Piercings and glasses, just how important is it? Very! It is currently estimated that in the UK 69% of people require glasses, making it fairly common for clients to require that visual aid, and despite people choosing to use contact lenses, there are still people that choose or will need to wear actual glasses, I am one of those people. When it comes to bring both glasses and piercings together, there are many considerations to be thought off!
Facial Piercings
There are quite a few facial piercings that you might want to consider when getting pierced! Despite nose piercings resting on the bridge of our nose, they can move up and down and be bumped – creating contact with our eye area.
Bridge Piercings – Bridge piercings and glasses can be compatible, but this isn’t always the case. Depending on where your glasses rest, there might be a space that would allow for the jewellery to sit comfortably without intervention from the jewellery. You still want to be careful when placing them on or removing the frames, to avoid any knocks or snags. However, if you are the type of person who wears their glasses quite high up on that bridge, then you may not be suited towards a bridge piercing. You can try with frames that sit lower than the bridge, or forego the piercing entirely.
Nose Piercings – Nose piercings and high nostrils are commonly effected by your glasses. As we discussed previously, its quite common for our eye wear to slip down our nose, and bump into those new piercings. And if care isn’t taken, it is very easy to catch those nose pads on the end of our piercing and give them a quick snag, especially fi wearing taller or larger profile ends. Some clients decide that this is something they can deal with, and some decide it’s not worth the hassle. For example, I personally choose not to get high nostrils because i’m not prepared for the knocks and snags that would happen (I’m typically quite clumsy). Your lifestyle will always need to come first!
3mm Ball – Plenty of space between the glasses and end
Bridge with Glasses
Single nostril and glasses
Ear Piercings
If you are a glasses wearer, you will need to heavily take this into consideration with your ear piercings. With the arms of the glasses sitting on top of your ears and around the back, these arms can be a number one risk of bumps and snags.
When we pierce you, we want to make sure there is enough clearance between that longer post and your glasses. There is no point giving you an industrial piercing if it is going to be in constant contact with the arms, this is a recipe for disaster. That constant pressure is going to cause irritated and grumpy piercings that won’t settle, and can even migrate or move those angles.
The same can be said with helix piercings, conches, or even forward helix piercings. We want to place them in a position where when removing or placing your glasses on that they’re not going to get hooked onto that longer labret post and create a sudden snag or pull. A) That’s going to be painful and B) we want to avoid causing any irritation bumps to give you a smooth and easy healing period.
A triple helix project with plenty of space!
A custom industrial project – complete clearance from the glasses.
A rook is perfect as there is no connection with glasses.
A helix piercing perfectly placed to allow room for the arms.
Considerations
You can absolutely still get ear and facial piercings with glasses, however there are a few things to keep in mind so that we can give you the best possible heal we can.
Bring your glasses to your appointment! Even if you only wear your glasses *sometimes* we want to work out the best possible placement to create a smooth heal. Every pair of glasses is different, some are thick and chunky, some are quite thin. We want to see how your glasses sit on your face and around your ear and work out the risk of impact between the frames and jewelelry.
Be mindful of your glasses! it’s really easy to forget we are healing a new piercing, but when removing your glasses, or wearing them, it’s really important that you take a quick second to think about it. You don’t want to just throw them on and they snag that labret post, or remove them quickly and catch the nose pad on your nostril piercing.
Keep them clean! It’s really easy to forget to wipe down the arms of your glasses, or the nose pads, but bacteria, hair/face products, dirt and debris can build up on there really quickly. Make sure you’re giving them a quick clean and wipe down to avoid any of this transferring to your healing piercing.
Downsizing! You should always follow up for a check-up and a downsize for your piercings at the recommended time frame. However, especially as a glasses wearer this is really important. Wearing appropriately sized, snug and fitted jewellery will really minimise any impact between your frames and your jewellery.
Experiment with your frames! You may find that changing to glasses with adjustable nose pads work much smoother for your heal. You may realise that adjusting the shape or size of the frame allows more space for bigger or chunkier jewellery (if that’s your goal). Don’t hesitate to experiment with different frames to find what is perfect for you.
An initial labret post – a snag risk for glasses
There’s so many misconceptions surrounding wearing glasses and having piercings, but it is important to note that the answer is never a straight yes or no. There are so many considerations to be taken into account, and sometimes just small changes can change that answer from a no to a yes! So don’t hesitate to have a thorough discussion with your piercer, or change things around. However, ultimately, your lifestyle, your needs, and your comfortability should always come first.
Going to the dentist can be quite a tedious task, especially for those of us who have oral piercings. Most of us with oral piercings, whether that be cheeks, lips or tongue piercings have definitely either been berated by the dentist for having oral piercings, or been heavily recommended to take them out, or worse, wear plastic instead. This is because of the risk of gum and tooth damage, as well as plaque build up that is associated with oral piercings. In this blog, I’m going to detail how to make your appointment run a bit smoother (and maybe even impress your dentist with your knowledge).
Jay has 9 healed oral piercings! Jestrum, Lower Central Labret, Paired Lower + Upper Lips, A pair of Cheek Piercings, a single tongue piercings.
The easiest way to make your appointment go smoother you are aware and knowledgeable about the risks of oral piercings. It’s really important (even without going to the dentist) that you are aware that oral piercings can cause tooth damage and gum recession. The best way to minimise the impact is to have a thorough discussion with your piercer, make sure they are appropriately placed for your bite (for example, lip piercings being pressed against the line between your gum and tooth) and making sure your jewellery is well fitted and downsized. You may find that wearing different styles of jewellery works better for the natural movement of your mouth. For example, I prefer wearing rings in my paired lower lip piercings as I’m less likely to catch them on my teeth when talking and eating. It’s also imperative that you do not play with your jewellery. Biting, chewing or moving your jewellery with your teeth is one of the quickest ways to chip your teeth. Another crucial fact to know about oral piercings is that they can contribute to plaque and tartar build up, both on the teeth but also around the jewellery itself. Brushing your teeth 2-3 times a day, flossing regularly, mouth washing/rinsing, and brushing/cleaning your jewellery daily is important in maintaining healthy teeth, gums and piercings!
Having a quick conversation with your dentist that you are aware of the risks, but are doing everything you can to effectively control the damage is an easy way to make your appointment run smoothly without feeling like you’ve been told off. It’s also important to maintain a healthy relationship with your dentist to ensure future appointments can be a positive experience for both of you! You want to speak assuredly but without wanting to come across “confrontational”. You can say things like “As far as I am currently aware everything is fine, but please do tell me if anything changes” or “I have had these piercings for ‘X amount of time’ and have yet had an issue due to the precautions I take, but if I can do anything else please let me know”.
Vertical lip piercings, where the jewellery doesn’t enter into the mouth, are great piercings for completely minimising the risk of gum and tooth damage.
Vertical Labret
“Angel Fangs”
Jestrum
Some dentists may suggest or sometimes heavily recommend that you swap your jewellery to plastic. If this happens, it’s important to know and mention that you are wearing high quality metal (if you are), and knowing what that metal is. Most people wearing high quality jewellery will be wearing an Implant Grade Titanium ASTM-F 136 (this is the most common, but always ask your piercer for confirmation. Other implant grades do exist.) This specific grade of titanium is bio-compatible (meaning it is safe to be worn in the body for long periods of time, and is often the same grade of metal used for both dental and medical implants. At Rogue, we don’t stock or sell plastic jewellery, or recommend wearing plastic jewellery. With all jewellery style options there are good and bad options. We actually have a whole blog on materials, specifically about plastic. I’d highly recommend giving it a read to further broaden your knowledge. There are other benefits of wearing Implant-Grade titanium for your dentist appointment besides bio-compatibility. Actual implant-grade titanium is safe to be worn in MRI’s and X-ray machines. By providing this knowledge you can ask to try the imaging with your jewellery in, and offer to take them out if it does provide a problem.
Downsized and healing cheek piercings.
Initial large-gauge labret
Initial double-inline tongue piercing.
Initial large-gauge paired lower labrets.
Classic Labret piercing.
Initial large-gauge cheeks!
It’s really important that you are able to advocate for yourself and your piercings in professional medical settings such as the dentist, or the doctors. Know your facts, stress the importance of your piercings as well as how well you look after them. Be polite too, and try and work with your dentist. Mind a middle ground. It’s important to remember that your teeth and gums are always going to come first to your dentist. It’s their job to care about it. That doesn’t mean you can’t work together!
Wearing safe and high quality jewellery is always going to be important. If you would like help upgrading your existing piercings, you can always book in for a piercing consultation with a member of our expert team. We can guide you through the whole process, making it quick and easy to get yourself to a comfortable, safe jewellery collection in no time! Choosing new jewellery might feel overwhelming if you try and do it alone. Working with a high quality piercing studio makes it so much easier to get exactly what you’re looking for.
As of today, Friday 1st November 2024, it is officially my last day under the title “apprentice piercer” at Rogue. Tomorrow, Saturday 2nd November, it marks the 3 year anniversary since I joined Rogue piercing as a baby piercer taking my first steps into the industry. Despite the fact I will no longer be Rogues apprentice, it doesn’t mean I’ll ever stop learning, or that that much will change overnight. I still have lots of piercings to get under my belt (i’m mainly looking at you intimate piercings), and I still have lots of new skills to add to my toolkit. I still plan to attend conferences, and meet new piercers, and still aim to keep raising and bettering my standards and skills. And even though this is just the end of my apprenticeship, it is still the beginning of my career. So lets take a look at everything I’ve done during my apprenticeship!
Conferences!
Over 3 years, I have attended 6 conferences! I have attended the UKAPP Conference as an attendee my first year, a vendor for Queen of the Ashes my second year, and as a volunteer a part of the AV team for my third year! I also attended the Piercing Tradeshow to as a vendor with Inari Organics! This year I took a very long trip to Edinburgh to attend the Wee Scottish Piercing Expo. And my biggest accomplishment was leaving the UK for the first time to attend BMX-Net in 2023 in Berlin, Germany!
UKAPP ’22
Double Apprentice, Double Mentor – UKAPP ’23
Piercer Tradeshow ’23
Ukapp ’23
Ukapp ’23
First UKAPP Members meeting ’23
Working with Hika QoTA – UKAPP ’23
UK Piercers at BMX NET ’23
Apprentice and mentor – BMXNET ’23
Me, Matty, Paul King, UKAPP Afterparty ’23
Sam Holmes Class – UKAPP ’23
Event Planning!
During the past 3 years, I accidentally on purpose became Rogue’s official events planner! From planning Christmas parties, to charity days, as well as helping plan and book days out, conferences and everything in between!
Christmas party 2022
Getting ready for the 2023 Christmas Party
Christmas Party 2024
Curations!
Last year I fell in love with helping my clients plan fully designed curated ears. I can spend nearly 2 hours some days mapping out piercings on my clients ears, as well as choosing jewellery for each and every single piercing. This is definitely one of my favourite appointments to do!
Left ear – piercing curation
Right ear – piercing curation
Detailed map of piercing and jewellery curation
Piercings!
The most important bit, actually performing the piercings. Both as a completely supervised apprentice, to piercing completely independently! It’s great to see how much I have improved, changed and fell in love with throughout my apprenticeship.
1st ever piercing!
1st Bridge!
1st Philtrum!
1st Rook!
I absolutely love tongue piercings!
Post surgery nipple piercing!
My favourite conch with a peek-a-boo BVLA Snail
1st Septum!
1st Transverse Lobe!
Blogs!
During my 3 year apprenticeship at Rogue, I have written 54 blogs from fun and upbeat, to history, to jewel schools and education! I’ll leave some links to some of my favourite ones below.
Since my first year at Rogue I have been the lead decorator for the seasonal holidays! Decorating the studio for Halloween, Christmas, and birthdays! As well as making seasonal window displays for autumn or easter!
My first Rogue Christmas tree
Decorator and outfit planning for MTA Charity Fundraiser
Getting pierced!
I have also been pierced multiple times, from my cheeks to my ears I’ve had piercings pretty much everywhere from the team at Rogue! I definitely used my apprenticeship as an excuse to be a pin cushion!
I got my cheeks pierced!
My first (and only) large gauge piercing!
Some cheekbone microdermals!
A triple flat piercing!
This definitely isn’t everything I have done or achieved over the past three years, but it’s definitely not the end neither. I’m really excited about moving forward into the future and progressing into my career. I have made some absolutely amazing friends throughout the industry, who I can’t thank enough for the amount of support they have provided. Both knowingly and unknowingly. The past 3 years definitely have not been an easy ride in my personal life, but it has definitely been made easier by those around me.
I also haven’t been able to make it this far without the constant support of my clients. Those who have trusted me with my first ever piercings, my new techniques. Those who have let me put into practice things I have learned. I have created so many meaningful relationships. Some of you have even made me cry with Christmas gifts, and Sanrio mugs when I moved into my new home.
I want to make a personal thank you to both Breo and Gemma, who have kept my head above the water when I felt like I’ve been drowning. Who have continued to hold my hand and guide me (sometimes quite literally), and have gave me a constant shoulder to lean on. I could not have done it without you, and I couldn’t have chosen anyone else to do this with.
I also owe my entire career to Rogue, and very specifically Aiden. Who was the one who took a chance on me, and brought me into this world. Who looked at the 19 year old dressed in a suit, knew nothing about anything in the industry, and shouted about loving One Direction and Harry Styles during her interview, and said yes, I want you to be my apprentice.
This is a difficult blog entry to write but one that I feel necessary to have as a small testament to my time at Rogue Piercing. I started in January 2022, after a conversation explaining that I wanted to progress and grow as a piercer but felt limited in my current work space. I was welcomed with open arms immediately and guided through a journey into an industry that I’d teetered on the edges of for over a decade. I’d grown up in the alternative scene and started collecting piercings of my own free will around 13. I’d spent time hanging out with piercers and tattoo artists in the typical early 2000s studios, getting silly piercings and tattoos to pass the time.
I never planned to be a professional anything, never mind a piercer. I was destined for office work and technical support jobs, keeping my alternativeness to just about a socially acceptable level. Then the pandemic hit. A lot of people think I’ve been in the industry longer than that but my career started completely by chance in October 2020 when I agreed to help out at a piercing studio by covering the front desk. I’ll blah blah through the ins and outs because it’s not my story to tell but in 2021, I had been piercing for a few months in Derbyshire and I came to Rogue because Aiden was the only person I knew of who was offering high nostril piercings and had the portfolio to showcase his results. So I booked the appointment for after my shift one day and headed to Nottingham.
If you’ve ever felt bad about showing up to an appointment not looking/feeling your best – I’m about to make you feel a lot better. I’d never driven to Nottingham before, I raced in rush hour traffic, took 2 – 4 wrong turnings and parked at the car park on the opposite side of the city centre. It was the hottest day of the year for 2021 and I walked for 20 minutes in a leather skirt to get to my appointment. Not only was I late, I was SUPER late, covered in sweat, trying to catch my breath and past the point of anxious. Despite all of the stress of the journey, and the magnitude of the embarrassment I felt, Rogue immediately eased my worries. The atmosphere was calm, I wasn’t treated like an inconvenience and after apologising profusely for my lateness and grossness, I eased into the appointment. I soaked in everything, hanging on every word I was told and following each step of the process so I could absorb as much information as possible. “How high do you want to go?” “In the brain if possible”. Aiden pierced my high nostrils super high and they healed like an absolute dream. I’ll never forget taking his calm bed side manner to heart and implementing that at every opportunity I could. Oh, throughout all this, I had a bug in my hair that I brought into the piercing room by accident. I was convinced that I’d never be allowed back again for leaving sweat, blood and tears (also a bug) in the studio. But Aiden continued to support me while I navigated my introduction to piercing. Answering all of my questions and never making me feel silly for learning.
APP Las Vegas 2023
Let’s jump to January 4th 2022. I was vaguely aware of the term ‘imposter syndrome’ but never actually realised how hard it can be to manage. My very first piercing at Rogue was a septum piercing and holy shit was I scared. Septums are notorious for being a technically difficult piercing to perform and I am sure I almost sweated through my gloves during the process but I’ll be damned if that wasn’t a super straight, super shiny septum that I am still proud of nearly 3 years later.
My first year was a whirlwind of education. I honed and expanded my skills exponentially and had my mind opened to so many new experiences. There are not enough words (you’ll read this phrase a lot in this blog) to express how thankful and grateful I am to have been mentored under Aiden and Breo. They shared so much information and experience with me that I would not be half the piercer I am without their endless guidance and patience. I got to join the UKAPP and attend my first ever UK conference, I opened up my appointments to offer intimate work and met a whole new bunch of incredible people!
Anna is one of the most talented, strongest women I’ve ever met. And bloody lovely too!
2023 didn’t slow down for me at all. I was honoured to receive the Legacy Scholarship for the APP and attend my first international conference as a volunteer. That experience absolutely changed my life. You can read all about my adventure to the APP here. My second UKAPP conference gave me so much more confidence and it was amazing to see how far I’d come in 12 months. I completed my supervised intimate piercings and expanded my skillset even further, offering larger gauge piercings and much more advanced placements. My personal highlight of 2023 was experiencing body suspension for the first (and second and third) time. I’ll always struggle to find the right words to describe that first time but I owe it all to Alicia, Aiko and Aiden. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving me something that I knew I needed – you opened up a world to me that has changed my brain for the good.
Moving right on into 2024. Some more firsts for me! First time in Edinburgh with the team to visit the very first Wee Scottish Piercing Expo. This was an amazing few days and such a beautiful event. Huge thank you to the Bold and Gold team and the Bliss of Pain suspension team for all their hard work. And then I turned 30! I took myself out to Leipzig for a well earned break to visit two of my favourite people, Andre and Maxim (and their puppies!) It was a magical trip and I loved, loved, loved every single second. Thanks for hosting me and letting me hang out in your amazing studio! I will absolutely be back soon. Once my solo trip was over it was time to get ready for APP again but this time I was joined by Breo and we had an unbelievable time. It was so fun to watch Breo experience Vegas and the APP for the first time and I was so happy to be reunited with my Volunteer Family of ducklings. You can read about our trip from Breo’s point of view here. On top of my piercing role, I stepped into the position of studio manager at Rogue and had the pleasure of telling our newest Rogue, Gwen that we were ready for them to join us! I’ve loved working with Gwen and I can’t wait to see what they get up to in Birmingham. Speaking of, it was so cool to watch the Birmingham studio transform from an empty unit to a luxurious piercing space in a matter of weeks! Aiden and Gwen worked really hard to get everything up and running and now there are two Rogue studios across the East Midlands. I’m so excited to see Rogue grow and expand even more and continue to offer top quality, premium piercings to all of our clients! 2024 also saw the very first UKAPP conference in Nottingham. We had hundreds of piercers from all over the globe, meeting up in our little city and popping in to see our studio. No pressure! My favourite part of the UKAPP conference this year was knowing that Breo got to pierce in front of industry icon Brian Skellie, who left a glowing review and really made everyone’s day with his presence and kind words. The conference was such a busy time for us but well worth all the work.
Thank you for being one of my best friends Jay <3
And so here we are, at the end of October 2024. I’ve re-written this section at least forty times. I have a whole bunch of feelings and thoughts that I can’t articulate very well. As of Halloween 2024, I will be leaving Rogue Piercing to head back to my home city of Sheffield and pierce with the lovely team at The Owl and The Pussycat. On a personal note, I have a lot of not super fun memories tied to the city where I grew up but the opportunity to create new, beautiful memories in a gorgeous space, doing what I love the most, is super duper exciting for me. Leaving Rogue is of course incredibly bitter sweet. So many pivotal moments in my career have happened here and I have been fundamentally changed as a person thanks to the team and the clients that I’ve been privileged to meet.
Dream Team baby!
It’s not goodbye, it’s see you later. I’ll see you in Sheffield and I’ll see you across the world. I wouldn’t be Gemma without Rogue. Without the guidance, care and patience of the team. Without the trust and commitment of the clients. Without the experiences I have been so, so thankful to have.
To Aiden, Breo, Jay, Gwen, Anna, David and Armelle, I love you and I am eternally grateful for the time we’ve spent together. To the clients that I’ve met over the past 3 years, your trust in me has been life changing and I appreciate every single one of you from the bottom of my weird little heart. To Lisa and Chloe, I can’t wait to join your team and grow with you. Thank you for believing in me.
And lastly, to Elizabeth. I love you and I like you. I wouldn’t be writing any of this if you hadn’t saw something in me over a decade ago and brought me on this mad little journey with you into the world of body piercing.
The Monroe and the Madonna are arguably two of the most well known lip piercings that we are seeing going out of fashion, and it’s such a shame! But what are they? Well they are both individual upper lip piercings that sit either on the left or the right side. They are famously known for representing the beauty marks that were located on both Marilyn Monroe and Madonna. Although Monroe’s beauty mark was situated more on her cheek than above her lip.
Madonna Right hand side beauty spot
Marilyn Monroe Left hand side beauty spot
These piercings rose in popularity throughout the late 90’s and early 00’s. They quickly gained traction due to their unique placement, and their famous counterparts. Over recent years we are seeing and piercing less and less of these piercings, however we are seeing a slow introduction of them in various subtly different placements.
Madonna Piercing – Repierced by Jay
2.5mm White Swarovski Prong – Neometal
These piercings should always be pierced with a flat back labret stud initially. Typically these will be pierced at 16g or 14g (1.2mm or 1.6mm). The length will always vary on anatomy, but can range between 10-14mm with a downsized and healed length of 6-12mm on average. Downsizing is typically performed at the 2-3 week mark for oral piercings, and it is really important that you downsize the length of the jewellery. Wearing oversized bars incredibly increases your risk of tooth and gum damage. This is because you are more likely to catch/bite/pull the bar with your teeth, and with the excess length it is quite common for it to rest and rub at your gum lining. Downsizing and wearing appropriately snug fitting jewellery can help decrease your risk. Some people even find they may have more than one downsize.
Aftercare is super easy for these guys! Follow your 3 basic rules! 1. Keep it clean. Clean the outside 2x a day (morning/evening when you brush your teeth) using a bottle of sterile saline solution and clean kitchen paper. Clean the inside 5x a day (morning/evening and your 3 main meals) with non-alcoholic mouthwash. 2.Keep it dry. Avoid soaking/submerging for 4 weeks. Pat dry with clean kitchen paper after showering. 3. Leave it alone. No twisting/turning/fiddling with your jewellery and don’t use your teeth to pull or play with the bars. During the healing time it is important your avoid smoking, snacking and any sexual intercourse (which does include kissing. However, if you do decide to do any of these things, be smart and group it together with a mouthwash or rinse with plain cool water afterwards. If you would like to read a full in depth aftercare and healing times head over to our website here!
We currently have 5 piercers across 2 studios in Birmingham and Nottingham who can offer a huge range of oral piercings. This includes the infamous Madonna and Monroe, as well as the classic philtrum’s and labrets, to more unique verticals and eve the trickiest oral piercings: Cheeks. If you want to book in for any of these piercings or have a more in depth chat in person feel free to book in or contact us!
Hi folks! It’s Aiden writing the blog post this week. It has been a while since I have written a blog as the wonderful Rogues have been doing such a good job. With the last coal fired power plant closing down this week (It’s just outside Nottingham!) I thought I would take a look at the environmental cost of piercing. This is going to be a big old subject focused on the Carbon footprint of piercing techniques. This is going to focus on the elements that can be changed during a procedure, so will not cover elements such as needles, skin prep, studio running costs etc. This isn’t going to say there is a right or wrong way to go about piercing but more an honest look at the effects of our choices. It is also important to note that the Carbon cost isn’t the only deciding factor in choice of technique. The safety of the client and piercer are paramount and will be put before Carbon cost generally. So, let’s get stuck in!
For those of you that don’t want to read through all the data, here is a TL;DR for you
The Ratcliffe on Soar Power Station just outside Nottingham
We are going to use the UK average Carbon cost for 1kWh of electrcity in 2023 which was 162g. This is taken from carbonbrief.org. Now, obviously each piercing studio will have a different energy contract from different suppliers so some may be using fully renewable energy and some may use fossil fuel derived energy, but I’m going to use an average for this blog. We will also look at the maximum power use of each item using their listed power draws. In reality, equipment doesn’t run at full capacity all the time but this is the easiest way for us to make a comparison without owning and measuring every device available.
Reprocessing
There have never been as many ways to create a piercing as there are currently. When you head to a studio to get a piercing, your piercer will have already made choices about the tools and equipment they will (or will not) use. The most common way that piercers across the UK work is with tools that are reprocessed after use. This reprocessing will involve the use of chemicals in a disinfecting machine and then sterilisation in an autoclave and as with everything piercing; there is never just one way.
A Hydrim C61 instrument disinfector
Ultrasonic Vs Instrument Washer
Ultrasonic cleaners are a system where tools are submerged into a bath of chemicals and then an ultrasonic transducer sends ultrasonic waves through the fluid. This method has a two pronged approach to disinfection, as the chemicals will break down organic compounds (blood, skin oils etc) and the ultrasonic will physically remove debris. The “bubbles” in an ultrasonic are small pockets of vacuum which “suck” debris off the tools. The biggest cons of ultrasonic cleaners are that they must be used carefully to prevent contaminating the area around them, they can be used incorrectly by operators so training is required for both efficacy and safety and the chemicals must be disposed of carefully as they can be damaging to the aquatic environment. The most commonly used chemical in the UK is Rapidex. According to the MSDS (found here), Rapidex is not damaging to the environment but should be kept away from drains. This means the most ideal way to dispose would be to use absorbent granules but this is not always the case. Generally, ultrasonic cleaners have a relatively low electricity use compared to other options.
Carbon Cost – A 5L ultrasonic bath is the common size used in UK piercing studios. A reputable machine such as Allendale Ultrasonics 5L ultrasonic is listed as using 200 watts of power (100watt heating and 100watt ultrasonic transducer). Ultrasonics are generally used for 10-20 minutes once a day and will generally be used for approx. 15 tools at a time. This would therefore come out as (200w * 0.16 hours)/1000 = 0.032kWh which equates to 5.184grams of Carbon. This, divided by 15 for each tool, would be 0.3456g.
Instrument washers are like dishwashers on steroids. They are automated systems where once the cycle is started, the error can be minimal. Like ultrasonic cleaners, they use chemicals to break down organic material but instead of using vacuum “bubbles” they will use water jets to remove debris. The Hydrim HIP MSDS states that chemicals are safe to be disposed of through drains as long as they are diluted. The brochure states that water use is between 11 and 30 Litres depending on the cycle type. The biggest con of instrument washers (aside from a much higher purchase cost) is that they require more power use, but their main pros are that: user error is minimised; user safety is increased as it is an enclosed system with much safer chemical handling; the chemicals are disposed of much easier as they are plumbed into the waste water system, and they are much less likely to contaminate their surroundings. The majority of instrument washers can be used in a piercing room because of how enclosed they are.
Carbon Cost – The most common instrument washer found in UK piercing studios would be the Hydrim C61. Common is somewhat of a misnomer, as these are still quite rarely used due to their price point being higher than ultrasonics. The Technician Service Manual (not linked as info generously shared by a technician) states a 2.7kW max load. This seems a lot more than an ultrasonic, but more tools are able to be decontaminated at once and to a more uniform standard than an ultrasonic, and more tools can be decontaminated at once. According to the operator’s manual, a Hydrim C61 can decontaminate up to 120 tools at a time. It would be unusual for a piercing studio to be able to use this many tools in the time frame that they would need to be decontaminated and re-used, so to allow for real world use this figure will be halved to 60 (this would still be high for a UK piercing studio). The Carbon created breaks down as (2.7kW * 0.53 hours) = 1.404 kWh which equates to 227.48g of Carbon. This divided by 60 tools would be 3.79g.
A Statim 2000s Autoclave
Class B vs Class S
Class B and Class S are different types of autoclaves. They both achieve sterilisation using steam, heat and pressure but they use them differently to get their results. A Class B will generally fill a boiler with steam and store the steam until it is required, whereas a class S will generate the steam as it is required. Class B is the most common type of autoclave found in UK piercing studios, but class S is the most common in high quality piercing studios.
Understanding the environmental impact of these autoclaves requires looking into more than just the power use. Most Class B autoclaves are larger and can sterilise more at once but the tools, equipment and jewellery will need to be bagged in sterilisation pouches for later use. Class S autoclaves, however, tend to be smaller and sterilise less but run “naked” cycles where the tools, equipment and jewellery is used as soon as the sterilisation cycle is complete. Sterilisation pouches are normally half paper and half polypropylene plastic. A box of 200, 35mm*75mm sterilisation pouches weighs 194g. As one side is paper, we will half this value to 97g for 200 which is 0.485g per pouch. The Carbon cost for producing 3Kg of polypropylene is 3Kg according to this website so that would be 0.485g of Carbon per small pouch. Tool pouches used for forceps are larger, so as it is 0.485g for 0.002625m^2 (35mm * 75mm) for small pouches, and forceps pouches are 135mm*255mm which is 0.034425m^2 this equates to 6.36g of Carbon, per forceps pouch.
Both types of autoclave require distilled water. There are two options for sourcing this. It can be purchased, or it can be distilled in-house. I have been unable to find information about power use for purchased distilled water, so will look at in-house distilled water. This Carbon cost will need to be added on to both autoclaves’ Carbon use. A distiller creates 5L of distilled water at a time – this can last for approx. 20 cycles in a Class S and approx. 5 cycles in a Class B.
Distiller Carbon Cost – (0.75kW * 4 hours) = 3kWh which equates to 486g of Carbon per 5L water.
Class B autoclaves found in UK piercing studios will generally sterilise around 12-20 tools at a time, so we will take a median value of 16 tools. We will use the Excel Enigma 12 Litre class B for our information, as this is a commonly used autoclave in the UK. Carbon Cost – (2kW * 1 Hour) = 2kWh which equates to 324 grams of Carbon. The distilled water needs to be added to this, which would be 486g / 5 cycles = 97.2g making the subtotal 421.1g. Then, this is divided by 16 tools, so the total per tool sterilisation is 26.31g of carbon, but the pouch cost must be added so the final total is 32.67g of carbon.
Class S autoclaves generally sterilise 2-4 tools at a time so we will take 3 tools as the median value. The Statim 2000S is the most commonly used Class S autoclave found in UK piercing studios, so our data will be based on this machine. The power use is listed as 240 Volts and 6 Amps which equals approx. 1.4 kWatts. The cycle time for a hollow unwrapped cycle is 8 minutes. Carbon Cost – (1.4kW * 0.13 hours) = 0.182 kWh, which equates to 29.484g of Carbon. Plus the distilled water carbon cost, this is 53.784g. This then needs to be divided by 3 for the number of tools, so the final total is 17.928g of Carbon per tool sterilised.
An Oil based plastic disposable Septum clamp
Disposable Piercing
A relatively new option open to piercers now is disposable piercing. Disposable piercing removes the requirement for reprocessing and sterilising tools, as the equipment is purchased pre-sterile from the manufacturer and is then disposed of through incineration or recycling. There are 4 main ways a piercer can pierce in a disposable manner. These are plastic disposable tools, metal disposable tools, using needle blanks and freehand (aka tool free).
Plastic Disposable
Plastic disposable tools are generally made from acrylic and are EO gas sterilised in sterilisation pouches. There has recently been a move by some companies to move to biodegradable and plant based plastic disposable tools. Wheat straw is listed as the material for one manufacturer’s biodegradable tools, so we will use these for this option.
EO gas sterilisation is used for both disposable material choices. Unfortunately I was unable to find data for how much carbon is produced during EO gas sterilisation, so cannot add this into the calculations. EO sterilisation isn’t a method that can be used in piercing studios as it is a large scale industrial process. This method uses sterilisation pouches, so we will need to add in our Carbon values from earlier on.
As we can’t look at the sterilisation cost and there is no reprocessing of disposable tools, we will look at the production cost. Disposal or recycling Carbon costs will have their own section further down.
Acrylic (PMMA) plastic being made from oil means it inherently has a high Carbon foot print. According to renewablematter.eu acrylic produces 5.5Kg of CO2 for every 1Kg of acrylic produced. We weighed three of the acrylic tools we have in stock and they came in at 8.91g, 5.08g and 10.22g. We will take an average across these to get a single figure for our use. The average weight we will use is 8.07g. Taking the Carbon production cost, it means that 8.07g of Acrylic equates to 44.385g of Carbon. When we add in the sterilisation pouch, it brings our Carbon total to 50.745g (44.385g + 6.36g).
Wheat Straw-derived plastics are a new innovation in the piercing world. In the industrial world wheat straw plastic is named polybutylene succinate (PBS). Wheat straw is a by-product of the farming industry that would normally be disposed of by either composting or by burning. Also, the process of growing wheat is removing CO2 from the atmosphere, so this method should be more of a closed loop. Wheat has been shown to absorb more Carbon than it emits (link) but I unfortunately could not find data to equate how much Carbon is absorbed by the wheat straw, nor how many hectares of wheat straw goes into a given weight of wheat straw derived plastics – so the figures for this section need to be taken with a pinch of salt. According to sciencedirect 1kg of wheat straw plastic produced 3.43Kg of Carbon. I do not currently have any wheat straw based tools, so looking at the material density it is very similar to acrylic at 1.26g/cm^3 vs PMMA at 1.18g/cm^3. So, taking our average acrylic tool weight of 8.07g and multiplying it by a ratio of 1.06, our average wheat based tool weight is 8.6g. Knowing this, we can then work out that 8.6g of PBS equates to 29.5g of Carbon. When we add in the sterilisation pouch, that brings our total to 35.85g (29.5g + 6.36g).
Needle Blank Disposable
Needle blanks are needles that have not had a sharp end ground into them. They can be very useful for piercing procedures as they can be used as receiving tubes, as snips (a method of connecting jewellery to the needle for insertion) and for making our own disposable tools. Available in sizes ranging from 26g up to 2g means that they offer piercers a lot of options to make the equipment they need quickly and cheaply. Needle blanks were an innovation that fulfilled a need for piercers who did not reprocess tools, before companies were producing disposable tools. They are not an outdated method and are still very much in use today, as they are a very versatile option.
The most commonly used needle blank sizes used in piercing studios would be 8g 2″ and 26g 1″. They would normally be sterilised in a Statim as needed. We will look into the production Carbon cost of these tools. The amount of carbon released from the production of steel varies greatly depending on where the ore was mined, where the steel was produced, the process used to make the steel, the grade of steel produced and whether the steel was recycled or made from virgin ore. We will take an average of all the steel produced around the globe to try and get some figures we can work with. According to carbon chain the production of steel in 2020 accounted for 8% of global Carbon emissions, at 1.88 tonnes of Carbon per 1 tonne of Steel produced. This makes the steel industry one of the top 3 global Carbon emitters. This includes the mining of iron ore and coal and then the production of steel.
An 8g 2″ needle blank weighs 1g, equating to 1.88g of Carbon.
A 26g 1″ needle snip weighs 0.015g, and this would equate to 0.0282g of Carbon.
If the blank and snip used for a piercing are sterilised in a Statim, no plastic packaging would be required so the Carbon cost of the tools alone would be 1.88g + 0.0282g = 1.9082g
A metal septum clamp
Metal Disposable
The newest form of piercing tool supply in the market is metal disposable tools. Aces Supply have recently entered the UK market with a form of closed loop supply. They provide pre-sterile metal tools and sharps/tool bins that are reusable and they reclaim the metal and recycle it back into new tools. With this system being a closed loop, we are going to look at disposal and production as one cost as the processes are combined.
Just like with the plastic tools, we are going to take the weight of three types of tool and take an average across these. The three tools we weighed were 36.7g, 27.7g and 43.34g which gives us an average of 35.9g of steel. When we calculate the Carbon cost of these using the data from the needle blank section, it gives us a Carbon cost of 66.9g.
Metal disposable tools arrive to studios pre-sterilised in sterilisation pouches, so we would need to add this Carbon cost too. This would bring our total up to 66.9g + 6.36g = 73.26g.
A clinical waste incinerator
Disposal
The final aspect of the piercing process we need to take a look at is disposal. The waste generated from piercing is classed as clinical waste and therefore must be disposed of carefully. There are different categories of clinical waste and this defines how it should be disposed. As piercers, our waste falls into 2 categories; Offensive Waste and Sharps. The offensive waste can go to landfill, but the safety of this would be questionable. This means that one of the big pros of PBS is negated, as it doesn’t go to landfill to biodegrade, and would be incinerated for the safety of staff working in the waste stream. At Rogue we use waste collection services that send our waste for incineration. Sharps waste also goes for incineration, but the metal from this can be recycled as there are no pathogens that can survive the process of melting steel. The metal tools that are recycled would be recycled through the sharps waste system.
Offensive waste is the category into which the paper and plastic elements of the piercing process would fall when it comes to being disposed of. As we are not covering the paper elements in this blog (due to them being the same across all piercing methods) we will look at the Carbon cost of incinerating plastics. Sadly I was unable to find data on individual plastics and the data available varies greatly, so we will have to look at an average.
Oil-derived plastics – According to QMRE, for every 1 tonne of oil-derived plastic burned, 2.9 tonnes of Carbon is released. So for our oil plastic disposable tools, the Carbon cost for incineration would be 147.16g (50.745g * 2.9)
Plant-derived plastics – As these are such a new material to the market there isn’t huge amounts of data available. The main aim for plant-derived plastics is to have them biodegrade, so this limits the data for incineration even further. Taking data from this research paper we can see that the Carbon cost is approx. 2.8kg per kg of plastic. The carbon cost of incinerating plant derived plastics would be 103.97g (35.85g * 2.9).
Sharps – Sharps covers the needles that we use as piercers, but it would also cover metal disposable tools such as snips, blanks and disposable clamps. These are all made from steel.
Steel – The Carbon cost of recycling steel is significantly lower than producing virgin steel. Data from 8billiontrees shows us that the Carbon cost is 0.88Kg of Carbon per 1Kg of recycled steel.
Blank and Snip – The combined weight of a needle blank and snip is 1.015g so the Carbon footprint of recycling is 0.89g (1.015g * 0.88).
Metal disposable clamp – The average weight we used above for disposable metal tools was 35.9g which would give us a Carbon footprint of 31.592g (35.9g * 0.88)
Freehand aka Tool Free
There is one final method to mention here and that is Freehand, aka Tool Free. As this method just uses the needle and the jewellery and they would be used for every other technique mentioned above, the Carbon cost for this method would be 0g (on top of the standard items used by all the other techniques). This is unsurprising, as it will always be more environmentally friendly to not use an item than to use an alternative item.
Summary
To put all of this into a format that is more digestible, I have used this data to show the Carbon cost of a septum piercing using the various methods available to us. The choice of septum is because every method of piercing we have looked at can be used. As we are only looking at the differences, this doesn’t include the Carbon cost of the paper products, cleaning products, studio running etc. It is also important to remember that the safety of the client, practitioner and the ease of use of the products needs to be thought about – so the Carbon footprint isn’t the final decision maker for choice of technique. A disposable tool hugely reduces the risk for the client and the practitioner, and as it is long term health that can be affected, this can be a much more important factor than Carbon use. The table below is showing measurements in grams.
The limitations of our results are that we cannot find data for EO gas sterilisation, or the amount of Carbon absorbed during plant-based plastics’ plant growth stage. Even so, we can see that a class S reprocessed tool comes in as the least Carbon intensive, and oil-based disposable comes in as the most Carbon intensive of the tool techniques.
I hope you all enjoyed me being a nerd this week. This is a subject I have been trying to write about for a long time but haven’t been able to get the data – I hope that in the future I can get that missing data. Until next time!
It is currently estimated that over 100,000 people in the UK are living with HIV, both un-diagnosed and diagnosed. But what does it mean for people with HIV when they want to get a tattoo or piercing? In an ideal world, it should mean absolutely nothing!
Unfortunately, there is still a huge stigma that surrounds HIV which means if they choose to disclose this information to their artist or piercer, they may be refused service. Not only is this morally wrong, but it is also illegal. Refusing to tattoo or pierce and individual because they are HIV positive is discrimination under the 1Equality Act of 2010. HIV positive people are automatically protected under the category of disability, which can be found in clause 6 of the act.
Disability
(1)A person (P) has a disability if—
(a)P has a physical or mental impairment, and
(b)the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on P’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.
The definition is very broad, however the Govt website explicitly states that people with HIV automatically meet the disability definition. In conclusion, it is ILLEGAL to refuse service to a person who is HIV positive.
A progressive condition is one that gets worse over time. People with progressive conditions can be classed as disabled.
However, you automatically meet the disability definition under the Equality Act 2010 from the day you’re diagnosed with HIV infection, cancer or multiple sclerosis.
You do not have to disclose your HIV status to us if you do not wish. 3Nobody can force you to disclose that status.
It is important to note that HIV is not a contradiction to tattooing and piercing. This means even though you legally do not have to tell us if you have HIV, you morally don’t have too neither. Any safe practicing tattoo and piercing studio will NEVER refuse service due to HIV. We work to standard precautions with full blood-borne pathogen training. Every single service we offer is performed to the highest level of safety we can. Your diagnosis makes zero difference to the way we carry out our work, or the way we treat you as a person!
Examples of universally used precautions include (but are not limited to):
New/clean equipment between people e.g. disposable gloves, single used needles, sterilised tools/jewellery.
Appropriate disposal of sharps (needles) and contaminated waste, with appropriate arrangements in place for safe collection.
New ink for each client.
Jewellery that comes in contact with broken skin (e.g. a piercing) must not be reused or shared.
Appropriate steps followed if a needlestick injury occurs.
4It is estimated that out of the 100,000 people in the UK living with HIV today, are diagnosed and on effective medication. This means that the virus is undetectable in their blood, and there is zero risk of transmission via sex, and very low risk via a needlestick injury. So much so, that national guidelines do not recommend PEP in these instances! On the other hand, someone living with HIV who isn’t diagnosed, or without effective treatment can pass on the virus. This is why there is a need for universal precautions.
Jays PPE training during her first year at Rogue
We use different types of PPE when working with clients, and working with contaminated waste.
Unfortunately, studios do have to ask if you about HIV and other blood-borne pathogens (you’ll often see it wrote into the consent form). This isn’t because we need to do anything differently during your appointment. This is because often it is wrote into A) the local bylaws and/or B) written into contracts with the local waste collection company, who handle our sharps and contaminated waste. Contaminated waste is handled in 4 different ways and all depends on the category they fit into. 1: Incineration – This method is often used for large volumes of infectious waste, animal carcasses, and contaminated bedding materials. 2: Landfilling – Toxic waste can be buried in landfills that are designed to be “permanently” sealed. 3: Treatment – Hazardous waste can be treated using chemical, thermal, biological, or physical methods. Treatment can make waste less harmful, easier to handle, or easier to recover. For example, chemical waste and many bulk hazardous liquid wastes are treated in a treatment plant before being disposed of. 4: Recycling – Some hazardous wastes can be recovered and recycled. For example, solvents and waste oils can be recovered and recycled as chem-fuels.
An NHS chart detailing the different types of waste.5
Waste companies ask that if we have performed a piercing on someone who has HIV that we tell them so that the waste can be dealt with appropriately via incineration instead of landfill. At Rogue, we do not believe that this is appropriate. We have strong beliefs that any waste that is considered “contaminated” should be appropriately disposed through incineration, and definitely NOT a landfill. As a studio, we specifically have it written into our contract (by our choice) that all of our waste is disposed of via incineration. Not only is this because we feel that you shouldn’t have to disclose your HIV status to us if you do not wish, but because we also have respect for those who handle our waste.
Every single human deserves to be treated like a person and with the same level of respect and kindness. HIV is not a death sentence. Piercings and tattoos are for everyone.
If you are living with HIV and would like support, or you would like more information, here are some resources:
September only has a singular birthstones, and that is the classic Sapphire. However, don’t be fooled, despite only having one stone – this month still offers a variety of colours to choose from!
The months that are lucky enough to have more than a singular birthstone, these are separated into two lists: Modern and Traditional. The more common of the two is the modern birthstones, which were defined in 1912 by the Jewelers of America in an attempt to standardise (and commercialise) birthstones. This was further updated in the 1950s, to include gemstones such as Citrine for November, or Alexandrite for June. Modern stones are based on what’s easier to sell in large quantities (making it the more affordable choice).
BVLA MINI KANDY Grey Sapphire
On average Sapphire typically refers to deep rich blue gemstones variety of the mineral corundum, and is available in every single colour except red (the red variety of mineral corundum is reserved for Rubies). Sapphires that come in any colour that isn’t blue are entitled “fancies”. It is trace elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, copper, and magnesium that give naturally colourless corundum a tint of blue, yellow, purple, orange, or green. Hence, the rainbow variety of Sapphires that can be found.
There is a very fine line between sapphires and rubies though, and pink sapphires very carefully tread that line. In the U.S. these guys have to meet a minimum colour saturation to be considered a ruby! Despite this, the pinkish/orange sapphires can actually draw in higher prices than the classic blue sapphire.
BVLA MARQUISE FAN White Sapphire
Traditionally, Sapphire has been a symbol for faithfulness, truth, and nobility, and for centuries has been adorned by royalties the Robes of the Clergy. It was even believed by the Elite of Ancient Greece and Rome that Sapphire protected their owners from harm and envy! The name “sapphire” comes from the Latin word sapphirus and the Greek word sappheiros, meaning “blue stone” (although those words may have originally referred to lapis lazuli). Some actually believe it may have originated from the Sanskrit word sanipriya which meant “dear to Saturn.”
There are three historically important sources for the September birthstone, which are Sri Lanka, Kashmir and Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) the Mogok area of Myanmar is a local place famed for the production of Sapphire. , however significant quantities of Sapphire can also be found in Australia, Thailand, Cambodia, Madagascar and the United States as well as many countries across Asia and Africa.
BVLA BEADED BAGUETTE White Sapphire
Sapphire is a remarkably hard stone, scaling at a 9 on the Moh’s Scale of Hardness, ranking it second to Diamond. It is incredibly tough with no cleavage (which is tendency to break when struck). All of this information makes it an excellent stone for everyday wear. This stone isn’t often treated to improve colour or clarity, but when they are heat treatment is the most common. Warm, soapy water is always the safest method to clean your jewellery, however ultrasonics and steam cleaners can be used for non-treated sapphires. If the stone has been dyed or fracture-filled, then a damp cloth only should be used for cleaning.
We stock jewellery from brands from across the world, and can source items in all birthstones imaginable! If you would like to treat yourself to some meaningful pieces, just get in contact with us.
Make sure to follow us on social media for regular updates, and keep an eye out as we post new blogs every single Friday!
It’s that time of year again where we celebrate another 365 days of Rogue Piercing Nottingham! It’s been a year full of change and growth for our team and we cannot wait to see what the next five years bring!
At the start of the year, we had the pleasure of attending the very first Wee Scottish Expo in Edinburgh. We packed up the suspension rig and drove from Nottingham to Scotland to spend time with new and old industry friends from all over the globe. As part of the Expo, we worked with the incredible Bliss of Pain Suspension Crew and world renowned practioner Eugenia Delphine for the Body Play day, performing body suspensions to raise money for War Child UK, a specialist charity helping children effected by conflict. Special thank you to the team at Bold and Gold for making the event so special!
Gemma and Jay at The Wee Scottish Expo’s Body Play Day
Rolling in to summer this year, our very own Head Piercer Breo Hoek received the APP Legacy Scholarship! Together with Gemma, they travelled out to sunny ol’ Las Vegas, Nevada for ten days of hard work, sweat and lots and lots of learning. It was amazing to have Breo as part of the Volunteer Family and the experience was undeniably life changing. You can read more about Breo’s first time attending the APP conference in his blog here. While Gemma and Breo were off on their adventures, the studio had the honour of hosting Elly Tso! Elly really stepped up to help Jay keep Rogue Nottingham running to it’s full potential while the team were across the Atlantic. Big, big thank you to both Jay and Elly for keeping the ship sailing!
Gemma and Breo had a lot of fun! Photography by John Balk
Pretty much as soon as Gemma and Breo landed back in the UK, we welcomed Gwen to the team! Gwen has been piercing for a couple of years now and joined the Rogue team to expand her existing skillset and grow her career as a Piercer 🙂 Almost as soon as Gwen started with us, Aiden and Anna flew Gwen out to Berlin for the annual BMXNet conference to really get a feel for the importance of what we do as Piercers (and of course to network and catch up with some dear friends). You can read more about Gwen’s experience of her first international conference here. We are super proud of Gwen for how they have integrated in with the team and how passionate they are about our craft.
Gwen really enjoyed her first time at BMXnet!
Our last big event for this year was the UKAPP conference which was held in Nottingham for the very first time this year! We had a whirwind of a time, volunteering to help run the Audio/Visual for the event, attending classes and keeping the studio up and running throughout. It was hard work for the team but not only did we make it happen, we had so much positive feedback from Piercers all over the globe who came to visit and be pierced at Rogue. It was especially important for Breo who had the absolutely honour of showing the legendary Brian Skellie around our studio and even had him watch Breo perform some piercings! Not nerve-wracking at all! We also had the fantastic BVLA team pop in to see the studio and it was such a wonderful experience to meet them in person! Travelling all the way from Los Angeles to Nottingham, the BVLA team had their own floor at the UKAPP expo this year to showcase all their amazing pieces!
And finally, just as the UKAPP conference was about to start this year, ROGUE BIRMINGHAM was licensed! Meaning that we now have TWO locations across the Midlands! Rogue Birmingham has been a labour of love and we are so, so impressed with all the hard work that Aiden has put in to make the second studio possible. Nestled in the Custard Factory at Digbeth, Aiden is now available for piercing and jewellery appointments. We picked up some extra special pieces from our conferences just for the Birmingham site, so head over, say hello and pick yourself out something gorgeous! We can’t wait to see our second studio grow and expand over the coming months, and it will be super excited to write a 5 year anniversary blog for our second site!
Rogue has opened it’s doors in Birmingham! Book your appointments online with Aiden!
Congratulations again to Aiden for all his hard work in setting up Rogue Birmingham and for all of his continued support at Nottingham! Rogue wasn’t built in a day, but it was built in the best interest of our clients and Piercers to provide you with the high quality, safe piercing environment that you all deserve!
Not to be confused with Industrial piercings (aka Scaffold piercings), which differ in that the piercings are connected by a barbell instead of a ring.
Where can we place an orbital? Practically anywhere on the ear! We can even connect healed piercings with rings! With a little creativity and taking the right measurements, the options are almost endless!
There are different ways to place an orbital in a piercing and to decide which is the right one, we must do a study of each case with several points to take into account: the person’s daily level of physical activity, sleeping habits and posture preferences, profession, use of glasses/phone/headphones/headwear etc.
What jewellery is suitable for an orbital? We have several options: We can use a BCR (ball closure ring), we can use a circular barbell, or a seam ring.
Should orbitals be made with the hoop directly, or do I have to heal the piercings with straight jewellery before wearing a hoop? The answer is “YES” to both questions. It will depend on the piercing and the anatomy of that area. We cannot generalise with a universal rule for everyone, when everyone is different in terms of sizes, shapes, lifestyles etc. Every detail counts.
Some people can wear a ring from the beginning because their anatomy allows it, and other people will be recommended to have two standard piercings, and connect them with a ring once healed.
What kind of problems are common in orbitals? At Rogue we don’t usually encounter problems with orbitals, because it is a super stable piercing, the range of movement of the jewellery in the piercing is practically zero and this facilitates healing a lot because there is hardly any mechanical stress.
Still, and as with any other piercing, it can cause scarring, piercing bumps, irritations, lumps and rejection. We always recommend coming to see us for a check-up if you have any issues at all. Most of the time, the problem is a small detail that is easy to fix.
What size should the jewellery be?
Like most piercings, the size is something we can also choose. We can use fine and delicate jewellery or we can make it ambitious and chunky. The options are almost endless!
Orbitals are piercings that require dedication and attention.
One of the biggest advantages of this double piercing is that if it has been done with a ring from the beginning, you will not need a downsize! The size of the ring you got pierced with will be the size you will always need.
If you would like to make an appointment for a consultation, we are open 7 days a week, we look forward to hearing from you!
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