I believe it was William Shakespeare who once said, "There's a million reasons why I should give you up, but the heart wants what it wants." And in the case of Selena Gomez, the heart wanted a sh*t ton of tattoos. And she can't get enough (sorry). Like, honestly, I can only assume that when she's in NYC, celebrity tattoo artist Bang Bang is all "WHEN YOU'RE READY COME AND GET IT" and Selena replies "NA NA NA NA," but then she changes her mind and is like "ugh, sure fine, be there in five."
All of which is to say, Selena has some cool tattoos, including a giant prayer hands on her thigh, some music notes, an Om sign, various numbers, an Arabic phrase, a Bible verse, and a portrait of Justin Bieber. Oh, wait, no sorry, he's the one that has her face tattooed on his body. Anyway, all of Sel's tattoos are super meaningful and we went ahead and rounded 'em up.
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Her Brand New Thigh Tattoo
Just a casual thigh tattoo of praying hands holding rosary beads! Sel got it a few days before the AMAs from Bang Bang, and debuted it on Instagram right after her performance (where, FYI, she was rudely accused of being off-key).
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Selena got this one with Julia Michaels, after she made a surprise appearance at Julia's concert back in early November. She shared the tattoo to Instagram Stories, writing "My arrow points to you forever.” Cuuuuuuuute.
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This tattoo was a joint effort between Selena and the cast of 13 Reasons Why—and it has a super special meaning. The ";" represents Project Semicolon, a suicide prevention and mental health advocacy non-profit.
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Her "4" Arm Tattoo
Sel got this tattoo with four of her closest friends (get it), and explained that they're "my 4 for the rest of my life."
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Her "1" Ribcage Tattoo
That same night, Sel got a #1 tattoo with her BFF Courtney Lopez, writing "You are the definition of FEARFULLY and WONDERFULLY made baby! #1."
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Her "g" Tattoo
Selena hasn't revealed the meaning behind this one, but fans seem to think it's a shoutout to her little sister Gracie. Lovely if true!
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Her "Sunshine" Tattoo
Meanwhile, this little dude is believed to be in honor of Selena's grandmother, who she once called "Sunshine" on Twitter.
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The "LXXVI" on Her Neck
Kay, this is 1976 in Roman numerals, which *happens* to be the year Selena's mom Mandy Teefey was born. Bang Bang, who designed the tattoo, told E! News "[It] was a tribute to a family member who she said means a lot to her. Selena was nervous it might have been painful, so she held her best friend's hand the whole time. But she did a great job."
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Her Music Note Wrist Tattoo
Apparently, fans thought this was a heart at first, but Selena set the record straight to Access Hollywood, saying "It’s a music note. Everybody thought that it was a heart for some reason, but music is a big influence in my life. I was named after a singer, I’m a singer and a lot of other personal reasons. So, that’s what I got.”
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"Love Yourself First" in Arabic
Yet another tat courtesy of Bang Bang in NYC, who told E! News "Selena already had it written out how she wanted. The tattoo is about four inches, and [it] didn't take too long, probably about 30 to 45 minutes. The longest part is laying it out. We played with it a bit laying it out, until we found the perfect spot."
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"God Who Strengthens Me"
Apparently this is a play on the Bible passage “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” and Selena managed to successfully hide it from fans for about a year.
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Her (Maybe) Om Sign
See that blurry smudge on Selena's hip? Yeah, well fans think it's an Om sign. I'm not convinced but sure, why not!
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This article originally appeared on Cosmopolitan.com. Minor edits have been made by the Cosmo.ph editors.