who applied this additional layer of ink wrote. Feel free to get weird, it will serve you well.

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Moth Moment

Wow! This moth looks almost like it’s got an ombre effect thanks to the color it reveals. Sharp lines and attention to detail have created a truly fabulous design.

There you go! 25 blast over tattoos that prove that these designs might be better than a traditional cover up. We hope this list inspired you to get your own ink and to be bold with your design choices. Express yourself!