32 Fantastic Face Tattoos for Men in 2024
Once considered taboo (outside of tribal tattoo cultures), face tattoos for men are becoming more popular. Facial body art is a tremendous means of self-expression and a positive way to stretch your artistic creativity, express your personality, and represent something you believe in!
But before you go and get your face tattoo, let us help guide you in choosing the perfect piece of ink. Below we’ll show you the most interesting, intense, and exciting face tattoos in 2024. You’ll surely be inspired with the perfect idea of which tattoo style to get, as well as the size, and exact placement on your body.
With that said, let’s begin.
The Best Face Tattoos for Men - Geometric Line Art Tattoo on Man’s Face
This geometric line piece runs from the client’s right jawline to his left temple in a repeating pattern of lines crossing through evenly spaced dots. I like how at two points – to the left of the mouth and below the left eye – there are two negative space dots instead.
IG: handsmark
Blackwork Straight Razor Face Tattoo
Straight razor tattoos are a traditionally masculine concept linked with violence and danger. In this piece, the razor neatly slices through a heart to signify the violent end of love. The black and gray shading is exceptional, and I like the use of space in half-folding the blade over the client’s ear.
IG: patrykchybowski
Butterfly and Dagger Men’s Facial Tattoo
This expertly executed face tattoo depicts the body of a butterfly sliced in half by a dagger. Clean linework is a feature of this artwork, both in the translucent wings of the insect and precisely detailed knife. I like that the artist created a clean-cut yet subtly moved one wing to better fit the area over the client’s right eye.
IG: delphinmusquet
Oni Mask Dagger Tattoo
Oni are Japanese mythical creatures often linked to protection, strength, or rebirth. This oni within this dagger face tattoo is etched in black and gray but uses white highlights to create a silvery look. I like using just half an Oni mask within the fat blade to fit the border better.
IG: heukdo__
Gingko Petals Face Tattoo for Men
This face tattoo of ginkgo flowers utilizes excellent technical skills. The design is placed just above the ear and runs to the jawline, with clever, uncluttered flower petals falling downward. I also like the whip shading used to detail each petal and the brief addition of white ink highlights to accentuate the small twigs better.
IG: willofyn
Neo Tribal Men’s Face Tattoo
This cyberpunk neo-tribal tattoo fits with the black-out design covering the client’s chest, neck, and chin. The application demonstrates the beautiful use of thick, curving lines and sharper, thinner lines, providing alternate patterns. I also like incorporating the ear into the piece rather than being an obstacle to work around.
IG: stefan.halbwachs
Tiny Tile Tattoo on Man’s Face
This blackwork face tattoo is an excellently drafted design. It’s small and delicate yet applies precise geometry, dots, and linework. I like the tattoo’s placement below the client’s hairline and adjacent to the right ear.
IG: kaylee.tattoos
Realistic Snake Facial Tattoo
This man’s snake design features the head of a snake tattooed over the ear in the animal realism style. The tattoo utilizes excellent linework techniques to create the creature’s curves and clever pattern shading to make realistic scales. While some styles would avoid the muscles and ligaments of the snake’s mouth and jaw, this tattoo accentuates their characteristics instead.
IG: uncogrim
Neo Tribal Scorpion Tattoo on Man's Face
A killer scorpion face design tattooed almost exclusively with heavy black ink. I like how the piece uses the client’s face shape to fit the arachnid down the left-hand side. The intelligent use of white ink traces the scorpion’s head and makes it the main feature of the piece.
IG: skiller.odio
Men’s White Ink Lightning Face Tattoo
This man’s unique face tattoo creates a lightning effect using only white ink. The design features tremendous jagged lines stretching from inside the hairline to a point under the client’s nose, incorporating his right eye. While it’s almost certain to need regular retouching over time, the custom tattoo is cleanly delivered.
Bold Black Men’s Face Tattoo
This face tattoo design details twin sigils etched with bold black ink. The artwork is crisply applied to create solid, thick letters by using a graffiti technique that resembles a tag. The tattoo’s location is a good match for the client’s facial hair and the shape of his cheeks.
IG: bb_bastianblau
Classical Black and Gray Skull Tattoo on Man’s Face
This face tattoo is applied with traditional black and gray techniques to make an improvised dagger of bone. The well-crafted design conforms to the curve of the client’s face from the hairline to his jaw. I like the unique concept and how the imp’s bones have been lashed together to make the knife using clever shading and a hint of white ink.
IG: taesin___
Neo-Traditional Raven Facial Tattoo
This impressive raven tattoo incorporates the face and much of the client’s head as well. The neo-traditional piece offers fantastic line art and accents, with a contrasting red line reminiscent of trash polka tattooing. I like that instead of using a solid black ink delivery, the artist has applied whip-shading, blackwork patterns, and linework flourishes to give the bird its bold characteristics.
Blackwork Spider Face Tattoo for Men
This man’s black spider tattoo is sleek and well-made. While not a specific type of arachnid, the spider’s legs and body are crafted with solid, realistic principles. The circular shading technique matches the clean linework and shadows of the secondary spider web filler.
IG: jillians.ink
Blackwork Twin Stars Face Tattoo
These twin stars are simple yet well-crafted black ink designs. The tattoos are added so they can be hidden by hair – the tattoo doesn’t dominate the client’s face. I like the star shape used and how they briefly overlap at a point near the ear without feeling cramped or cluttered.
IG: koda.mode
Bold Black Neo-Tribal Men’s Face Tattoo
It can be hard to pull off the idea of ‘unique’ in blackwork tattooing. This ornamental face tattoo does it well by using thick, curved lines on the side of the client’s cheek. The sleek lines of ink are balanced with geometric negative space.
IG: sadhakaya
Dark Fantasy Men’s Face Tattoo
This is arguably the wildest face tattoo you’ll ever see, a dark fantasy mashup of a skull and spider. The application is tremendously detailed, crafted from heavy black ink inlaid with white ink highlights to give it detail and depth. I love the tattoo and its boldness – you’ve got to admire the man’s self-expression!
IG: massacrov
Neo-Tribal Men’s Face Tattoo
This neo-tribal face tattoo was hand-poked, which means no tattoo gun was used. It’s an incredibly crisp, unique black ink tattoo marrying geometric principles with straight lines and negative space. I like the use of similar but not exact shapes, which allows for more range in angles spreading across his cheek.
IG: el.dot.tattoo
Old School Dagger Face Tattoo
The dagger (a close-quarters weapon and tool) is an essential design in American Traditional tattooing linked to danger, bravery, and betrayal. This design is the perfect example of old-school flash ink, featuring a limited color palette, thick linework, and minimal shading. It’s a design you’ll find in every shop, but not on many faces!
IG: daniqueipo
Blackwork Half Mandala Face Tattoo
This half-mandala face tattoo applies variation in whip-shading to create different shades of black ink. The pattern uses the man’s ear as a natural border for the design to radiate outward in a well-etched series of geometric shapes that create a floral theme.
IG: mitchin.tattoos
Neo-Tribal Head and Face Tattoo
This neo-tribal piece covers the head, neck, and part of the client’s face. It’s a tremendously bold mix of blackwork, geometry, and negative space tattooing. The Ink is applied around a stencil application built with negative space, making it easier, faster, and cheaper to fill with various black ink fillers.
Men’s Graffiti Script Face Tattoo
This ‘Trust No One’ face tattoo utilizes a graffiti-style script alternating black ink with negative space. The design is clean, effective, and easy to read. I like the varying shades and crisp, flowing letters.
IG: fabiangalindo._
Devil Skull Face Tattoo Design
This is a wicked dark fantasy face and head tattoo in traditional black and gray. I like the design’s placement, which makes it look like the devil’s tongue comes out of the client’s ear. I like the subtle use of shades that reinforce the ridged lines of bone, making them stand out from the regular skull parts.
IG: dark.tattz
‘Cherished’ Black Ink Facial Tattoo
This small cursive tattoo is placed just below the client’s hairline and reads “Cherished.” This design and execution is professional (clean, well-spaced black ink) and will likely hold up well as it ages.
IG: longtermblvck
Floral Line Art Face Tattoo for Men
This floral face tattoo demonstrates clean design and application. It uses tremendous linework starting from inside the client’s ear and then stretching out towards the hairline and jaw. I like the line-only approach as it provides lovely, individually flowing patterns.
IG: filouino
Colorful Morningstar Face Tattoo
While face tattoos are gaining popularity, they tend to be black ink or black and gray designs. I like the Morningstar etched on the side of this man’s face because it’s vibrant and colorful. There are good levels of detail in the image, topped off with thick, looping red squiggles used to represent blood.
IG: slygibson
Māori Ta Moko Men’s Face Tattoo
As Māori believe the head is the most sacred part of the body, facial tattoos have special significance. Māori men get ‘mataora’ on their faces as a symbol of nobility. Tā moko tattoos reflect an individual’s ancestry and personal history and are strictly for Māori. For those who aren’t Maori and looking to get a tattoo using the same style as above, tattoos known as ‘kirituhi’ are available for you to get inked.
IG: lance_ngata
Men’s Blackwork Rose Facial Tattoo
I love the detail worked into this traditional black and gray ink rose tattoo. The grayscale shading of the petals and leaves is a highlight because they cover the entire tattoo but allow the deft lines and pockets of negative space the chance to add depth.
IG: kaysiepaints
Bold Black Script Tattoo on Man’s Face
This boldly etched face tattoo utilizes lettering reminiscent of Chicano style and graffiti tattoos. The artist used excellent secondary to support the main image and better frame the large piece. They also incorporate the tattoo into the area surrounding the client’s right ear to give it a better finish.
IG: rockyg_inkz
Bold Black Dagger Tattoo on Man’s Face
Another facial dagger tattoo, this time in bold black ink. The design uses fantastic linework that gives the piece real presence, and I like where it sits forward of the client’s ear. Using dark shading instead of flat black ink (aside from the knife tip) is an excellent technical choice.
IG: davidhtattoo
Dotwork Men’s Hairline Tattoo
This neat dotwork tattoo stretches the client’s hairline in repeating geometric patterns. The combinations are crisply etched. However, I’m concerned that the ink will fade quickly and must be re-touched frequently.
IG: bb.hurricane
Calligraphy Script Men’s Face Tattoo
An excellent Japanese calligraphy tattoo over the client’s face and brow. The brushstroke technique is effective, giving the design an effect akin to being hand painted rather than inked with a needle. The red stamp to the left of the script is an excellent added touch.
IG: argontattoo
