Where to get 13 year old ears pierced - not Claires - Central or North London?

[loveyouradvice]

Hi all ... just rung Cold Steel who seem to get rave reviews only to learn they won't pierce under 16s.... and scared me rather by saying how much damage they seen on young ears pierced with a gun (as well as being wonky cos ears still growing), and that no one reputable does under 16s.

Any idea where I can take DD where they're good and use needles?

Any other advice or tips ... realise I didnt get mine done til 16 so feels like virgin territory!

Huge thanks

[Hussarsataparty]

Bizarrely, some dentists do it - have had waaaay more training in medical things than mist piercing places!

[FloristHump]

Obvious it's your dd, your call, your decision, but I think that would all really put me off getting them pierced!

[Yarp]

I'd say to look for tattoo parlours/piercing places (although I had a look at our local - good- one and they will only do 16-plus)

[Yarp]

Mine were done age 7 with a needle at a jewellery shop!

Maybe a dentist/ private doctor?

[Yarp]

NHS Choices recommends contacting local council for list of licences practitioners

[AllTheNamesIWantHaveGone]

It was years ago but I had mine done as a teenager in Selfridges. No idea if they still do it. It was done in a side room in the make-up area and, again at the time, cost no more than my local jewellers.

[19lottie82]

It's fine to get lobes pierced with a gun, as its soft tissue.

But if you want to go for needles, look for a body piercing / tattoo place. Some will pierce U16s with a parents permission.

[SquirmOfEels]

I posted in your other thread:

The piercing parlour, MetalMorphosis, which used to be in Selfridges is now on the bottom floor of Top Shop, Oxford Circus.

It's a proper place, with full time piercers. But although they don't use a gun for earlobes, they do use a single use cartridge system (so goes through by hand not spring loaded).

[BoyFromTheBigBadCity]

I was going to say cold steel (they've done all my cartiledge) Could you ask them for a recommendation? Or ask some mums?

[landrover]

Most beauty salons offer this and are great!

[Talismania]

Mine were done when I was 10 at a jeweler. Have you tried calling a jeweler instead of a piercing place?

[mileend2bermondsey]

It's fine to get lobes pierced with a gun, as its soft tissue
lolwut?
It's never advised to do ANY piercing with a gun for a number of reasons I'll summise as succintly as possible:

1. the piercing is conducted using the actual earing, which is not designed to be sharp enough to pierce through skin, which is why the force of the gun is required. Any gun piercing is basically a blunt force trauma.
   
2. the actual gun can never be fully sanistised
   
   more info if youre interested: jewelry.about.com/od/bodyjewelry/a/piercing_guns.htm
   Obviously they are the work of satan himself as I am sure the vast majority of people have their lobes pierced using a gun and haven't had any horrible experiences. But why chose to do something in a more dangerous and painful way, when there are better options available.
   
   I have had over 30 piercings and only 2 (the first two at age 10) done with a gun. They are wonky because I don't think the person that did them was a) properly trained b) cared about what she was doing. She was just a weekend girl in a Claires type shop. Go to a professional where they specialise in piercings.
   
   I don't know anywhere to reccommend despite living in London as I go to my home town to get my peircings done, but forum.bodyjewelleryshop.com is a really useful forum to find out where to go. There is also an A-Z of piercing shops with reviews too which is worth checking out.
   
   Don't go to a beauty salon or jeweler fgs go to a professional.

[mileend2bermondsey]

they are not the work of satan*

[PerspicaciaTick]

I took on board MN advice to get DDs ears pierced by a proper piercing place. But not knowing anyone with a piercing, I have no idea who is reputable and frankly the outside of our local places scare the bejaysus out of me. So, followed MN advice to ask for local recommendations. I've asked about 10 people, they all recommend Claire's. All DDs classmates had their ears pierced at Claire's. So no further forward.
If I phone around the local salons and piercing places, what intelligent questions do I need to ask to find a good place?

Thanks (and sorry for the hijack).

[grumpysquash]

I am not in London, so not so much help. In my town there isn't too much choice and I wanted to avoid Claire's who have very young assistants piercing ears in the shop window (FFS). My DD (then 10) and I ended up in a Tattoo parlour which was amazing - really helpful staff, lots of experience, private rooms, impressive hygiene records, all the staff training certificates were on display. Plus good aftercare advice.
My DD loves telling people where she got her ears pierced. There are a lot of mums who are
DD and I are
Oh and BTW, we found the tattoo place by hanging around in John Lewis cosmetics department and asking some young lovely Saturday staff where they got theirs done. We also had a lot of fun looking at the nipple rings and bars while we were waiting.

[JohnCusacksWife]

Interested in this as DD1 would like to get her ears pierced at the start of the summer holidays. I've asked everyone I know where they had their/their DDs ears done and, without exception, it's been with a gun in Claire's or similar. No one has had any problems. So is the worry about guns just a MN thing?

[ravenAK]

The lady who has done all my cartilage piercings does kids' ears, at her discretion, IF you ring up & make an appointment & arrange to come at a time when she can let you in the back door rather than through the tattoo studio. Oh & if she knows you ie. has pierced you!

She's in Yorkshire so no good to OP anyway, but it illustrates the problem: she works out of a tattoo studio which can't by law have U18s about the place. Really good tattooists/piercers tend to be busy with adult customers, & if they do needle piercings on children it's a faff & not worth their while - they tend to leave that end of the business to bloody Claire's.

None of my dc will ever have a piercing gun near them on my watch so ironically, they'll probably wait longer than their peers despite having a tattooed & pierced mum!

Best option is to ring round local places & see who'll do it.

PerspicaciaTick - look up local piercing places on FB to check reviews, NOT salons (they'll be using a gun too), then ring round & explain that you would like to book your 13yo dd in for ear lobe piercings & you'd rather avoid Claire's/gun piercing. If they do do piercings on young teenagers, they'll be delighted to talk you through it.

[needmorespace]

Selfridges - top floor - can't remember what the salon is called but if you call and ask to be put through to the ear piercing...
My daughter had hers done there last year with 18k gold studs.
Think it was about £50

[MajesticWhine]

Both DDs had their done at a beauty salon using a gun (I think). It was all fine, no problem at all. Let me know if you want the details OP, it's NW London.

[grumpysquash]

Hi again, just to add - on the subject of ages - that ear lobe piercing was the only thing that the tattoo parlour mentioned above offered for under 16s (18s?? Can't remember). They said that even piercing towards the cartilage wasn't an option (not that we wanted that).
And they all joked with DD saying that if she wanted a tattoo she would have ages to wait, but it would give her time to come up with a great design!

[grumpysquash]

And (my final words on the subject, I promise), it cost £18 which included titanium studs. Gold was a bit cheaper, about £16 I think.

[ravenAK]

JohnCusacksWife - guns are grubby & wielded by untrained teenagers. They have a far, far higher infection risk.

It'll almost certainly be fine for a simple lobe piercing, to be fair (might just go a bit manky for a few weeks), but like most people with a few cartilage piercings done, I've a certain respect for having my dc's ears done properly by a professional - I wouldn't let anyone near me with a piercing gun, so I'm certainly not allowing my dc to be pierced by a Saturday assistant with an unsterilised glorified stapler, tbh .

[RaskolnikovsGarret]

DD had it done at Harrods with a gun - was fine.

[Andrewofgg]

Extreme Ink near Leicester Square - mainly tattooists. A colleague of mine took her DD 9 there and said it was spotless, hygienic, reassuring, and painless. Needle of course.

[wigglylines]

It may be fine with a gun but an inexperienced person cam bodge it.

My first two ear piercings with a gun were fine. But the second two were done at a funny angle and are a pain as a result. I wish i'd gone to someone reputable instead of the girl at the local hairdresser who obviously didn't really know what she was doing.