This is my own story about how stumbling across your page saved me from my own ignorance. I was stretching at the time and by stretching, I mean shoving acrylic tapers in my ears that were two sizes too big. Eventually the inevitable happened; one of my ears got a nasty blowout. I quickly took them out and looked online for modification sites for help. I stumbled across Awful Mods and read through easily 20 pages of submissions. I have three self pierced holes and four done with a gun, which I was completely unaware was bad. I signed all of the anti gun petitions and vowed never to use them again. I went and got my daith pierced in a very reputable shop as well as my navel and stretched back up safely, following directions you guys have posted as closely as possible. I also got a tattoo for my 15th birthday (legal in my state with parental consent) at the same reputable shop that I go to for my piercings. I try to educate my friends on what not to do and discourage their self piercing attempts. My friend recently offered to “make me some gauges” out of polymer clay, which I declined and warned her not to use. I credit this blog alone with most of my modification interest and knowledge. Thank you guys and keep up the amazing work!
January 2013
Yeah. They can be really really shitty. Lucky for me, my last doctor (before we had to switch for whatever reason) was super mod-positive and had a few tattoos herself. She was great and fielded all of my mom’s questions well. My dentist is great about it too.
However, I do understand lots of people have shitty experiences with doctors, but your piercer can’t give you antibiotics or officially medically diagnose you with anything. As long as you can get the medicine. And while we’re on that note, you guys, if you end up needing antibiotics, always always always finish the entire round. Always. Even if you think you don’t need to.
-Kat
I’msorrynotsorry that we’ve gone back to responding in gifs, but it’s the only way to accurately describe me when I read your submissions.
-Kat
Yeah every time I hear it I just kind of go:
-Kat
If your piercing is infected or you even THINK it’s infected, you need to just skip the “go to your piercer” and/or “ask people from the internet” step and GO. TO. YOUR. DOCTOR. RIGHT. AWAY. That can get out of hand easily.
Also note, no matter how many times your doctor/parent say to take out the jewelry, you need to wait until you’re on antibiotics. Unless perhaps if it’s starting to embed, which is a whole other problem you should be seeing a doctor/going to the ER for anyway.
-Kat
As an employee of Hot Topic in Virginia, I would like to point out that our body jewelry is tested to be nickel free. Also, the wonderful man who does all my piercings (20+ years experience in the best shop in my town, the owner, Joe Hagerty, shits awards for his tattooing) agrees with me, that aside from our acrylic, our jewelry is very decent, more so than Spencer’s (Who have REALLY fucked up my ears before by selling me shitty silicons.) Also, the workers in the store do not label the jewelry. We buy as a third party seller. It was Morbid Metals that mislabeled. Also, with many companies, return policy is a store-to-store thing. We will accept all body jewelry at my store for returns and exchanges, damage them out, and continue on. I’m really sorry to hear that the person had such a terrible experience with our jewelry. I buy most of my jewelry from my store and have never had a problem like that, and had it been my store, I would’ve made sure that they could have been returned. That was just not okay. Mistakes happen, and most likely they were mistakenly labeled by the other company that we buy from.
I will say a good thing to do in ANY Hot Topic, is find the person with the best piercings. My store, all of us are pierced by professionals and are great to talk to. I realize in other stores it could be different. They’re uneducated, they don’t care, or both. I personally always try to make sure people get either metal or silicone. But I had a bad experience with acrylic so I stay as far away from it as possible and try to direct other’s in that direction.
But yeah anyways, I just felt like explaining a few things and I hope no one else has a problem like that, and if anyone wants to here my personal rages about having to sell some of that jewelry, just message me :3 I may be an employee, but I still have my pet peeves! (Like idiots who jump 4 sizes with silicone after I basically beg them not too)
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MODERATOR COMMENT:
Nickel free, eh? So what the fuck was it then that I had a reaction to in the steel tunnels I bought from HT? The reaction that prompted me to downsize completely and restretch, that wasn’t the result of nickel (which I’ve been allergic to my whole life) in the cruddy jewelry I bought from HT? And those knock-off silicone (not silicon, they are different) plugs made of who-knows-what grade that may or may not be body safe? Sounds like a good deal and quality jewelry right there. I have bought my fair share of HT jewelry, but the only things worth anything were the glass, which is a bit wonky anyway, but at least it’s not toxic or anything.
Return policy thing…meh. I guess you could damage it out as some people have suggested, but for something that’s been in the body, you open it, it’s yours and I don’t think that’s a ridiculous policy to have.
And your store might be great, but a lot of people’s stores aren’t, so I will always always always recommend going in cautiously and if an employee is giving stretching advice and it seems off, don’t feel pressured into buying things. And I don’t think I will ever recommend going to spencer’s for jewelry. Might as well search through scrap metal…
-Kat
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And all stainless steel jewelry has some nickel in it… Not sure what tests you’re referring to, but they’re totally bogus.
Support your friendly neighborhood piercers instead and get good jewelry and good advice every time (provided you’re going to a good piercer, obv). :P
- Hayley
What even.
Source: My phone, facebook
This is a girl I used to know. She did a lot of drugs and thought she was so bad ass. her brother stole her a machine. She tatoos herself and others.
It’s terrible, lines are wonky, under age, unsanitary.
She needs to stop, wait untill she’s of age. Do it right.
Actually it’s pretty common now. Iirc, they’re easier to insert, the ends are easier to change, and they’re less irritating and less easy to rip out of your nose by accident. They’ve pretty much become the standard jewelry for that…
Just because it’s called a “labret” stud doesn’t mean that’s its only use. They’re frequently used in earlobe and helix piercings as well.
I just want to second the other post about not buying Hot Topic body jewelry…I bought some “6g” pinchers and couldn’t get them in my ear; they were too big. I’d been stretched to 6g for months, so there shouldn’t have been a problem, unless of course they mislabeled their body jewelry. I tried to return/exchange them and they refused to take them back even though it was their fault for selling me “6g” pinchers that were actually larger than that!
And chances are, a real professional would’ve gotten them right.
So forgive me for not doing this in “ask” form, but I apparently can’t submit a question without first joining tumblr, and I’m not doing that just to ask one question to one blog.
Anyway, I’m the one who uploaded the picture of that lobe that I *THINK* belongs to an APP piercer (I am literally not able to confirm whether he is or not, however). Blowouts are bad. Blowouts are ALWAYS bad. You guys and all your followers always agree that blowouts are bad, icky, wrong, etc.
…until the lobes *MIGHT* belong to a professional?
Why is everyone acting like it’s okay all of a sudden? Normal, healthy stretched ears DON’T look like that…ever. It’s NOT okay, no matter who they belong to. And no, it’s not an “old injury.” That photo is less than two years old, and in all his newer photos (of his ears), his lobes look pissed and thin. I’d love to say that he downsized and corrected the issue, but in his current facebook profile picture (taken in september 2012), one of his ears is shown and it’s still blow-out city.
And in response to the comments directed at me…
1. I am 21 with 3/4” lobes, but I don’t think my age or the size of my ears should have anything to do with what’s wrong or right. 2. If most peoples’ ears that you know look like those, you should educate them. 3. If your lobes “naturally” started to look like that “once you got over a certain size,” then how come the man who has 5” lobes (I can’t recall his name, I know at least one of the moderators does though) doesn’t have blowouts? 4. Sorry for my incorrect use of the word “certified.” It was like 5 a.m. when I found and posted that. Whoops.
But yeah, can you /please/ tell your followers that a bad mod is not okay when it’s on a certain person (seriously, go read about Kate Moss’ million dollar tattoo of tiny, shitty sparrows)? Those comments are only going to perpetuate to others that blowouts are okay. :(
MODERATOR COMMENT:
Holy shit. wow. I didn’t see the notes on it because usually I don’t check the notes of our posts unless i get bored. But wow. What you’re saying is fucking spot on. And you’re talking about Bear Big Ears/Daryl “Bear” Belmares.
And there’s also Efix Roy:
And Mateo Way
Do their ears look like that? No. No they do not.
-Kat
I’m only publishing this instead of private answering because I think you deserve followers for your use of the word “mook.”
- Petra / BabyPieTattoo
Because that’s what the tattoo “artist” tells them as an excuse, probably. Scratcher lesson #1: Blame the client.
“Your skin is too tough!”
“You moved!”
etc.
- Hayley
The sharper the object, the less it’s going to hurt.
You shouldn’t have to make a special request to get a piercing done with the right tools. o__o
- Hayley
