Beauty
Behind each piece of the star’s body art.
Even though body art is such a personal form of expression, it’s still fun to see other people’s ink collections — and that includes celebrities. There’s Hailey Bieber’s array of dainty hand tattoos, Adele’s celestial design, Miley’s symbolic tats, and countless other A-listers who serve as major body art inspo. Another notable star worth looking to for ink ideas? Selena Gomez, whose assortment of designs runs the gamut of discrete micro tats to meaningful dates.
The multi-hyphenate currently has 16 different pieces of body art that she’s collected over the course of her career. Gomez’s tattoos are placed all over her body: There are several on her neck (including one in honor of her third music album, Rare), one running down the top of her foot, a small design on her wrist, and — her latest — a gorgeous watercolor-style rose on the upper side of her back. The singer-slash-actor and beauty entrepreneur also has a couple of matching tattoos that she got with friends to commemorate their relationship, as well as designs that serve as tributes to people in her family.
Curious about her ink collection? Keep scrolling for a guide to Gomez’s tattoos and the meaning behind each.
1
Rose
Gomez’s most recent piece of body art is this stunning pink rose that sits atop a dripping stem — a design she got done by one of her go-to artists, Keith McCurdy, aka New York City-based Bang Bang Tattoo. The top of the flower is at the very bottom of her neck and the design flows down towards her middle back.
2
“Rare”
Another tat by McCurdy is this one of the word “Rare,” a nod to Gomez’s music album that came out in 2020. The word is a dainty cursive print that sits right underneath her right earlobe.
3
Prayer Hands
On her upper leg, Gomez has a prayer hands tattoo with rosary beads hanging down from them. The star revealed the fresh ink on her Instagram in 2019 shortly before the American Music Awards via a collage of Polaroid pictures.
4
Semicolon
The semicolon tattoo on Gomez’s right wrist is a matching design she got with friends and 13 Reasons Why co-stars Tommy Dorfman and Alisha Boe. It’s meant to symbolize Project Semicolon, a nonprofit mental health organization.
5
“1”
Another matching piece of body art? The number “1” on Gomez’s right rib cage — a design she got in 2018 to symbolize her friendship with Courtney Lopez.
6
“4”
Gomez also has the number “4” inked on her right forearm. It’s a tat she got with four of her closest friends that will be her “4” for the rest of her life, as she wrote on her Instagram.
7
“Love Yourself First”
Written across her rib cage is the phrase “love yourself first” in Arabic script. It was actually a design fans could copy via temporary tats she sold during her Revival tour in 2016.
8
“LXXVI”
The Roman numerals for the number 76, which are stamped across the back of her neck (a design done by McCurdy), purportedly symbolize Gomez’s mother’s birth year.
9
“G”
Just beneath Gomez’s left ear is a lowercase “g,” which Gomez got in tribute to her half-sister Gracie.
10
Music note
Gomez shows her love of music with this micro-tattoo of a music note on her wrist. This is a small piece of ink the singer got back in 2012.
11
“Sunshine”
Another design Gomez sold as a temporary tattoo during her Revival tour? The word “sunshine,” which the star has in print along her right foot, supposedly as a nod to her grandmother.
12
Arrow
Clearly Gomez has a penchant for getting matching tattoos. She got her arrow tat, a design that sits on her left hand, with BFF and collaborator Julia Michaels.
13
“God who strengthens me”
Gomez has several pieces of ink that represent her faith — something she’s been open about. Along the top of her right hip is the Biblical phrase “God who strengthens me” from Philippians 4:13.
14
Cross
McCurdy was also the artist behind Gomez’s cross tattoo, a religious design she got in April 2021. It’s a delicate line tat located on her left collarbone.
15
Date of her kidney transplant
With the debut of her music video for “Rare,” Gomez revealed yet another tattoo: a date that signifies when she got a kidney transplant. You can see the numbers right on top of her right elbow.
16
“x31”
On Gomez’s left hip is “x31,” which — according to an interview with Refinery 29 — stands for the date she met one of her closest friends.
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