Clair’s Accessories

[Bang Bang Kitty Lincon]

I've hurd alot of complanets about it from reading threads by people in the US. Over in the Uk I've not come across any issues, I've had my ears done a few times in there with no complications.

So what is the problem with Clair's in the US?  

[Tink_ of WonderOz]

*~*Chase the Morning...

I dunno how they do it in the UK but it's probably similar to how they do it in Ireland and the US. Clair's uses piercing guns rather then piercing needles. Piercing guns tend not to pierce straight which some can find esthetically displeasing and can led to problems when stretching. They're also horrible because they tend to harbor bacteria because you can't autoclave them because of the plastic. Also piercing guns use the actually ear ring to pierce ears but they tend to be duller then a piecing needle which can led to trauma to the ear.

...Yield for Nothing!*~*

 

[Bang Bang Kitty Lincon]

Hmmm fair enough, makes sence.

Yet I've hurd a piercest say to someone to go to somewere like Clair's for a basic ear piercing as it would hurt less (or something like that, it was ages ago)

Ahh well  

[Tink_ of WonderOz]

*~*Chase the Morning...

Well when it comes down to it the best way to go for any piercing is using a piercing needle but I shouldn't talk all my lobe and cartilage piercings were done with a gun before I was really educated on the ins and outs of body mods

...Yield for Nothing!*~*

 

[Intoxikace]

Pretty much everything that Milady said about the guns is right on.
Mine always ended up terribly infected; but I'm pretty sure that was from the crap jewelry they used or the cleaning solution they gave me.  

[Simim]

When it comes to the one time use piercing-gun packages, which they usually use at Claire's, it's not a matter of harboring bacteria. Those piercing implements are 1-time use; they put a different "gun" up to your ear for each piercing.

However, the needle is NOT a hollow-point sharp needle. It's basically the starter earring being forced through your ear. In lobe piercings and cartilage piercings this can lead to keloids and "cauliflower ear" where your ear's all lumpy from the keloids.

From personal experience, I've had 16 piercings (8 on each ear) done with a piercing gun, 7 of those pairs at Claire's, before I had knowledge about proper piercing technique. All of mine healed fine and keloid free, but I'm wierd like that.

I also use straight alcohol, forget to clean my piercings, and nothing bad comes of it. I heal like Wolverine, so to speak. You may not be as lucky. And cauliflower ears suck.

If you wanna get a piercing done, I know that many places can charge as little as $15-30 for a piercing, with surgical grade stainless steel/titanium, perfectly sterilized, etc. I understand money IS a factor for some people, but don't let Claire's pretty little package of $10 for a pair of earring plus the free piercing sway you into ******** up your ears. XD

 

[Nekojin_cat]

I think it's mostly that they pierce your ear using the stud itself. Which, admittedly, is sharp enough that I've stabbed myself in the thumb more than once with them, are nowhere near as sharp as a needle. More sharpness = less surface area on the needle = less pressure needed to make a hole = less possibility of extra damage. Also since the needle is skinny at the tip and fattens out more gradually than a stud, it can make a smaller hole and then widen it, as opposed to the stud, which forces a larger hole through your ear. Causing more pain.

I had my first two pairs of lobe holes done with guns, and the third with a needle, and I can definitely say that the piercer did a better job. The third holes hit a little bit of cartilage on one side, and yet they hurt less, healed faster, and are more even than the gun ones. It's also impossible to get a needle stuck attached to your ear, unlike a gun, which (I can assure you) is rather painful, and led to a fairly extended healing period for that side, as well as having to repierce an already tender lobe. Not fun, not fun at all.  

[Annihilation Sky]

Also to add to what has already been said. Just look at the area where they perform the piercing. Is that really somewhere you would want to have what is essentially a puncture wound made?

 

[Fluffie Kittie]

They pierce for free. i don't think you are going to get a good piercing for free. I had my lobe pierced when I was about 6 months. I got mine done at a doctor, but one is un-even. I think they did it with a gun.  

[Lili Marlene]

I had some of my piercings done with guns and honestly, they healed fine. The helix piercings have tiny bumps on the back, but it's nothing readily apparent and doesn't interfere with wearing jewelry - that's the closest I have to real complications. Additionally, I've got special scaring tendencies that may have caused the bumps, so I'm reluctant to blame the gun automatically.

For really simple piercings (IE: lobes), they're possibly (in my largely uninformed opinion) okay, but I wouldn't get more complex piercings (tragus, rook, industrial, etc) done there.  

[cosmicqueer]

I never got my piercings done at Claire's, but I did get them done at Walmart and a piercing parlor in a mall. Every time my ears have been pierced, I've used a gun. The only time I got an infection was in my upper, hard cartilage, and cartilage gets infected easily anyway. But anyway, what everyone has said about the gun is true, and I have had a gun stick to my ear. Also, another downside of the gun is that if it malfunctions, they may have to do it more than once. When I got my second holes in my lobes, the gun malfunctioned and didn't push the stud all the way through my ear, so my ear was bleeding everywhere and it hurt a lot because she had to try to pierce my ear 4 times before the gun stopped malfunctioning. I was pretty pissed. c:

I would definitely recommend going to a parlor to get one's ears pierced because they know what they're doing. The lady who pierced my ears said she hated doing it because she was squeamish, and she only did it because she had to. I was very uncomfortable after that and I should have just left... But anyhow. c: