Where in London...

[clippityclop]

...could I take my daughter to get her ears pierced? Somewhere lovely pretty please. And is needle/gun the best option?

I got mine done in Harrods, I don't know if they still do it.

How old is she?

My oldest had hers done at a reputable jewellers with a gun when she was 10. She had problems with them about 6 months later but we managed to sort it.

Personally I wouldn't use the gun method again. I know loads of people say they were fine but the problems with the gun are a) the earring doesn't make a clean hole in the ear, and b) you can't sterilise the gun only the earring.

A very sharp sterilised needle makes a much cleaner hole through the ear so less likely to have problems.

Sorry if that's not what you wanted to hear.

I took DD to Metal Morphose in Top Shop on Oxford Circus to get hers pierced when she was 11. I don't know if they are still there but if they are, they come highly recommended. They took the time to talk her through the options, pointing out Titanium was the least likely to cause problems. They were very clear to her that it would hurt, then were very patient when the first one did hurt enough for her to need some time to decide whether or not to have the second.

DD had her two lots of lobe piercings done at Claires, both at once with a gun.

No complaints whatsoever!

She had a cartilage one done in a booth in a hair shop locally with a needle. No problems with that either.

She's 13. I love the idea of Harrods, and was aware that some say a needle is better (hollow etc). I'll do some more research but if anyone has personal experience of this to pass on I'd be most grateful!

Metal Morphosis is still there (two floors down in Top Shop) and they use a sterile cartridge thingy rather than a gun for earlobes.

Lovely staff, very reassuring and they spend all day piercing body parts, so are very experienced. No need for an appointment, just drop in.

squirm so a needle does the actual piercing rather than the earring?

I assumed it was still the earring (but didn't notice if there were any left over parts once the earring was in) but there is no gun and the piercer just uses their hand.

I tried to google, but haven't found a page that describes this way of doing it. But you could try tweeting them or ringing up to ask. Phone is picked up by the general receptionist, you need to ask if you can speak specifically to a piercer.

Try going to areas with lots of Asian shops, like in tower hamlets. You'll find that many of the chemists do it.

I had dds ears done a couple of years ago for £4, they did both ears at the same time and threw in a bottle of surgical spirit for cleaning.

OP, personally I wouldn't go for the cheapest or most convenient option. Do some research yourself. Lots of people will tell you they had no problems with an earring-pierced ear lobe. But there is an increased RISK of problems to the ear.

Earring posts are not that sharp, they have a pointy end but this still isn't sharp enough to make a clean hole.

I'm not one of these militant anti gun people but the needle makes perfect sense to me. It is extremely sharp and goes through the ear cleanly resulting in quicker healing.

DD (nearly 13)wants another piercing (she has 2 in one ear, 1 in the other) done in Claires (gun) no problems (her choice, she researched it all ie asked her mates and looked online)

If she goes for another (in the double pierced ) I'll take her to MetalMorphoses so she can have a tiny titanium stud with a needle.
(I've said we can go and check it out before )

I went to a place called Into You in Clerkenwell they also do tattoos and were great - very thin needles used.

I took my dd to Harrods too - wasn't overly expensive a few years ago.

I really don't want to go to a tattoo parlour type place (nothing against anyone with tattoos, just not my thing!) We're going to Harrods anyway so will ask there but there's nothing on the website so not holding out much hope. Thank you for your responses.

They do it in the Beauty Salon in Harrods called Urban Retreat Clippityclop.

www.urbanretreat.co.uk/harrods/medispa/ear_piercing.aspx

I've got multiple ear piercings. The ones done by gun took longest to heal. The ones done by my grandmother with a needle took the least.

Has anyone recently pierced with needles in Harrods or the Into You Clerkenwell. My 17yr old is trying to have a 3rd attempt to re-pierce one ear lobe. Did them in Clares years ago but with problem. I really want her to try the needles this time but not Clares anymore. Any recommendations?