[AD] Now you can get your ears pierced and purchase your sparkle all in one place! Accessorize* is now offering ear piercing services at selected stores.
And, guess who got a new piercing…
My new piercing is the sparkle at the top, on the outer part of my ear.Hello new sparkle!
Firstly I wanted to reassure everyone that direct messaged me on Instagram and Facebook. The staff were very well trained, hygienic, used appropriate equipment and were very accommodating. I am not and will not promote unhygienic practices and I hope you know by now that I share my opinion, otherwise what’s the point of blogging if your opinion can be bought.
This was a gifted experience but, I wasn’t under any agreement to post! I had a great time and it was nice doing something girly and fun with some of my blogging friends so I thought I’d share it with you, who doesn’t like a new piercing?!
Accessorise have installed a little sink and mirror area in the middle of this West Quay store in Southampton and they are ready to add some shine and sparkle to ears across the city! I’ve wanted to have my helix pierced for a very long time, so this was such an exciting invite to receive. On reflection I have no idea what was stopping me, I’ve got the feeling Accessorize has reignited my passion for piercings.
Once I’d picked what I was going to have done, it really was very simple. I got comfy while the piercer washed her hands and set the equipment up and got my chosen earring ready to go. They even had a hair grip to keep my locks out of the way!
The piercer marking the spot of my new helix piercing!As the earring will be in for three months, I picked a classic clear cubic zirconia and gold sparkly stud. I opted for gold as apparently it heals a bit faster than silver – did you know this? I bet some of you pro-piercers out there did!
Within minutes the piercing was done, it was quick and not very painful. I was really shocked because my other piercings had hurt so much more. I was really pleased that the piercer really took the time to make sure I was happy with the positioning of my helix piercing. It sparkles much more in real life and I am so chuffed with it!
Accessorize packed me off with some special cleaning fluid and strict instructions to clean it twice a day and rotate the piercing several times at the same time each day. Both to work the fluid in to clean the piercing and to help it heal. I had a great evening leaving with a fabulous new piercing, what a start to my weekend!
You can find out all about Accessorize’s new ear piercing services on the West Quay website and browse for new jewels for your ears to style your look in the Earring section on Accessorize’s online store.
Funnily enough I’d found some flat backed earrings specifically designed for different piercings in Accessorize a month ago and had treated myself to a crystal leaf design for a wedding I was going to. You can see the inner ear piercing I have in the picture above. There’s now lots more on the online store and I can’t wait for this to heal so I can add to my earrings – there’s a couple of really cute designs that I’ve got my eye on.
Also, I found this really cute article Accessorize wrote on The Curated Ear: How to style multiple piercings, just what I need as I expand my ear piercings and achieve the right look for me!
I can’t wait to get my next one, the curated ear style guide has got me thinking, I wonder if there are any rules on how quickly I can go back?
I’ve clearly caught the piercing bug, I’m off to Google images of what to have done next!
*AD -PR gifted experience, that under ASA rules must be labelled clearly as an advert. It was a gift that I’ve chosen to write about but, all opinions are my own otherwise what’s the point? Yes all piercings hurt a little, no Accessorize didn’t ask me to link to its site, and I found the blog post on the Accessorize website without any direction to do so.
Do they pierce with a gun or a needle?
I think it was a variation on a gun, it didn’t look like a traditional gun at all and it certainly didn’t feel the same. I’ve had gun piercings and the sound frightens me, this was slower. I’m sure if you head to store they’d let you take a look to see if you were happy with what they were using. Also, it’s a huge chain store across the whole of the UK, they wouldn’t be able to use an inappropriate tool for the job.
Having your cartilage pierced with a gun – fast or slow is dangerous and can split the cartilage. When this happens it’s excruciatingly painful and never heals.
You should also leave piercings alone and not rotate them. Every time you rotate you damage newly formed tissue.
As for the fluid, you should only clean with sterile saline, and then only when you need to; such as if there is crusting around the new piercing.
A cartilage piercing takes more than three months to fully heal, the three months is primary healing and you will damage the fistula when you change jewellery.
A professional piercer will use the appropriate length post to suit your ear and allow for swelling. The earrings used in a gun are one length and may not suit everyone.
The best metal for piercing is titanium or surgical steel. A real piercer will have a good selection of attractive jewellery made of the correct metals.
Good luck!
Wow Marysia, you know a lot about this – lots of top advice. Are you a trained piercer or just have had lots of piercings?
I mean generally a quick google – especially if you only read sources from trained piercers from tattoo/independent parlours – will give you all of these answers. If you read info from places that use guns on cartilage, they likely won’t tell you that it’s not the safest option. You’ll get most of that info even quicker if you google about care advice for piercings that can’t be done with a gun (for example, a conch or rook) and it’ll become very clear what are the do’s and don’t’s. Plus, any store that tells you their aftercare solution can heal you quicker is lying – solution is only ever for just keeping an open wound clean and possibly helping to loosen and shake off any excessive crusties, the healing part is all up to your body (another reason why healing times are often unreliable, it varies from person to person).
The reason why so much misinformation is out there is due to the UK’s lax laws on piercing. Basically anywhere that feels like it, can do it. The only definitive reliable source as to how professional a piercer is – so one that has gone through full training and not just a 15 minute video on how to jab someone – is if they’re a UKAPP member. For reference, it’s this : https://www.ukapp.org.uk/
Oh that’s a great bit of information – thanks for taking the time to share it. I didn’t know that!
how much was it in accessorise?
Hi Darcie, The prices have changed since I had this done, so I’d check the Accessorize website for the latest prices for this service and stud.