At the cutting edge of body art styles in 2023 are minimalist tattoos. Their refined, “less is more” style goes well with the trend in culture toward less stuff and more mindful living.

People who have small, stylish, simple tattoos can make a statement without being showy or loud. Instead of photorealistic details, they use symbolic patterns to show what they mean. Artists use simple shapes, empty space, and a small number of colors to great effect.

Dots, triangles, circles, single thin lines, and other geometric shapes look great in minimalist tattoos. They can be used to make abstract pictures or spell out words and phrases. Arms, wrists, fingers, shoulders, neck, back, and legs are great places to put subtle tattoos because they look great with them.

Tattoos with thin bands around the arm or leg, constellations, single-outlined shapes like moons and hearts, lettering tattoos with dates and names, line art of animals and plants, zodiac symbols, and sacred geometry tattoos like mandalas and metatron cubes are all common examples.

For inspiration, look to celebrities like Justin Bieber, Mandy Moore, and Miley Cyrus who sport sleek, modern tattoos. The refined minimalism of their body art is right on-trend for 2023.

Even small pop culture reference tattoos and quotes work well through a minimalist lens. Subtlety and creativity are key when perfectly executing this hot tattooing style.