FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

HOW OLD DO YOU HAVE TO BE TO GET PIERCED?

There is no official law on body piercings themselves, but to protect us (piercers) and you (customers) we outline our own rules that sit nicely with our insurances. 
There is no real age with lobe piercings but I do them on 6 years + (no babies and no toddlers), the child must understand it's needle only and to give their consent to the procedure themselves with acceptance of the parent/guardian. Birth certificate/passport and parents/guardian Photo ID must be present.14+ is with helix and navel only, with parent/guardian, both give consent and understand needle only. Birth certificate/passport and parents/guardian Photo ID must be present.16+ is with any facial piercings and body piercings, and oral piercings. Photo ID only, passport/driving license/provisional/pass ID/Citizenship ID. Parent/guardian can NOT be your ID, and they can not give consent for you to have it done. - for example a nose piercing is 16 and over, you must have ID to prove you are 16 and over, your parents/guardians can't prove it. 18+ nipples, genitals and others (surface, bridge, cheeks), valid ID ONLY. This does mean that men and women have to be 18+ to get their nipples pierced. FTM/MTF genitals and nipple piercings are ACCEPTED, we do NOT discriminate and accept all. ID accepted - hologram pass card e.g. Citizenship card, valid ID, Pass card. Passport and drivers licence.

DOES A PIERCING HURT?

It's hard to say due to everyone having different pain tolerance levels, yes it can hurt, but all depends how well you take pain.
The usual reaction I get afterwards is "was that it?" which is a good thing.
In my opinion a piercing hurts less than stubbing your toe on the table.

HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE?

The longest bit is setting up, getting everything prepared so it's done in one swift movement. 

There are 4 steps:

1. PREP 

2. MARK UP

3. PIERCE

4. AFTERCARE

Before we do anything, we fill out the consent sheet, ask about jewellery, go to the piercing room, talk through the procedure, do the service, then aftercare, each piercing procedure can take 20 minutes, maybe longer. But the actual piercing itself can take a matter of seconds.

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HOW LONG WILL MY PIERCING TAKE TO HEAL?

Everyone heals at different rates, so one person could heal very quickly and someone can heal slowly, this can be due to many reasons, but average is usually 3 months. Please always follow the aftercare instructions, and remember no touching until cleaning time.

RISK OF INFECTION

Unfortunately there is always risk of infection due to the piercing technically an open wound, but don't panic, with everything being sterile and having high hygiene levels, it's very unlikely your piercing would get infected, if you follow the aftercare that is given and keep me updated with everything. If you feel your piercing isn't healing corretly please contact me asap, so we can find out what the issue is and help you.

DO YOU USE A GUN?

No.
And I will explain why, a piercing gun is highly dangerous on numerous things.
1. Hygiene, you CAN'T sterilise a "piercing" gun, if placed in an autoclave it'll melt or stop working completely. Most places like Claire's will wipe it down with an alco swab, but that doesn't get rid of all the blood pathogens left behind, so a high risk of spreading Hepatitis, HIV and many other blood infections.
2. Blunt, yes that's right, a "piercing" gun is blunt, it has no sharp end, nor a needle attached to it. It's got an earring already inserted, but if you look closely you can see that an earring is very much blunt, no sharpness, so it's forcefully "pierced" through the ear lobe/cartilage/nostril.
3. Breakable, these "piercing" guns can break so easily, before, during and after. When the person doing the procedure says it's stuck, they mean the fun has broke and isn't letting go of the earring. This can cause more damage to the tissue, which can lead to more bleeding an bruising.

CAN I GET PIERCED WHILE PREGNANT?

Absolutely not. Why? Well because you have a little human growing inside you right now, and your body needs to focus on them. The immune system is protecting you and the baby, so getting a piercing will distract it. Let your body focus, and once you've had the baby, and 13-14 weeks rest, you can start being pierced. I will pierce someone when breastfeeding, after the 6 month mark, as that is when the baby starts weaning (NHS guidelines).