How was your child's ear piercing experience at Claire's?

[Hdaniels11]

My daughter has recently turned 12 and has been begging my to let her get her ears pierced, she is adamant on the thought of going to claire's because it's " the cool place to go" but i've heard mixed reviews about it.

I've looked on the website and the earrings are super expensive i was quite shocked! For the people who have been how was your child's healing process experience afterwards?

My DD had hers done their. The piercing was slightly off on one lobe. Probably not noticeable from a distance but I could see it. They advised me to get the more expensive earrings (£60), as a first time I did what they suggested. When I got home and read the booklet they gave, it actually recommended first timers to have the cheapest earrings (I think it was nickel) - £22 so it was obviously a selling target for the sales assistant.
My DDs ended up healing over as she had to take them out at school: next time I’ll look elsewhere

Please go to somewhere like a tattoo studio who will use the proper equipment & won't charge you an absolute fortune for the jewellery. A piercer in a tattoo studio also won't try to sell you a solution that claims to heal the piercing super quick - it's an open wound & should be treated as such.
I've never had a piercing from Claire's but I've had several piercings over the years & I've always said, having my ears pierced by a gun was by far the worst of them all!

I always have a good experience with Claire’s both my 3 daughters had them done there and the healing was quick and yes the earrings are a bit pricey.

I decided against Claire’s because of the fact that there was a police investigation a year or so ago after footage surfaced of a very distressed young girl being forcibly restrained by her mother while the Claire’s assistant pierced her ears (and apparently advised the mother on how to restrain her more effectively). We have had very good experiences at Accessorize.

The process is going to be different for everyone because it depends on who did the piercing and if they did it properly. Personally I'd take her to a reputable piercer and have it done properly with a needle not a gun.

Claire was where i got my first one done. It didnt come out well, they ended up infected and gross, and are still crooked. Second hole was at a department store healed just fine. 3rd hole was done at a piercing place in our mall and came out great. Last ear piercing was done at a tattoo shop (and i was like 10) and it came out great and no pain!

I had my ears done at Claire’s when I was a teenager, and one ear got so infected the earring back (huge butterfly back) got stuck inside the hole itself. Eventually healed but now there are lumpy bits which is apparently shattered cartilage commonly caused by piercing guns.

My friend worked at Claire’s when we were about 18 and she got a 30 minute training on piercing, in the form of a dvd!

I would recommend looking for a tattoo and piercing studio. They will use a needle which is much safer and far more sterile (it’s almost impossible to properly sterilise a gun and I bet Claire’s don’t.) The studios themselves are ultra clean because this is somebody’s livelihood and they take their craft seriously, not just their Saturday job.

In theory I would recommend going to an actual piercer. However, over 10 years ago my dd hits her done at Claire’s. I went there as they did both ears at once. I just know dd would not have let them do the second after the first of they were done separately. Not sure I would go there now though, now I know more about gun piercing

Her ears were fine. I have had a few piercings over the years, so knew how to look after them and never had a problem with them.

Infections can happen wether it’s fun at Claire or by a proper piercer. Most infections are picked up after they have been pierced. I had my helix done earlier this year and it’s been infected twice, that was done by needle by a piercer. The infections were as a result of it being caught on something, re opening it and me not cleaning it properly in the days after.

Once upon a time I would have said go to a proper piercer but honestly, the technology for ear piercing guns has come on a lot. I have heard anecdotally that because of the gauge of the needle they heal a bit more easily. Just make sure you help her stay on top of the cleaning of it afterwards and it will be fine.

I've told DD that she can get hers done at that age and at a piercing place. I had mine done at a place similar to Claire's and they're lopsided. Went without my mum because I was too kool for skool 😂 and my friend aged the same wasn't a good advocate, shockingly at that age.

Anyway it does make sense to go to someone who is a professional piercer, when you think about it!

Both my dd had theirs done at Claire's. First one no issues, second dd the girl got her glove stuck in the earring so they had to take it out and reinsert it which was v painful. Are children allowed earrings at school? Because if they have to rake them out your better waiting until summer hols. I don't think Claire's is bad but they are typically young, relatively inexperienced and piercings are only one small part of their job.

Don't go there. Go to a proper piercing place, she won't care where she got them done unless the cartilage shatters due to the gun and she can't wear earrings!

DON’T go to Claire’s. Go to a reputable piercer with years of training. They do both ears at once, I’m not sure why a PP thinks otherwise. Needles cause less trauma to the ear. The result will be better and less likely to become infected. Aftercare is always brilliant too

Do not go to Clairs!

A piercing gun just forces a Blunt earring through the ear. It's literally Blunt force trauma that occurs.

When you pierce with a needle the needle is hollow and removes a tunnel of flesh for the earring the slide into, giving room to heal.

Also each needle is a new, out of the packet, sterilised instrument.

A gun CANNOT go in an utoclave (ultrasonic steriliser) because of plastic parts so there WILL be microscopic blood splatter from every other customer that's had their ears pierced with it.

They are SO unhygienic.

And the 'piercers' at Claires are just normal retail workers who go on a short course!

Go to a trained piercer with years of experience!

Autoclave *

We took our dd 12 to a proper tattoo piercing place. Honestly it was excellent...I had researched it beforehand....

My dd didn't want to go to Claire because she considered it had a bad reputation...we walk past there sometimes and they have a chair in the window where it's done. It looks grubby and way to public.

Go to a professional

I had mine done there when I was a child (so over 20 years ago). It got really badly infected and I ended up in hospital having to have it surgically removed. I've had them done properly since then but my ear still hurts if I wear an earring for more than 30 mins because of the scar tissue so I don't wear them now.

Infections happen because of many reasons, usually after the piercing. I went to a proper amazing guy with a needle for my navel, it got infected. Nothing to do with him, lots to do with me getting sweaty and not cleaning it properly.

You won’t get shattered cartilage in the lobe because there isn’t cartilage in the lobes.

Guns use earrings which have graded ends, so they aren’t blunt.

I wouldn’t ever go to Claire’s. It’s a grubby place. Young girls who are inexperienced.

That wasn't Claire's that was in Meadowhall Sheffield but definitely not Claire's.

My dds have had theirs done 5 times between them at Claire's no issues.

DO NOT use Claire's!
You need to go somewhere where they use a needle, not a gun and are professionally trained.
Tattoo studios or piercing shops.

People need to stop spreading that rumour!!!

I had my own ears pierced at Claire's. It was absolutely fine- during and after. I had no problems whatsoever.
I took DS there to have his done. Again, no problems or concerns.

My DD had two lots done there, both times it was two members of staff at the same time, she had no problems.

as well as the benefits of going to a proper piercing studio using needles. There is also far better aftercare. They use flat back titanium earrings as butterfly’s are well known for becoming embedded in the ear. They will use a longer earring post to allow proper space for swelling. They will then offer a free follow up appointment to check the healing and when the piercing is ready they will replace the earrings with a shorter post. If there are any problems or you have any concerns you can go back to them.

At Claire’s you pay more more for a retail worker with a piercing gun, no follow up care and earrings that are more likely to cause a problem.

Exp insisted on taking dc to Claire's (I'd asked him to use a tattoo studio) the gun got stuck on one ear on dd1 and both ears on dd2. Both ended up infected, dd1 eventually cleared dd2 needed antibiotics and removal. Studs were a bit tight and hard and painful to remove having been fired on. Dd2 later got hers re pierced at a tattoo place and hasn't had a bit of trouble. Was significantly cheaper too.