So, you’ve either booked a piercing appointment with us, or you’re considering booking one. Either way, we’re super excited to have you on board! However, what should you expect at your appointment, and should you bring anything? There’s a lot of questions you might have. So, let’s discuss the process of getting pierced at Rogue.
So first things first, book your appointment! Rogue is an appointment only studio, we do not offer walk-ins. You can book via our website here, for any day or time that suits you! You can even choose which piercer you would like to book with if you have a preference! While you’re going through the booking system, make sure you read those pesky terms and conditions! Once you’re all booked, you may want to browse our online webstore too view the hundreds of jewellery options we have! This is definitely a choice though – Most of your appointment time is dedicated to guiding you to your perfect jewellery.
‘Mini AJ’ BVLA
‘Tiny Quadbead’ Anatometal
‘Ray of Light’ BVLA
‘Trio’ Anatometal
‘French Kiss’ BVLA
The Day of Your Appointment
Now, it’s the day of you’re appointment! Make sure you’ve had a good breakfast/lunch before your appointment , and avoid caffiene! Caffiene is a stimulant and increase your blood flow. It can also boost anxiety if you’re feeling quite nervous! You’ll need to bring your photographic ID, such as a passport, driving license, or citizen card. Also check your emails! In your confirmation email there will be a link to your consent form. Give it a read and sign it as long as you agree and understand each point. If there is anything you need to ask, or anything you need us to know, then wait to complete the form at your appointment.
Once you arrive we will confirm your appointment with you, check your ID and check your consent form. We only accept valid photo ID. This may be something like a passport, provisional/driving licence, or for the kiddo’s – a citizens card. If you are over the age of 16, you will need your own ID, and your parent cannot sign for you. If you are under the age of 16, you will need to bring your parent or legal guardian witrh you, and you will both be required to have photographic ID. We may also ask for a birth certificate. (Due to insurance, we can not accept copies, or photographs of your ID. It does need to be a physical copy!)
Once all the boring stuff is out of the way, we will then discuss jewellery choices with you. We will show you all our cabinets and discuss ideas on your goal! There are hundreds of pierces to choose from, and our staff will help narrow down the choices for you! Once your piece (or pieces!) have been chosen, we set them up to be sterilised. During this time, your piercer will set up what they require, such as gloves and tools, and our counter staff will talk you through your aftercare advice, and answer any questions you may have.
The Piercing
You then get to go through to the piercing room and do the exciting bit! Your piercing experience can change depending on who you book with – Everyone is different! All our piercers work quite similarly, and are equally skilled, but they all have their own unique way of piercing. This is where the magic lies. For example, Breo likes to really slow down and walk you through the entirety of his process. Aiden will show you his tools and jewellery, and will take time to chat and get to know you. Gemma is super friendly and is amazing at keeping you calm. Jay is super full of energy and makes the process super fun and bouncy!
As soon as your piercing has happened, and both you and your piercer are happy, you get to come back out to reception, where you’ll be met with smiling faces! We’ll go throught the checkout, give you some cool stickers, and if you allow us to, we might take some super cool macro photos for our social media!
High Lobe – Breo
Inverse lip – Aiden
Conch – Jay
Paired Nostrils – Gemma
Septum – Breo
Trio Lobe – Aiden
Septum- Gemma
Philtrum – Jay
And thats it, we’re done! The next stage is your checkup appointment, which is super important. If you do literally nothing else with your piercing, come back for your checkup to ensure a smooth healing process and a beautiful end result! The checkup date depends on your piercing – This could be anywhere from 7 days to 6 weeks. Check your aftercare leaflet and pay attention during your aftercare speech to make sure you are on time.
We are currently offering our biggest ever collection of BVLA in the studio, and are expecting even more to arrive in the coming weeks! Here we are going to do a little overview of some of our favourite pieces, all of which are available to purchase online and in-studio for both fresh piercings and healed piercing upgrades!
Jay has had their eyes on a Mini AJ from the minute they saw it on the BVLA website, and Kat has outdone themselves with this stunning mix of Labradorite and White Sapphires yet into 14k Yellow Gold. Absolutely stunning.
We would love to see this piece in a conch piercing! The fan shape will really be amplified by the curve of the ear – And give it plenty of space to shine.
Following in the footsteps of the Mini AJ, is the Trillion Half Bezel. Again, these pieces made us fall madly in love the minute we saw them. Love at first sight some would call it. And with even more Labradordite in yellow gold, you can see why these guys have had to make it into our list of favourites. These would look absolutely stunning atop a navel or jestrum piercing, for the adventurous!
These are such a popular design, and you can really see why. They are so incredibly neat. The bezel, the beading… Everything works together perfectly to make a beautiful piece that looks amazing in lobe, helix and faux rook placements!
Rose-Cut Green Tourmaline: it definitely knows how to catch your eye! Every single turn under the light allows different colours to shine through, from deep moss tones through to chartreuse bright greens. We have just one of these left in stock in this colourway, and we would love to see it in a philtrum or labret piercing!
Gemstone Feature: Chrysoprase
Round Cab prongs and a Marquise Seam Ring.
Continuing with the green, is the absolute ultimate neon green: Chrysoprase. We are absolutely hoping to see these guys leave as a full set. We would absolutely love to offer to waive the piercing fees for a set of paired nostril piercings and a septum piercing! Just get in contact via email and we can book you in!
Gemstone Feature: Oregon Sunstone
Round Cab Prong.
Now Oregon Sunstone has made Jay fall fast and hard. It’s beautiful, soft, feminine, and absolutely mesmerising. You also can’t go wrong with a Cab Prong. Classics are a classic for a reason! This design has just a little bit of intricacy in the setting, while still letting the gemstone speak for itself.
BVLA are the pinnacle of body jewellery – With over 800 different designs to choose from, which you can personalise with 500 gemstones, the choice can be a little overwhelming! We are here to guide you through the entire process from start to finish, suggesting pieces and curating your own slice of the BVLA pie.
If you want to get your own custom piece, email Kat at kat@roguepiercing.co.uk to get the ball rolling on wearing your own dream body jewellery collection.
I first met Elizabeth around ten years ago when we both worked in a call centre . We bonded immediately over our shared love of piercings, tattoos and all things alternative. Throughout the years, Elizabeth has navigated the turbulent path of ADHD and ASD whilst immersing themselves fully into an industry that they are now thriving in. When we first met, Elizabeth struggled to talk with strangers and now they’re hosting talks at both the UKAPP and Piercer Trade Show events, speaking to rooms full of piercers about Apprenticeships in the UK and Neurodivergence in Piercing! On a personal note, Elizabeth was the first person to encourage me to start piercing and I am eternally and whole-heartadly grateful that they gave me that push and overwhelmingly proud of the person and piercer that they are.
Elizabeth: I was being pierced a lot as a teenager, then I got normal jobs because I thought that was what you were supposed to do. I started getting pierced again in my early 20s but I’d never been pierced by anyone who wasn’t a tattooist so I never made the connection that it was a job.
Then I saw somewhere advertising for a body piercer and I didn’t get the job there but it was the first time I was like, ‘oh, this is someone’s job and I could do that?!’ I very much hated corporate life. This was maybe 2016 and it all kind of unfolded from there. When clients ask, I tell them I got started by accident.
G: What started your interest in piercing?
E: I was on MySpace for most of my teen years. There were all these ‘scene queens’, with snake bites and septum piercings, and I was like, shit, I want all of those. Then it all kind of went a bit nuts from there.
G:We’ve been friends a long time, I know your piercing career and your journey with mental health and getting your diagnosis sort of began simultaneously right?
E: So I have Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, dyspraxia and depression. I’d been diagnosed in maybe 2014/15. I’d given up work because of what I thought was a mental health crisis and happened to see a GP who was actually understanding. I was like, basically I just need you to give me drugs to get me through this crisis, and then I’ll look for a job again. And she asked if I’d ever considered that I might be autistic. She put that in motion and I saw a mental health nurse, then an autism specialist at a place in Chesterfield. The specialist thought I had ADHD and I laughed at her and said no, that’s not what it is. I’ve been reading about autism and it’s definitely that.
I had an informal diagnosis from the GP initially, but then it took a long time to see a specialist who confirmed what I had already accepted by that point.
Fred the little terror
G: You’re very open about your experience being neurodivergent both as a person and a piercer.
E: I’m just not ashamed of it. My diagnosis explained a lot about myself and it feels like a big part of who I am. I think it’s a lot of the reason why I’m good at what I do. It’s the reason why I’m not scared to have an opinion.
I have opinions on everything and I think anyone who’s ever talked to me on the internet very much knows. But that’s because I know myself well now, and I think knowing myself well came from a diagnosis. People are often a little frightened to seek it out. It doesn’t really change your life that dramatically if you know, but it’s a nice bit of validation. I don’t think it’s anything to be ashamed of. I don’t think there’s any condition that you should be ashamed of but I understand people want to keep things private.
G: You were diagnosed and then immediately started in the industry under not the most ideal circumstances, how was that for you?
E: I was newly diagnosed, I’d been masking for most of my life anyway so I’d not quite learned how to drop that completely in a way that I feel like I can do now. I was still very much in that headspace where I’d worked in call centers and a corporate world where I felt like I had no choice but to pretend to be a functional human being.
Masking is exhausting. So it was really hard at the beginning to do it and learn not only how to pierce but also how to interact with people in a customer service setting. Piercing is a customer service industry that happens to have treatments attached to it. But then I also had to learn how not to get too invested.
We talk about imposter syndrome a lot on the internet. People talk about having it a lot and that’s especially true when you’re a neurodivergent person. These people are never gonna forget anything. Every mistake or every weird thing I’ve done in my career, I can remember, I can very much call back to that, but I’ll never remember the good stuff.
That was really hard to balance at first, and now I just dump it all on Paddy and make him deal with the things I’m stressing about
G: Have you found within the industry, there is quite a sub-community of neurodivergent piercers?
E: Yeah, privately a lot of people have reached out and said they’re either neurodiverse and are struggling with it, or they think they might be. But also I just polled the UK Professionals group just to see and yeah, loads of people have various personality disorders,
I think what draws us to this industry is that it’s not necessarily needing to mask all the time. There’s not very many people where I feel like I know they’re not hiding their intentions, but that is true of someone that is neurodivergent. Generally, I know that they’re not hiding their actual intentions because it’s not always something that we can do. Like lying is difficult. Building emotions is difficult, so then you kind of have to be yourself around them. And I think like calls to like in any part of your life. I think neurodiverse people are drawn to each other just because they’re neurodiverse and everyone tends to have a bit of a sense of that in someone else.
G: What advice would you give piercers who are struggling with their own mental health/neurodivergence but also who have clients that are?
E: From a piercer perspective, be kind to yourself and patient with yourself. Understand your own boundaries and recognise what burnout is for you because burnout is not the same for everyone. Give yourself longer appointments. Do whatever it is that makes your life easier.
There’s zero point struggling, particularly when you are in an industry or a job that you have so much control over. I appreciate that not everybody has as much control but particularly if people are diagnosed, autism and ADHD are recognised as disabilities in this country and your employer has a legal obligation to make reasonable adjustments. But you have to know what those reasonable adjustments are. You kinda have to take some ownership of it or advocate someone to speak for you that understands.
My huge, big, giant thing from a client perspective,for anyone who is piercing someone who is neurodiverse, is don’t patronise them. I see so much performative activism on the internet that’s like, ‘oh, we do this thing for our autistic clients.’ It just feels really weird. ‘I’m gonna put lots of different cloud lights in here’. Fuck no. Everyone’s sensory issues are different as well. You’ve just gotta listen to your client. As a client, I just wanna be treated as a person and just be pierced the way that you pierce everyone because I can tell if you are out of your comfort zone as well. I see heaps of people really infantalise people with neurodiversity issues.
I like it when people give the option to have a silent appointment, but again, don’t just assume that your autistic client might want you not to talk to them because my ADHD wants you to chat.
As a piercer, I will try and make those accommodations, but also I can’t make any promises. There’s not always gonna be an option where I can do that either but I’ll try my best. We don’t do small talk in my piercing room. We do big talk. Always big talk. What superpowers would you have? I don’t know how to do small talk.
G: What’s the weirdest superpower someone has said?
E: People tend to just go for the power of flight or invisibility. Some guy wanted to make money with his hands and we ended up talking about economics for like 25 minutes. I always wanna ask people what they’re reading, but then not everybody reads
Another good one that I ask people is, what’s the weirdest fact they know. That’s fun because they are always excited to tell you. Did you know an octopus’s mouth was also its anus? It’s true for squid as well.
G: You’ve been doing some work around piercing apprenticeships in the UK. Can you tell us a bit about that and why you started the UK Piercing Apprentices Facebook group?
E: I wanted there to be piercing specific information for people who were looking to start an apprenticeship either as an apprentice or as a mentor. It’s not a particularly active group, but I think there comes a point where it doesn’t really need to be. I wanted it to be a live-in resource.
I get asked all the time if I’m taking on a trainee and there was nowhere to point people for UK specific information about what a piercing traineeship is. There’s a couple of really good blogs but a lot of them are American so the information wasn’t always relevant to the UK and /UK legislation.
Also it’s a group where people could ask questions in real time. There’s experienced piercers there, there’s piercers who are learning and there’s people who want to be piercers in there. Before I started the group, all the Facebook groups were for professionals only so we’re in these little echo chambers where we’re saying the best way to learn to be a piercer is to do an apprenticeship and learn from another piercer, but we’re also saying it to each other. That information wasn’t getting any further really. Piercers were also saying, you should find a piercer that you like and hang out at their studio, which was creating a huge issue for me personally. I can’t deal with that so I was having to say no to clients wanting to hang out and I came out of that looking like the bad guy even though I had done nothing wrong.
Performing a tandem piercing with Nathan at The Piercer Trade Show,
G: Unfortunately, the piercing and tattoo industry has a bad history of apprentice abuse. People would take on apprentices who were maybe naive or vulnerable, not pay them for their work and expect them to just be grateful that they’re a part of the industry.
E: People didn’t know that they were being exploited either and that was the big thing for me. People were being treated appallingly, but they were just being told to expect that because ‘that’s how it’s done, that’s how you learn.’ And it just felt super weird because these people are often women, people of color, disabled people, people who are already vulnerable and who would then be further exploited just for the chance to do something that they enjoyed. I think there’s real ego rooted in it as well, the mentality that a mentors knowledge is enough payment, That won’t pay your bills.
Piercing is a cool job, it’s a fun job and I find myself incredibly lucky that I get to do it every day, but the reality is it’s just not that important. So to abuse someone and treat them poorly, to do that job is bizarre to me. I worked in a McDonald’s and they paid me from day one, even when I didn’t know how to make a Big Mac. Why would it not be the same for piercing training?
We have got away with whatever we’ve wanted as an industry for far too long, and if we don’t sort this apprenticeship thing out as an industry and teach people what they’re entitled to and what they deserve and what they’re legally obliged to have, the government will do it for us.
G: Under UK legislation in 2023, what should a piercing apprenticeship look like?
E: They should be an employed member of staff who’s being referred to as a trainee or a junior member of staff. But they’re not apprentices because they’re not going to college and they will not receive a qualification at the end of it. We’re not an accredited industry. They should be paid at least minimum wage, not an apprenticeship wage. In the UK, an apprenticeship is a lower paid position because you are learning from an accredited source, usually a college, and you receive a qualification at the end of it.
Hairdressers are a really good example of that. It’s gonna be somebody who’s going to college however many days a week, every week, and then they’re going to work in a salon on other days. That salon is being funded to pay for their apprentice, and their apprentice will be on three or four pounds an hour.
Not to scare everyone off, but if piercing apprenticeship went the same route and we were qualified the same way, it would mean anyone with a teaching degree could teach piercing. My mom has a teaching degree and she was a hairdresser. She refers to labret piercings as chin piercings.
I love Elizabeth’s mom but we don’t need her teaching people how to do chin piercings. Hi Megan! <3
G: So you did a roundtable at the UKAPP conference on apprenticeships and also a class at the Piercer Trade Show, can you tell us what that was like?
E: I kind of wanted to cover both aspects of it. At the Trade Show in Ireland, there was a good mixture of piercers and apprentices already there. For piercers looking to take on an apprentice, I wanted them to know where they could find that information and to make sure that they’re operating within the laws.
In my talks, I try to encourage people to rethink their standpoint on if they actually need an apprentice. Do they actually need a cleaner or maybe a studio manager? Maybe you actually need a cleaner to focus solely on that task. Or if you’re struggling to pierce and run your reception, do you need a receptionist? Because your front of house is actually probably more valuable to your business than any other member of staff because they’re seeing your customers first.
I do talk about Rogue a lot in this because I think you’ve got a really good balance of who does what. Instead of people who take on an apprentice to be a general dog’s body. I think it was Jabba that said this, but he’s totally right, if you’re a piercer who works on your own and you want to take on an apprentice, do you have enough work for two piercers? I want to encourage people to evaluate what they actually want from another member of staff.
In the talks as well, from an apprentices perspective, I just wanted them to know what they were worth and have people understand what exploitation is in the workplace. And for them to know there’s people that have got their back, my inbox is literally always open if anyone wants to talk about it.
Question everything applies to everything. So when we talk about technique or why have we chosen to do internally threaded rather than externally? As an industry, we discuss and we work things out. But that applies to the situations as well. No one deserves to be exhausted for the chance to do the job they want.
G: I think for a long time piercers have just sort of gotten on with piercing and a lot of us tend to keep our opinions to ourselves for fear of backlash. But if we don’t have the discussions, there’s no progress for the industry.
E: I was really scared to speak in the Facebook groups for a really long time, for fear of being told that I was wrong. But also being wrong is really the only way that you learn. I think also not having a fear of being disliked is a hard lesson to learn, but it’s one that I’ve definitely learned a lot in my life.
I understand that, particularly on the internet, I will seem potentially quite abrasive and opinionated and loud, and I don’t think that’s necessarily true in real life. I’m caring and I will fight someone’s corner if I think that they’re being wronged. I don’t mind if industry peers aren’t my biggest fan because my clients are important to me. My friends are important to me, but also I have a life outside of piercing. I think that’s really important that we don’t live in this echo chamber where the only people we interact with are industry peers and the only thing we do is industry events. You have to create a life outside of it or it will consume you.
Particularly again, as we’ll go back to neurodiversity. It’s really easy for me to get obsessed with anything, so I have to work really, really hard to make sure it doesn’t take over my entire being.
G: I’ve known you for nearly a decade and there was definitely a time period of a few years where piercing was your entire life.
E: Yeah. It was constant, All consuming. And it nearly killed me,
I can’t let it do that again. But I think where I am now, I’ve got a really good work-life balance, which was a thing I didn’t think existed. I’ve got a lot of good support.
You’ve gotta make those things for yourself sometimes. Be an advocate for yourself.
An evening at Corporation many moons agoTetley Hen DoElizabeth was my first push into piercing
I’m so thankful to Elizabeth for their time not only in this insightful and honest chat that we had, but for always being so supportive and caring. It’s been a turbulent decade but I’m very excited to see how much they will continue to grow over the next one! Thank you always.
We always see a lot of ‘red flags’ posts, and what to not look for in a piercing studio, or how to not be a ‘Karen’ or ‘bad client’. But what do these mean? What should we be doing as clients? What are the green flags studios are looking for? We have previously spoken about what you should look for in studios aswell, which you can read here!
The first one is that we are looking for clients to be respectful. This doesn’t just mean we want you to not shout at us and swear at us when something doesn’t go the way you thought it might have, or if a mistake was made. But it also means you’re being respectful in the way you may phrase things. As a high standard studio we may understand that sometimes you may be shocked by our prices, or something is a little out of budget. Instead of saying ‘you’re too expensive’ or ‘I can get it for cheaper’, we are quite understanding if you simply state that it’s out of your budget tellingl us your budget. This means we can work with you to find something equally as amazing in your price bracket! We want to work with you, not against you.
Clients who aren’t afraid to ask questions are also a ‘green flag’. Wether its a question about aftercare, jewellery quality,or piercing possibilities we’re always happy to answer. Quality piercing studios would rather you ask too many questions and be happy and knowdlegable than walk away feeling unsatisfied and confused.
Respecting our time. This is a big one, and especially for studios that are appointment only. We want our clients to be on time to their appointment as we run a schedule. Missing half of your appointment might mean we won’t be able to continue, or run late into the next appointment. Being on time (or even a few minutes early) means your appointment will go smooth, and our piercers aren’t rushing or feeling stressed about time managment.
Understanding that this is our job, and not expecting us to work for free. This slightly follows on from respecting our time. We have set working hours, and it is absolutely fine to message us outside of those times, but please don’t expect a reply after we close. We have personal lives too! This also relates to in studio hours, wether it’s a ‘small jewellery change’, the piercing itself, us sitting with us to talk about curations or jewellery ideas, there may be a small fee! Even though these appointments might be short, it still takes up time in our calenders and our working hours. You woudn’t expect a lawyer to spend 20 minutes discussing work without payment, please don’t expect us to!
Listening to your aftercare advice! Clients who follow our aftercare advice, andcome back for their downsize are often less likely to come back with irritation bumps, or other issues. Please don’t touch, poke, fiddle or play with your piercings, use anything other than a sterile saline solution, or switch out your piercings to early. These are all ‘red flags’ and means your piercings are more likely to take longer to heal, or are more prone to lumps and bumps along your healing journey.
Not assuming we’re also tattoo artists. Now tattoo artists are amazing, and do some quite incredible work, but that doesn’t mean this is the end goal for everybody. Piercing and tattooing are completely seperate worlds, and the work is so different. Body piercers are piercers because they want to be piercers. They enjoy what they do, and they don’t see it as a gateway into tattooing. It’s really disheartening when clients assume we also tattoo, because our work is just as important. (However, if you are visiting Rogue and are interested in some amazing artwork for your skin, please check out Revenant Tattoo and pick up one of her leaflets or business cards.)
Rogue and Revenant Halloween Special!
We absolutely adore each and every one of ourt clients, wether you only come the once, or you come every single day. We couldn’t do it without you, and you are all very much part of Rogue as we are.
Today marks a special day here at Rogue. It’s Gemmas birthday! It’s also over a year since this legend joined the team here at Rogue, so we thought we’d take the time to look back at everything she has been able to achieve in such a short space of time.
Rogue wouldn’t be the same without her.
The Beginnings
Gemma joined Rogue on January 4th, 2021. Having been coming to get pierced by us for a while at that point, we could see it was her dream to take control of her career and join the team. Gemma had been piercing for a long time at another studio, but felt that she needed to move forward to a more experienced, high quality UKAPP member studio to really further her skills. So we took a small financial gamble and she became a Rogue!
Gemma’s first ever piercing at Rogue was this perfect septum piercing. No pressure!
From the first time we met Gemma, we could see her passion for piercing was so great. She had been doing a huge amount of online learning, absorbing everything she could from piercers choosing to share their knowledge. It was an honour on our part to be able to give her the space to spread her wings. It wasn’t long before she was flying!
Gemma’s first piece of BVLA! The ‘Afghan’ in this fresh helix piercing.
Gemma – Historian and Journalist Extraordinaire.
What we didn’t expect was Gemma’s true passion for history, and preserving the thoughts and stories of piercing in the UK. Whilst the USA has the Piercing Archive, there truly isn’t a huge amount of piercing history being preserved in the UK. Gemma has really taken to this challenge with her whole heart, and began the now extensive ‘Piercer Interview‘ series on our blog! Every time she has the opportunity, she loves to sit down with other piercers (some of whom have been seriously overlooked and underestimated!) and recorded their history – Who they are as people, how they came to be in the industry…
Gemma truly has a deep love for the weird and wonderful. As a suspension practicing studio, it’s been amazing to see Gemma take to the sky with her first body suspension only a few weeks ago. It was such a magical, transformative moment. It felt like a new era had begun, and it was an absolute privilege to be able to watch it.
This love for history is now extending into becoming a bit of a local historian for body piercing. Nottingham has a surprisingly long and colourful history with tattoo and piercing. Gemma is now working closely with the Nottingham Archives and Justice Museum to discover, and give context to, some of the piercings and tattoos recorded in their annals.
A little snippet of ‘The Incredible Til’ class, taught by Paul King at UKAPP 2022. History comes to life in these moments.
Piercing Work
Gemma has absolutely blossomed in the last year under the guidance of Aiden and Breo. Moving from cannula piercing to blade needles, clamps to freehand, and moving into the wierd and wonderful world of intimate piercings… Gemma is truly in her element!
Gemma in action…
Paired upper lip piercings with 18k Trihbeads, and healed jestrum.
Jestrum!
Philtrum!
Faux Rook
Gemma has that rare skill of being able to take a step back, take a deep breath, and allow her hands to do exactly what her brain imagines them to do. From super technical work, to move freely creative piercings… Gemma is becoming a truly amazing piercer.
We cannot wait to see where Gemma goes next with her work, both piercing and history. As a committee member for the UKAPP, she is also working with the industry to raise standards and bring the message of high quality to more piercers across the country.
UKAPP Member! Next step, take over the world…
Happy birthday Gemma! Hopefully we get to celebrate many more with you in the years to come. Thank you for becoming the mum of the studio that we didn’t know we needed.
Anyone who is involved in the body modification world will know Olly Todd. Based in Factotum, Norwich, Olly has been involved in the piercing and modification industry for around 15 years and now runs Cognition Body Art Education where he hold seminars to help educate piercers across the world on techniques and safety. Olly also provides both site and industry specific First Aid training courses across the UK. Both Aiden and Anna (Revenant Tattoo) have worked with Olly over the years and it was a pleasure to have him visit Nottingham recently for some training with our team.
Gemma: What did you do before piercing?
Olly: I was a lifeguard and a swimming instructor. Basically, when I hit 16 the options were work at the swimming pool or stack shelves in the supermarket. I went and became a lifeguard because the pay was better
I worked at a couple of leisure pools and was teaching kids and adults to swim. I started getting tattooed at a studio that was close to where I was working and one weekend the studio called me to see if I wanted to come and sit on the desk and answer the phone for a few hours because the receptionist hadn’t turned up. If I did, he said he’d knock a few quid off my tattoo session.
So I jumped at it. And then it happened a couple more times, and eventually the guy just turned around and said, ‘well if you want, I’ll just show you how to pierce.’ By that point, the people at the swimming pool were getting a bit more antsy about how tattooed I was getting. I still had nothing on my arms, it was all on my torso mostly hidden. But yeah, it was becoming pretty much a once a month visit for more ink so I got the whole, “if you continue this way, then you’re not gonna get very far in the leisure industry” conversation a few times.
At this point I was life-guarding, teaching swimming lessons, junior life saving and I was also doing the lifeguard training as well. So I was getting to that point where I was gonna have to put a suit on soon and look presentable in that industry. I’m so glad I didn’t go down that route.
G: Did you have piercings at that time?
O:I didn’t get my first tattoo until I was around 20, so my first piercing was probably just a bit before that. I did not know back then what I know now. I’d been just toying with the idea of getting a piercing for a while because when I went through college and stuff, I always had bright pink hair, and I was always a bit of a punk, I just hadn’t taken that step to get some holes through me basically. But Norwhich has always had a really good punk scene, all the way back. I’m lucky enough now to be good friends with some of the original, like eighties punk lot that were around.
My first piercing was my lobe, like most people. And I did everything you shouldn’t do on the list other than going into a high street chain shop. I got them done at Download Festival in the middle of a field. It was done with a gun, I wasn’t sober and I’m sure the person doing it wasn’t sober. It definitely wasn’t clean for three or five days.
G: Did you have an apprenticeship when you started to pierce?
O: Most of it was kind of watching this guy do one or two of set piercings and then just getting on with it. I had enough friends that would come in and ‘practice’. Largely, I’d say I was more self-taught than anything else. I think anyone that’s been in the industry for like 10, 15 years probably has a similar start. We all, all kind of figured it out as we went along.
G: How did you transition into body modification?
O: I was piercing loads and then I just stumbled across people like Samppa, Steve Haworth, and at that point Mac and a few others. I really liked what they were doing and luckily I got to do some training with Mac over the years and without his help and support, I wouldn’t have progressed the way that I did. So, special thank you to Mac. I went to a few seminars about modification, I did one on skin branding. I loved branding. It’s always gonna be my favorite modification. After I started piercing, I started realising more about myself. So, I don’t get tattooed for any reason other than I don’t feel complete yet. I couldn’t tell you what the picture is at the end, but I just don’t feel complete and I’m working towards that. In my head, the body mod stuff was really appealing because it was a different way to add and alter myself I suppose, until I found what I needed to look or feel like.
I learnt a lot about body modification from speaking with Mac and then people like Iestyn as well. I went down to London for a scarring class with Iestyn and Ron Garza at one point and that was a really interesting day. And then at BMXnet, taking as many classes there as possible.
The first year I was at BMXnet, I was lucky enough to attend a class that Elayne Angel did on genital piercing. That was something else. Being able to take that class and then later on in the day, witness her piercing people as well. It was great.
There’s always the comedy moments at places like that as well, I distinctly remember taking a male genital class with Cristiano teaching and he had someone up on all fours doing a live guiche piercing in front of probably 50 people. I caught up with Cristiano over in Dublin at the Piercer Trade Show last year actually, he didn’t realise I’d been to his BMX class all those years ago.
G: You’ve worked at Factotum for almost 10 years now, tell us how you started.
O: I’d been drinking with Joe regularly for a while because we all kind of lived in the same area and we all hung out at the same pub. Jokingly for ages, he was like, “you should just come and work for me”. And then, it just kind of happened, which I’m very thankful for. Very thankful to him and without him I don’t think we’d be anywhere near where we are now. He made a lot of things very easy. And working for a piercer makes life so much easier. Joe learned to pierce when he was traveling in New Zealand and he came back to England to set up Factotum. And having the fact that Joe was taught with industry standard jewelry, I mean he was already using brands like Industrial Strengths when I was piercing elsewhere in the city. I think he was probably one of the first people to get NeoMetal as well. It’s been really nice to just be able to step up the game and use all these wonderful companies and not really have to worry about it too much.
G: You now teach at international piercing conferences, can you tell us more about that?
O: I do, it’s becoming a bit more of my life now. Weirdly enough, when you think about it, it’s kind of come full circle from when I used to teach people to swim. I think it’s gonna become more all consuming as well. The balance is shifting for me to start teaching rather than piercing,
I think, seeing the variety of courses and classes at BMXnet got me a bit intrigued about teaching because it wasn’t an elite standard of piercer that teaches the classes. It’s anyone that has something valuable to say. And then going to the UKAPP conference as well, back when it was still in Birmingham with Nici, every year she would poke me, like, ‘so when are you teaching something? When are you teaching something?’ And eventually, I gave in.
CBAE provides piercer education and classes
The first class I ever taught was a color theory class at BMXnet. And then that was followed a week later by the same class at the UKAPP conference . So it all started from there.
G: I really loved your bevel theory and septum classes. How do you decide on a subject to address in your classes?
O: So to start with, I looked at the classes that I’d taken from other people. The bevel theory one, for instance, was done in a very specific way because I learn by doing things. I’d taken Brian Skellie’s bevel theory class year after year, just as a refresher. It’s a brilliant class, but it’s very word heavy as opposed to anything practical and that’s not how I can take things in. So I thought I’d try and create something for people that are more like me, I suppose.
And then the other ones I’ve been doing like the septum one and there’s one on tricky ear piercing, I just keep an eye on the piercing forums and if something is constantly coming up and people are asking for tips or struggling with a specific thing then I’ll focus on doing a class or seminar for those. Like septum techniques.
I think it’s important to keep it relevant to what’s going on.
G: You launched Cognition Body Art Education last year, hosting classes, teaching at events and offering First Aid training.
O: We’re doing First Aid courses after both the Piercer Trade Show and the UKAPP conference this year, which is awesome. There’s the Bloodborne Pathogens training which is in its final stages of being accredited. Everything I’ve done for the BBP course is based on the UK Health and Safety Executive. It dawned on me the other day that the annoying thing is, because I wrote it, I’m gonna have to do a different one course anyway for it to count.
But yeah, other than that, I’m excited for The Sharp End magazine coming to fruition, that’s definitely a plus for the industry, having a trade magazine. I’ve not seen what’s going in it yet either. I wanna keep it all as a surprise but, we’ve been really, really surprised with the people in the industry that have got involved. We’ve just been blown away with the support by not just friends but the industry as a whole getting involved.
There’s potentially gonna be a rather large announcement at the Piercer Trade Show in April as well, but that’s all I can say for now.
G: I’m excited for what this year holds for the industry in general. I have positive feelings.
O:. Yeah, definitely. There’s so many people that have got so much going on that’s just making everything better. Like Nathan and the guys doing all the work with the Trade Show and bringing over some amazing speakers. The fact that there’s now 3 events in the UK with the two Trade Shows and the UKAPP conference on top of anything that anyone else puts together.
Olly & Louise on their wedding day, 2022!
Once again, a huge thank you to Olly for his time and his continued hard work in this industry. Be sure to check out Cognition Body Art Education, his seminars and courses are invaluable and we are eternally grateful for all the work Olly (and Louise!) are doing to push our industry forward.
As the piercing industry moves into the future, we are constantly looking for the best, most biocompatible materials to manufacture and use in body jewellery. So, why have we settled on Titanium as the best metal? And what pitfalls are there when looking for safe titanium jewellery?
The History of Titanium
Titanium, known by the chemical symbol Ti, was first discovered in Cornwall in 1791 by minerologist William Gregor. Named for the Titans of Greek mythos, the element is found in almost all living things. Titanium has wide-reaching uses, from aerospace engineering right down to the Titanium Dioxide compounds found in sunscreen and makeup products. The element is known for it’s high level of corrosion resistance, and its incredibly high strength to weight ratio which is the highest of all the metallic elements. This lightweight, strong metal is therefore a prime candidate for biomedical implantation.
It was not until the 1950s that Titanium implants were first manufactured into medical or surgical implants however. First introduced into dental implants in the 40s, it would take another decade to reach internal implantation. It is now by far and away the most common material used in all kinds of prosthetics, bone conduction hearing aids, spinal fusion cages and joint replacement implants.
Biocompatibility
The terms ‘Biocompatible’ and ‘Body Safe’ are commonly bandied around within piercing. Just look on low-grade jewellery websites and you will see everything from Silver to Gold to ‘Surgical Steel’ sold with as a “biocompatible” material. Biocompatibility is an intentionally ambiguous term – It has no defined meaning. We will be using the term biocompatible to specifically designate certain materials as safe to implant following years of rigorous chemical, animal, and clinical testing following strict ISO 10993 regulations. Unless there is evidence to prove that the material meets these standards, then ‘biocompatible,’ or ‘body safe’ is a completely meaningless term.
The properties of Titanium that allow it to be a ‘biocompatible’ material are its corrosion resistance, surface texture, steric hindrance, and hydrophobicity that allow the metal to result in an ideal, low-grade cellular response. The main reason that Titanium-based alloys are commonly used in body jewellery is that Titanium is highly corrosion resistant and non-toxic. The most commonly used Titanium alloy is ASTM F-136 Titanium, which is made in using a very stringent safety protocol and is alloyed with 6% Aluminium, and 4% Vanadium. This is why you might see some jewellery brands talking about TiAl6V4 – That is a specific alloy!
Rogue exclusively stocks verified ASTM F-136 Titanium jewellery, such as this large-gauge BCR from Anatometal.
Implant Grade?
So, where does the term ‘implant-grade’ come into things? Implant-grade is, again, a very specialised term that has been co-opted. These days it is more often used as a sales buzzword by disreputable brands as they know it is something that more educated customers will be looking for. As much as we wish it was as easy as googling ‘implant-grade Titaniun’ and being able to trust that what you buy is going to be safe, the vast majority of Titanium body jewellery on the market is unverifiable and does not meet any grade of safety. We need to look at what ‘implant-grade’ actually means, and how a material can get to that point!
‘Implant Grade’ is a coverall term for any materials that meet certain ASTM designations. There are multiple implant-grade ASTM designations, including (from most to least common): ASTM F-136, ASTM F-1295, and F-67. There is also an implant grade designation for Steel, which is ASTM F-138.
The ASTM (American Society for the Testing and Materials) is an international standards organisation that (as only a part of its work) ensures that any materials that are to be used in surgical implants meet specific standards of safety. The ASTM scope covers the chemical, mechanical and metallurgical requirements of the material and ensures that it is safe to be put inside the human body. This standard is almost like a recipe – How the Titanium is alloyed, heated and cooled, how it is stored and how it can be further processed into useable items. This standard (which is many pages long!) is what the Titanium manufacturers must meet in order to sell their metals as ASTM F-136 or otherwise compliant. As you can imagine, this can be quite an expensive process. This means that any ASTM F-136 Titanium brought to market will be considerably more expensive that non-ASTM F-136. For some jewellery manufacturers, it is simply cheaper and more profitable to purchase unverified Titanium and manufacture jewellery from it than it is to purchase safe materials. When your customers are only looking for the word Titanium, and aren’t checking the ASTM or ISO standards of it, then why would you bother? In some cases, jewellery manufacturers or Titanium manufacturers will even go as far as to falsify this documentation – This has happened before! This means that the jewellery market is awash with ‘Titanium’ that may be marketed to clients as safe to wear, when it is anything but.
Some jewellery manufacturers will choose not to use ASTM F-136, and instead use other grades of Titanium. A commonly seen grade is G23 – This alloy is (confusingly) also TiAl6V4! G23 Titanium, otherwise known as ASTM B-348 GR23, is not an implant-grade metal, and is not a safe substitute for ASTM F-136. G23 Titanium has only been designated for use in commercial, industrial and engineering purposes. In other words, this Titanium grade belongs in aeroplanes and space ships – Not the human body! G23 is actually an overarching category that does include ASTM F-136 Titanium, which is a much refined and more heavily tested sub-version. As you can see, the world of safety testing is very confusing and this is part of the reason why certain jewellery companies can get away with misleading their customers.
On the left you can see an externally threaded, poorly finished barbell that began to degrade inside it’s wearer. On the left, you can see a verified ASTM F-136 Titanium barbell from Neometal. Both were marketed as implant-grade… Which one would you choose?
What Is Not Safe?
There are many different metals used to manufacture body jewellery. In fact, many disreputable brands may even use Titanium and market themselves as biocompatible or implant grade. Some jewellery brands will use buzzwords such as ‘Surgical,’ ‘Stainless,’ or ‘Hypoallergenic’ to market unsafe metals such as low-grade steel, Silver, or other materials such as plastic.
Unverified Titanium – Unless your jewellery manufacturer can provide adequate paperwork to prove the grade and safety of their jewellery, you must assume that the jewellery is not safe to wear. The easiest way to find safe jewellery is to purchase reputable brands through high quality piercing studios. Why take the risk with the only body you’ll ever have?
Surgical or Stainless Steel – Surgical steel simply refers to any steel grades that can be used in a medical context. Often these are basic items such as tools, haemostatic forceps or scalpel handles. As you can imagine, this covers hundreds of grades and alloys of steel. Some steel alloys are safe to implant, such as ASTM F-138 compliant stainless steel, however you should assume that if there is no safety designation then the metal is not safe to wear. Most cheap, low-grade body jewellery is marketed as surgical steel.
Silver – Silver, despite it’s historical reputation as being good for ‘sensitive skin,’ Silver is a very reactive metal that is easily corroded by moisture and the pH level of the skin. It can also turn black over time, and tattoo the skin around the jewellery black in a process called Argyrosis. Silver is also a common cause of contact dermatitis and other Type 1 Allergies.
‘Bioplast’ or ‘Bioflex’ – These are the most common plastics sold for piercing use. Again, this is marketed using that lovely ‘biocompatible’ buzzword, without any of the strict medical testing or paperwork to back it up. Yes, there are implant-grade plastics available, however as of 2023, there are no safe plastics widely accessible and available for use in body jewellery. Any brand or studio stocking plastic or acrylic jewellery can be immediately discounted as disreputable and unsafe.
As you can see, plastic jewellery has no place in quality body art.
If you would like to take a further look into what to look out for in terms of safe jewellery, you can read this blog!
The Takeaway
The takeaway is not the most optimistic, I’m sorry to admit! For every good jewellery company that puts the time, effort and investment into manufacturing top-quality jewellery, there are ten times as many low-quality companies willing to risk your health to make a quick buck. It’s important to take your time, and do your research. The best way to purchase safe jewellery is through your local trusted high-quality piercing studio. This way, not only are you guaranteed a high-quality item, but you can also rely on their skills and expertise to ensure you are getting the right size, style and fit for you. There is no such thing as one-size fits-all jewellery!
The most important thing to note is that good quality jewellery is not cheap, and cheap jewellery is not safe! If something looks too good to be true, it often is. In the current economy, you can expect to pay a minimum of £25-£40 per item for safe, high-quality jewellery from a verified company. Investing in yourself and your body is very much a worthwhile endeavour. You only get one body at the end of the day. Why take risks with the only home you’ll ever have?
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.
Browse the gallery to get some inspiration on what you can do with beautiful, verified safe Titanium jewellery!
Safe Body Jewellery Brands
As previously stated, the best way to guarantee a safe piece of jewellery is to purchase from safe, reputable brands. The below list is not an exhaustive list, but an excellent place to get started if you’re looking to get to a base level with your jewellery collection.
To find a reputable piercer near you, the best way is to find an APP or UKAPP member using these websites!
The UKAPP is the first piercing organisation to publish a list of verified and approved jewellery brands. As proud members of the UKAPP, we stock only the highest quality jewellery that is guaranteed to last you a lifetime.
Jamie is a body piercer and APP member in San Francisco, Bay Area. He is a volunteer for the Body Piercing Archive which works to preserve piercing history. Jamie has been piercing around 11 years and has travelled all over the US, guesting at a wide variety of studios. After spending some time in Europe, Jamie visited us in Nottingham and took some time to chat about his travels, volunteer work and his journey to becoming a studio owner.
Jamie: I always liked piercing and I had some piercings but it was never an intention to be in the industry. I was living in Florida and working, doing pressure washing and painting out in the sun. It was awful. There was a shop that was hiring and so I applied work the front counter just so I would be in air conditioning,
G: What was your first experience getting a piercing?
J: The first one I had, I pierced myself. I pierced my lip with a safety pin but I didn’t keep it in very long. And then the second piercings I ever got were my ears. It was in a friend’s garage and the person who pierced my right ear, the person who pierced my left ear, and the person who was hanging out in the garage with us, all four of us ended up becoming piercers at separate times.
G: Did you have an apprenticeship when you started?
J: It was called an apprenticeship. But like, I didn’t know any better at the time so I thought that’s what an apprenticeship was. But now, knowing what I know, it was definitely not a good apprenticeship whatsoever. It was the owner of the studio, he did piercings but he wasn’t a piercer. The business was about making money. He didn’t care about the industry at all, he didn’t have any piercings. he didn’t have any tattoos. It was a business for him. So yeah, a lot of my learning was on the internet and then leaving Florida and moving to California and being around piercers in the Bay Area.
G: What year were you piercing in Florida?
J: 2012. I’m from California originally. I had moved to Florida, after living in New York. I went from California to New York, then New Orleans, then Florida, and then back to California.
Until moving back to California, I had not really known about the APP, I had not known about quality jewellery and materials. I knew there was different kinds and that some was really expensive and some were not expensive, but like, as far as like the quality between them, I had no idea. It wasn’t until a friend of mine told me more about them and I still didn’t really look into it very much. But then when I moved to California that I realized that there was a difference in quality in studios and in education and quality of jewelry.
I learnt things mostly online, Facebook forums, I had like been on BME when I was younger, but never really while I was piercing. I think it kind of died out by then. And then visiting other studios because I was really close to San Francisco where there are a lot of really good studios, and going down there and talking with people. San Francisco has a lot of piercing history which I was also unaware of when I was getting into the industry. I didn’t know anything, who people were and what studios were like, famous or historical or whatever. No idea.
Which I think helped me not be scared of asking those people who worked there because I didn’t know who they were, so I didn’t realize like who I was asking these questions to. I wasn’t nervous because to me, they were just another peer. But turns out some of them were well known. And then I got encouraged to sign up for the scholarship for the 2016 APP conference and I ended up getting the scholarship going to Las Vegas.
J: Yeah. And I also didn’t really know what the conference was like. I was still unaware, I knew that it existed, but also, like no one had really talked about it. I’d seen it on forums and stuff but I didn’t know what it was, and then I got there and I was like, oh shit. This is like a big deal.
The whole thing, it changed my mindset about everything. Meeting people there have given me opportunities that like didn’t even know existed. , and just like meeting people and like being able to like do guest spots. Now help out with the conference. and, continue to volunteer and volunteer for different groups and the body piercing archive . Wouldn’t have happened if that wasn’t for conference
J: I’ve always been into history and the more I had been exposed to the industry, the more I realised there’s a real history here and I wanted to help with it. I went to the exhibit at conference and, having already met Paul King and Becky Dill, who were some of the main people doing it at that time. I just asked Paul, “hey if you ever need help, like, let me know”. And he put me to work.
G:What’s your role at the archive?
J: It’s a lot of organizing things, preserving things, making sure things are gonna stand up to the test of time. Most of these things, were never intended to last very long. A lot of this stuff is just like, ‘oh, here’s a magazine that someone bought, read and threw away’. And flyers that like are printed on cheap printer paper or photos that have been sitting in someone’s cabinet for who knows how long going through weather changes. It’s mostly just like making sure that these things will exist in the future.
G: Is it mostly American piercing history that you archive?
J: It’s global. Being where we are, most of it is more local to the US, but it’s not exclusively us. We have a lot of stuff from the UK and unknowingly along the way, it led to us being able to publish a book, the Alan Oversby book. That was mostly Paul King and Devin Ruiz. Hopefully we’ll be able to do more of that. Just to get that history out there.
Paul puts Jamie to work preserving piercing history.
A lot of what we have in the archive, had no intention of ever being saved and when those historic things were happening, I don’t think any of those people thought that anyone would give a shit about what they were doing in the future. A lot of the stuff that we have, we’re lucky that it exists. And there’s so much more that we know of, that doesn’t exist anymore. It got thrown away or you know, ended up in like a flooded basement or rotted away. Or when families have been contacted, they’re like, ‘no, we threw all that away, we don’t want people knowing about that.’ Which is understandable, but also kind of sucks. We have things from the early 1900s and it was such a different time. People were ashamed of being different.
It’s more modern day western body piercing but we do have some artifacts from people indigenous to the Americas, that are much older. Our focus is more modern stuff that maybe universities and museums and other archives don’t give a shit about yet, but one day they will. And hopefully when that time comes, the archive will still be the place where that all that stuff ends up. Or if there’s a better place that has a better way of archiving everything, it’ll go to them.
G: You’re opening a new studio right?
J: Last March we signed a lease, and we’ve have been working with architects and trying to get permits from the city. Now it’s just the city dragging their feet and not communicating with each other. It’s just taking forever. But we have a space we have the layout. We have the materials, we have everything except the ability to construct.
I haven’t always wanted to own my own studio but I didn’t want to move out of the area that I live in and I don’t want to work for other people anymore. I just want to make an environment that’s different than a lot of studios, the way it’s structured and how the pay structures and the hierarchies in the studio. I don’t really want that, l I just want to do it differently than I’ve seen. I’ve seen things I don’t like at other studios and I want to make sure that those don’t exist for someone else.
G: You’ve travelled a lot while guesting as a piercer, can you tell us more about that?
Enjoying Alaska
J: I go to Hawaii a lot to go guest spot, I’ve been up to Portland a bunch of times, Alaska recently. I went out to Boston, a bunch of places in California. It’s cool seeing how other people do things. Pretty much every time I go on a guest spot, I learn something. Even if it’s just like something little. Most of the time for me guesting is a great reason to go somewhere or hang out with friends. Most places I’ve worked at I’ve known someone who worked there or had friends in the area.
G: What sort of differences have you seen in the industry while travelling?
J: Different areas like different jewelry styles more than others. Same with the size of jewelry and people wanting dainty things or people wanting gems or not gems or gold. Even within the Bay Area where I live, it’s drastically different depending on what part of the Bay you’re in and what people are willing to pay or what people are looking for.
It’s definitely a big range of clients. I’ll have, you know, an 18 year old student coming in to get a little diamond in their nostril. And then the person after them is a much older person and wanting big ol’ jewelry in their genitals, and then the person after that is a 20 year old with a 10 gauge septum, and then the person after that is an older, more professional person wanting a dainty helix. It very much ranges at the studio that I’m at. Other studios it’s more consistent with one or the other. But I think just where we are and our established clientele, it’s like very wide range.
We have a lot of clients seeking gender affirming piercings as well. It’s cool and I’m really glad that they feel like our studio is a safe place to do that and that we can help facilitate that .
G: Have you attended conferences outside of the US?
J: Last year was my first time at BMXnet, it was a lot different than the APP conference, in a good way. At least from my perspective, it was more about networking and meeting other people and being part of the community, as opposed to the APP conference where you go to class and then you go do whatever with the couple people you know. I had a descision to make between going to BMX or LBP last year, and I was convinced to go to BMX. I would love to go to LBP though, I just need to get better out Spanish.
Angie and Jamie at BMXnet, 2022
G: Do you have any words of wisdom for other people in the industry looking to travel or guest?
J: Network with people. Just reach out, people aren’t gonna reach out to you so reach out to them. And go in with the understanding that you might not make money. Reach out to people, look at forums and be honest about what your capabilities are. They’ll find out and they’ll find out real quick if you can or cannot do something.
It’s a small industry. Everyone knows everyone, and if they don’t, they will. The internet remembers forever.
Don’t settle for shitty bosses. If you’re being exploited or abused in any way, don’t stay. It’s not worth your mental health. There’s other studios that aren’t like that. Don’t work for shitty bosses.
Huge thank you to Jamie for spending time with us at Rogue, we wish you all the best and hope to see you around the world soon!
Penis piercings are pretty popular but arguably the most popular is the Prince Albert. So what is a Prince Albert piercing and why do so many people have them?
Like most piercings, aesthetics is a big reason for getting a piercing. But with intimate piercings, you get to decide on the audience. This can give people a lot of power and ownership over their bodies. Aside from the visual advantage that the PA can give, it is one piercing that can also provide functionality for some people. During masturbation or sexual intercourse, the sensations for both the wearer and partner can be changed by the addition of a ring or curved barbell.
Currently, in 2022, ball closure rings (BCR) or curved barbells are most commonly worn in the PA. However, it’s unclear as to when this piercing first came to be. We know that ancient tribes all across the world have been piercing their genitals for a multitude of cultural and spiritual reasons since before we had the ability to document the procedure, but the origins of the PA are so far unclear. In the early 70s, Doug Malloy published the ‘Body Piercing in Brief’ flyer (illustrated by Jim Ward) for the Gauntlet. The flyer perpetuated the rumour that Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s consort, was responsible for the naming of the PA piercing due to sporting one himself. Rogue did a whole blog about this myth which you can read HERE.
Wherever the piercing began, it is a classic genital piercing that has stood the test of time. At Rogue, we perform many Prince Albert piercings. So let’s have a look at the process, and what to expect from your piercing process!
The Consultation
We require an in-person consultation to be performed a minimum of 24 hours before any intimate piercing. This is to ensure you have all the information you need going into the procedure: the good, the bad and the exciting. It’s also to ensure that you are making this decision of your own free will, with informed consent. The 24 hour cooling-off period is in place to protect both our clients and our staff. You can read more about that here.
At the consultation, we will discuss your goals for this piercing. PA’s are performed at a minimum of 2.4mm (10g) thickness for stability, but can commonly be pierced at a higher gauge if the anatomy allows for it. We discuss that with you at the appointment. We want you to feel comfortable and open with us at the studio, as we will need to discuss both masturbation and sexual intercourse with you at the consultation so that you are aware of how this piercing will be effected during the healing stage. We want to make sure you feel easy discussing these topics with us in a safe and understanding environment. We will never kink shame! We just want to make sure you have all the information you need to get the most out of your Prince Albert experience.
We will also chat with you about how this piercing is performed and how to take care of it, which will be covered in this blog shortly! After a cup of tea and a piercing-related chat, we will head into the piercing room for an anatomy check. An anatomy check is vital for all intimate piercings, as no two people are ever the same. Some people are more anatomically suited to Prince Albert piercings than others, due to the size and shape of the glans, the size of the urethra, and the placement of the frenum and local surface blood vessels. We are unable to safely perform this anatomy check via photos, which is one of the many reasons why this consultation needs to be in person and not remote.
The people involved in the anatomy check will consist of two members of staff, plus any chaperone you’d like to bring. We will ask that you make the area available to us by removing/lowering the clothing, and we will give the tissue a quick check over to ensure you are suitable for the piercing you would like. If for any reason, the PA is not suitable for you, we will let you know the reason why, and discuss all of the safe alternatives that would work for you.
How to Prepare & What to Bring
How to use a sanitary towel
Make sure you have a good night sleep, and a good protein-rich meal beforehand.
Have a shower the morning of your appointment, so you are clean and comfortable. You may also want to bring wet-wipes to freshen up with beforehand.
Bring some water and/or a sugary drink with you.
We recommend that you also bring a non-scented sanitary towel (for use after the piercing).
Make sure you have not consumed alcohol/recreational drugs/blood thinning medication at least 24hours prior to the piercing appointment.
Chaperones are always welcome but we politely ask that only one other person (alongside our two members of staff) is in the room at the time of the piercing. This is just to limit the amount of distractions and to maintain a calm, quiet atmosphere.
Wear loose clothing that you feel comfortable in – Jogging bottoms, loose skirts or dresses etc. are ideal. Super tight, white jeans are not!
The Procedure
At present we have three piercers who perform Prince Albert piercings. The ‘traditional’ PA enters through the urethra and exits just below the glands of the penis, usually to one side of the frenulum. A ‘reverse’ PA, also enters through the urethra but exits through the top of the glands.
PA wearing a BCR
As those with the anatomy know, this is an area of the body that can change shape and size due to swelling caused by both natural blood flow (erections) and from the piercing itself, as such, the ring that we initially pierce with needs to be a little larger in diameter to accommodate for that. To be very clear, at no point should your piercer ask you to encourage an erection. In fact, quite the opposite! We need minimal blood flow in the area at the time of piercing. More on that later. We also need to make sure the gauge of the ring is thick enough to be stable in the tissue and not cause any damage. Your ring size will be decided with you at the consultation.
At the piercing appointment, as with the consultation, there will be two members of staff in the room and we do recommend you bring a chaperone as additional moral support if you want to. Firstly, you will be asked to lay on the piercing bed and remove any clothing that is obstructing access to the area such as underwear and trousers/jeans. We will then clean the area using skin prep solutions and provide you with a hand mirror so that you can see where we will be marking your piercing. Once you are happy with the marks, your piercer will change into sterile gloves and prepare to start the piercing. We encourage you to focus on your breathing, slow inhales and exhales to calm any nerves. It is very important to know that nothing will happen until you are ready. Once your piercer is lined up and ready to go, we will let you know to take a nice deep breath in and as you exhale slowly, your piercing will be over. We will calmly talk you through each step so that nothing will ever be a surprise to you. Once the jewellery is inserted and the procedure is over, we will provide you with a mirror to have a look at the piercing and check that you are happy with the outcome.
As we briefly mentioned previously, this is a high blood flow area and there may be some bleeding during and after the piercing. We will make sure any bleeding is cleaned and stemmed before you leave. We will also provide you with a sanitary towel (if you did not bring your own) and some sterile gauze to be used when needed once you get home. You may experience some bleeding (especially in a morning) for 5-7days after the initially piercing. This is nothing to be concerned about and can be cleaned easily with a quick shower. You can also expect to see a little bleeding when you urinate for the first few days. Of course, if you do have any concerns about bleeding at any stage, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us.
Prince Albert Aftercare
The Prince Albert piercing is one of the only piercings that we sometimes recommend making your own cleaning solution for. Although we will provide you with a sterile saline solution, it is recommended that you soak this piercing whilst cleaning to allow the saline solution to reach the inside of the piercing. If you prefer to purchase your saline solution, please look for one with as few additives and preservatives as possible that is 0.9% concentration.
If you do not purchase your cleaning solution, you will need non-iodised sea salt and boiled water.
Add 3g of salt to 350ml of boiling water. This is roughly 1/4tsp to a 2/3 filled pint glass (with room to submerge!)
Let the water cool to no hotter than bath temperature!
Submerge your piercing into the warm water and let it soak for a couple of minutes to soften any build up on the inside and outside of the urethra.
Pour away the water and gently remove away any remaining build up (crusties) with a clean piece of kitchen paper or non-woven gauze.
We recommend you urinate after your clean, to flush out any build up on the inside of the piercing.
Gently pat the area dry with clean kitchen paper.
Keep hydrated!
You want to repeat this process up to 3 times per day for the first few weeks while you are healing. You may want to use the sterile saline spray instead of a soak during the middle of the day for your third optional clean. In this case, gently spray the piercing site and the jewellery with a small amount of the saline spray and leave for 30-60 seconds to soften any build up. Wipe away any buildup, and gently dab dry.
While you are healing, it is very important to refrain from sexual intercourse (including oral sex) and masturbation for 4 weeks. This is to prevent bacteria from entering the piercing site and to minimise irritation or trauma caused by movement of the jewellery.
During the healing process, you need to drink lots, and lots, and lots of water so that your urine is diluted. Frequent, hydrated urination will help remove any build up inside the urethra. It is very important to keep yourself hydrated as this will dilute the acidity in your urine and make the healing process much more comfortable.
When you’re ready to re-introduce sex and masturbation (at least 4 weeks after the initial piercing) please make sure that yours and your partner(s) hands are clean and that you are using condoms for the next 4 weeks. Even if it is with a regular partner(s), you need to ensure that you are not getting bacteria or foreign fluids into the piercing site. This does include oral sex. During sex or masturbation, it is important to listen to your body. If something doesn’t feel comfortable, it might not be the right time. Experimenting with positions and pace can help to alleviate some discomfort but it is more important that you give your body the right amount of time to heal. You have a whole life time to enjoy your new Prince Albert piercing, so don’t delay your healing time or cause damage to the piercing by rushing into sexual activities too soon.
Healing Times
Because this is such a high blood flow area, Prince Albert piercings (and genital piercings in general) tend to heal fairly quickly when compared to other areas of the body.
Anatometal large gauge BCR
2 weeks – We recommend booking in for a check up on your piercing so we can ensure everything is going well and perform a downsize of your jewellery if required.
6-8 weeks – You should be around half-way healed, living your life as normal, be able to change the jewellery out yourself if required.
12 weeks – You can expect to be fully healed after roughly 12-14 weeks.
Stretching
Over time, you may find that gravity, lifestyle, and the weight of the jewellery has caused a slight stretch in the piercing channel. This is a natural part of the experience of the Prince Albert piercing.
Some people will want to intentionally increase the gauge (thickness) of their jewellery for a multitude of reasons. We recommend waiting at least 3 – 6 months from the initial piercing before you stretch, to ensure that the channel is stable enough to support thicker jewellery. The team at Rogue can hep you achieve your PA goals by stretching the piercing for you. If you are ever in any doubt, book in for an intimate consultation with a member of our team and we can assess the piercing, and stretch it for you to minimise any issues.
It’s that time of year where we’re all reflecting on the last 12 months. What a whirlwind! Coming out of the pandemic and navigating a post-Covid world has been interesting. This year, Rogue welcomed two more full-time piercers to the team – Breo and Gemma! Jay has excelled phenomenally through their apprenticeship under Aiden, from picking up a needle for the first time in February to piercing unaided and making amazing connections with clients – Jay is smashing it! Aiden and Breo had a busy 2022 too. Travelling to Berlin for the BMXnet conference in September, followed swiftly by the UKAPP conference where Aiden taught a class on surface finishing and Breo supported Inari Organics at the exposition. Kat also taught their first class this year! After graduating from Nottingham University with a Bsc in Zoology, Kat taught Piercing Wound Healing Dynamics at the UKAPP conference to a packed room of piercers!
We’ve had some amazingly talented guests visit us to pierce at Rogue this year too! Flavio stopped by this autumn, all the way from Brazil! It was such a pleasure to meet and work with him. Recently we’ve had our good friend Andre stay with us from Berlin, Andre brought a wealth of knowledge to the team as well as a cosy DVD evening at the studio and some amazing piercing work!
Who knows what next year holds in store for us, but as always we are eternally grateful to our clients for keeping us busy and for supporting us through all the changes 2022 has brought! (and thankyou from Gemma for welcoming me to the team!)
Let’s take a look at some highlights! Starting with the Head Rogue himself, Aiden! We celebrated 3 years since Aiden opened the doors to Rogue, from humble beginnings surviving on noodles and a small heater, to having a team of 5 operate 7 days a week to make Nottingham shine! Aiden has lots of plans for 2023 and we can’t wait to see what’s in the works.
Cheeks are one of Aiden’s specialitiesLarge gauge labretWe love navels and we love big needles!
Breo joined as a full-time, resident piercer in January this year and has been loving all the large gauge and complex projects you guys have trusted him to perform. Breo has had a busy year, flying to Berlin with Aiden for BMXnet, then back to the UK for UKAPP where he represented both Rogue and Inari Organics, bringing high quality, implant grade jewellery to the UK. Breo also took part in the Piercer Trade Show which was held in Ireland for the first time in 2022!
It’s been a whirlwind of a year for Gemma aswell. Joining the team in January, Gemma started as a Junior Piercer, working under Aiden and Breo to develop her skills and build on her experience. Gemma became a UKAPP member this year, attending her first conference where she met some amazing people. Gemma has been working on documenting the experiences of people in the industry and has interviewed several peers for the Rogue Blog. We hope there’s more to come!
‘Amity’ faux rookRe-piercing Jay’s jestrum was a highlightA septum was the first piercing Gemma did at Rogue
Jay is piercing! As Aiden’s apprentice, they have been working incredibly hard and learning so much. Jay picked up a needle for the first time in February and pierced Aiden’s helix (no pressure!), now they’re signed off on several piercings and can confidently perform lip, helix, lobe, navel and nipple piercings without guidance. Jay has overcome a lot of challenges this year and we are all so, so proud of them for sticking around and working hard. Jay is going to take the world by storm. Keep your eyes peeled for more of their shenanigans in 2023!
Anodised, pierced and photographed by JayFirst up, the mentorStunning philtrum!
Kat has had a year full of accomplishments. They have created so many beautiful and thoughtful curations with our clients and continued to design incredible custom pieces for both our customers and our cabinets. Kat celebrated their graduation from Nottingham University with a Bsc Hons in Zoology and is currently studying for their Masters degree in Immunology! It was a big year at UKAPP as Kat taught their first class, educating piercers on Wound Healing Dynamics. Expect more science and more sparkles from Kat in the upcoming year!
Graduation day!Kat has worked on so many custom piecesTeaching at UKAPP, 2022
And last but certainly not least, our honorary Rogue and full time Revenant, Anna Garvey! Together Anna, Revenant, Rogue and Un1ty tattoo raised over £500 for the Mastectomy Tattoo Alliance this year by hosting a fund raising weekend. Anna has created some phenomenal artwork this year and it’s been amazing to see all of her stunning designs come to life. Anna spent the summer in Peru, riding horseback through the mountains and emerging herself in nature, ready to bring that inspiration into the new year! We love working so closely with Anna and Revenant and we’re so excited to see more creativity and beauty from them.
Thank you once again to everyone who has visited us this year, all our fantastic clients, our friends, family, piercers who have come to visit or guest with us, the continued support of our industry means the world to us. See you all in 2023!
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