Mystery behind Ariana Grande's disappearing tattoo as fans speculate

Ariana Grande's tattoos have caused confusion among fans, with the star intermittently being photographed with and without her famous butterfly designs on her upper arms

Ariana Grande's tattoos have given fans a constant food for thought, with the pop star and actress sporting a staggering 61 pieces over her body.

But the star has confused her followers, after being pictured with and without her various designs on different occasions. The 32-year-old's impressive array of body art includes symbolic pieces and nods to her career, as well as tats representing films and other characters she likes, including Evee the Pokemon and Harry Potter designs.

Others showed her commitment to past relationships, with plenty to her ex Pete Davidson and her former husband Dalton Gomez. She's had the majority covered up with new designs after splitting up, with her most recent divorce finalising earlier this year after three years together.

Her butterfly tattoos seem to be the most enigmatic, sometimes being pictured and other times appearing to have completely disappeared altogether. For example, her butterfly tattoos were missing at the 2024 Oscars, but she did keep her other arm ones on show.

At the Met Gala in May, they were barely visible, but appeared faded. Then again at the WSJ. Magazine Innovator Awards in October, she was seen on the red carpet with ever-so-faint butterfly and upper arm tattoos, yet the ones on her hands were clearly visible. They were also missing when she filmed her role as Glinda in Wicked, showing they have probably been covered up with heavy makeup, as opposed to removed entirely.

In September, during a makeup video for Vogue, she revealed that she'd added a design in honour of her character in Wicked - Glinda. She called this time "deeply special and transformative", amid her split from her husband Dalton Gomez.

In a previous interview with Allure, Ariana revealed that she recently got the tattoo representing her character as filming Wicked as she described the time as: "One of the most deeply special and transformative and fulfilling experiences of my creative life in London [from] the past year and a half."

Some of Ariana's tattoos dedicated to ex Pete Davidson include a design in Pete's handwriting, saying 'always' on her ribs. She had the word mostly covered with a leaf design, captioning a photo of it on Instagram: "Not a cover up just evolvin'."

Relationship expert Louella Alderson has weighed in on the meaning behind her tattoos, telling the Mirror: "The tattoo is likely reflective of her love and appreciation for the incredible experience she had while shooting" she added: "It's possible that the tattoo of Glinda also serves as an artistic reminder of how Ariana has grown in her own life."

The expert explained: "Ariana has been known to get tattoos in honour of significant moments in her life. She's previously got multiple tattoos dedicated to her loved ones, such as her grandfather, her dogs and where she grew up. Therefore, it's likely that this tattoo is a tribute to the transformative and fulfilling time she had filming Wicked."

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