For starters, I have 14 piercings — six of them done myself —, and I feel as though I am qualified to recommend piercings to others, hopefully. Having a high pain tolerance and a fear of needles may affect my judgement, but it’s up to you to trust me. From the piercings I love, my style, and my future piercing plans, I hope to guide others in achieving their dream stacks.
Currently, I have five lobe piercings on each side, with a floating lobe piercing on each side. Two of them were done unprofessionally (one by Claire’s and one by my neighbor, who had a piercing gun), and the rest were done by me. I’m probably supposed to recommend going to a professional, but personally I will not waste my money on something I can do myself somewhat safely. I will advise everyone, though, please go to a professional piercer for cartilage or anything that isn’t the lobes of your ears. As for cartilage piercings, I have three: a conch, rook, and helix. Your girl has dreams for much more, but a body that hates healing. It took over a year for some to fully heal… but we toughed it out! The last piercing you may be wondering about (if you cared to count) is my nose piercing. She’s my favorite. Obviously.
Before we go more in-depth with the piercings, I want to recommend my favorite piercing place! She’s the only piercer I will go to, and she’s cheap, too: MoonFlower Boutique in Manchester, CT. If you need top-grade jewelry, a warm and inviting environment, and some sick piercings, she’s your girl. I did take 30 minutes to get a piercing and almost passed out because of how anxious I was (before the actual piercing, which was light), and I still got a lollipop, so I trust her with my life. She genuinely cares for her clients and the outcomes of their piercings!
Now, onto the best part!
Lobes
To give you a visual representation of my lobe jewelry specifically, I have my first two as hoops in both ears. I have a gold ear and a silver ear; I can’t choose, so I have both. On my gold ear, I have a regular gold hoop, a stacked lobe as a gold ball (same placement as the picture below), two thin and minimalist hoops in my second and third, and a green stud in my fourth (peridot, my birthstone). My piercings have a similar placement to the picture below, but a little different.
On my silver ear, it’s a very similar setup. I have two tiny hoops in my first and second lobes, a stacked lobe with a silver ball (same placement as the picture above), a dangling piercing in my third, and a diamond stud in my fourth. I’m not sure why I love having the thirds with a dangling piercing as much as I do, but I think it’s super cute.
As for pain (remember this is from someone with a high pain tolerance), lobes are the least painful piercings. I can’t do piercing guns, though, because they scare me more than just shoving a needle through my ear. These are the easiest piercings for me to heal as well, and to be totally honest, I don’t really do the whole new piercing routine once I pierce them… they do alright. Again, I am not a professional; I’m just a girl. Make good decisions. One piece of advice I can give is to invest in implant-grade earrings. They are the only type I can use, so choose wisely if you’re sensitive.
Cartilage
Pain scale, piercing experience, jewelry, and the full truth. The key to a well-healed cartilage is to clean it once a day with salt water or saline solution, and by not touching it. I know it’s tempting, and I touched mine while they were healing because I thought it would help, but please learn from my mistakes. Leave them alone. They will eventually heal. If they don’t, go back to your piercer and let the professionals work their magic.
On a more positive note, here are piercings in order from my first to last cartilage:
Conch — Pain 0.5/10 (if that)
I recommend this piercing to everyone. For me, it was the least painful, easiest to heal, and the cutest ever. When I got it done, it was my first cartilage, so I was very nervous it would hurt, but the whole process was light. I could feel it go through, but it didn’t hurt. Putting the jewelry in wasn’t bad either, but I can thank my piercer for that. To me, a conch is like that first cat you get who is just so perfect it makes you want to get another, then the second one is a menace. That’s what this piercing felt like for me in comparison to my helix. For the jewelry, I recommend only having a stud in (with a flat back) because when I had a hoop in, and I slept on it (fully healed, mind you), it got irritated. Healing is super easy because the placement is out of the way, so it’s harder to get it snagged on things like your hair. I genuinely love this piercing with all my heart, and would get it a million times more if I could.
Oh my God. I need new jewelry because looking at all of these pictures on Pinterest is making me yearn for all of these. UGH. This is why I can’t save money. The conch is the piercing with the sun jewelry in the picture. Yup, I need that. Best first *cartilage* I could’ve asked for.
Rook — Pain 1/10
For how scary the placement is, the pain is not bad at all. The part that was most painful was when the jewelry was put in, but that makes it sound bad. It literally felt like a tiny pinch. I like this piercing for its looks, but I’d be lying if I said it was the best. Getting the jewelry in and out yourself is not possible (at least for me). I can’t screw on the ball for the life of me. Pliers would be my best friend, but I just go to my lovely piercing shop, and my piercer does a jewelry change for me. It’s $5, I think, but I always end up spending more on their cute jewelry. Oops. I’m just a girl. It’s cheap and good quality; How can I resist?
Currently, I have it in my silver ear with a silver bar and pink balls. I got it changed out with a shorter bar after it was fully healed, which took about eight months. It had a short, rough patch, but I kept cleaning it, and eventually it got better. In the picture above, the rook is the piercing on the inner part of her ear, with the gold balls. What I don’t really enjoy is how you can really see the bar in my piercing because of how long it is. I could get it changed, but I’m just lazy. This piercing is also really easy to heal because it’s tucked away, but cleaning is so important during the healing process.
Helix — PAIN 4/10
I hate my helix. It’s the most popular piercing, and I love how it looks, but it hates me. It took a year (if not more) to fully heal. The pain during the piercing process might have been because I had gotten my rook done just before, but I felt everything. It was throbbing the rest of the day. Don’t even get me started on me snagging it. The pain was a 6/10. I had to go back to my piercer because it would not heal, and she had to change the bar because of the swelling. I won’t go into too much detail, but just know I do not recommend this one unless you’re prepared to potentially suffer for months. This is just my experience, but I know a lot of people agree with me in when I say that the helix is the hardest to heal. I’ve even heard piercings are more painful the further out you go on your ear, and I agree so far.
It’s so cute, but deceiving. None of this should deter you from getting a helix; it’s the most popular for a reason. I’m also planning on getting a few more, so that should make you feel better about it. I’m also dramatic. Get a piercing pillow, and enjoy it!
Nose — 0.5/10 (if that)
I love my nose piercing! I got it for my birthday two years ago, and it’s my most complimented piercing (probably because my ears are always hidden and my nose is literally on my face, but whatever, it’s still true). My experience getting it pierced was a little rough, but that’s because of my fear of needles and it being on my face. It took me 30 minutes to get it pierced. I love my piercer. She was so patient, and I was so dramatic. Bless.
It was all worth it, because it didn’t even hurt at all. Might’ve been because she had the clamp on for a long time, but either way, I didn’t feel a thing. The healing was a little rough, but it was because I chose such a small diamond, and I needed to stop touching it as much while cleaning it. My piercer changed out my jewelry to one with a bigger diamond because I had an irritation bump, and it went away shortly after!
I prefer smaller jewelry, so I have the cutest gold star stud. It doesn’t really stand out, so it’s a little hard to tell I even have a piercing (I’d say), but when people do notice it, they always say, “Oh my God, I love your nose piercing. Is it a star? That’s so cute!”
I also love hoops, I think they’re so cute. My stud is an L-shaped bar, which is the only type I’ve tried other than a flat back. People hate on L-shaped bars, but I live for them. It’s a little hard at first to get it in, but you learn the strategy eventually. They’re hated on for falling out easily, but mine have only ever fallen out once in the two years I’ve had my nose pierced. I just angle the bar to point up (not out) of my nose, and it works like a charm.
Future Piercing Plans
I’ve been waiting to get more piercings because I am loving not having to worry about cleaning, sleeping on my sides, or hitting fresh piercings. I think it’s been two years since my last cartilage piercings, but I did do my thirds, fourths, and stacked lobes since then. Those heal easily, though, so I don’t mind.
For my left ear (gold), I have four lobes, the stacked lobe, and my conch, too. Next, I want to get a forward helix, a mid helix, and a helix. The floating helix isn’t pictured, but it’s at the top of the ear and dangles down.
Once those heal, I’m planning on getting more on my right (silver) ear. I have the same four lobes and the stacked lobe, a rook, and a helix. I want a conch as well, and that’s it.
I really wish I could get a flat and a floating helix, but I didn’t plan things out the way I should’ve, and I don’t think my anatomy is good for a flat. As for other piercings, I love belly piercings, but I don’t think I’d get one. It doesn’t seem like my style, and that’s okay! I also don’t wear crops that are short enough to show the piercing, so it wouldn’t really be worth it, but I’ll definitely keep it in mind!
my “professional” advice
Plan out and follow through for the best results! Some things to keep in mind are the quality of the piercer, earring quality, placement in relation to other piercings and anatomy, and timing your piercings. If you get a piercing in the summer, it’s recommended that you don’t go into the ocean for about a month afterward to keep it clean. Timing in a different sense includes how long the healing process takes. If you get multiple piercings, do it all on one ear, wait for those to heal, then get piercings on the other ear. This makes sleeping easier, so you can have at least one good ear at all times to sleep on.
I wish you all the best! Happy piercings!