Ear piercing has come a long way from the punch guns in the earlobe and smashing through cartridges at the top of the ear. Now, a good piercing parlor can design a unique set of piercings that are perfectly sized and placed for your ears.
In fact, there are piercing parties, open nights at piercing shops, and more beautiful jewelry than ever before.
So, what are some of the most interesting ear-piercing options around?
Snake Bites
For many, the word snake bite is either a drink or a double piercing on the lip. But a snakebite, when it comes to an ear piercing, is two piercings that are about an inch or so apart. They will often have matching jewelry, but mismatched looks cool, too. Most often, these will be anywhere but the lobe. A snakebite piercing needs a bit more care since they are close together and can swell more.
Tragus
The tragus piercing is on a thicker piece of cartilage, the little flap that sits over the hole of the ear. Not everyone can have this piercing because, for some people, they are too small. The tragus can be very understated because it hugs the side of the face – however, it looks stunning with almost any type of jewelry.
Daith
The daith piercing came into fashion again in a big way because there were some suggestions that it helped migraine sufferers. While there might not be anything more than some anecdotal evidence, people who have the piercing claim it has helped with both anxiety and migraines.
The daith is the first fold in your ear above the tragus and makes a great spot for a cute hoop.
Scaffold
The scaffold pierced a much bouldering ear piercing, but you can still get some cute jewelry for your scaffold / cute industrial piercing shop here for a range of options. The scaffold is done at a larger gauge than other piercings and goes through multiple points in short succession. For many, it hurts a little more than a regular cartilage piercing, but not by much. On this one, if fully healed in 5-9 months, you can have the bar changed.
Lobe Stack
The stacked lobe set of piercings can look stunning, and if you don’t want to go through a cartilage piercing, a stack can give you plenty of places to play with. There are a couple of options, like cluster sets, where the piercer will create a unique set of piercings that aren’t typically evenly spaced.
Or you might opt to ‘fill up the ear lobe’ with evenly spaced piercings. Cluster piercings are great for mixing and matching studs and hoops and creating something totally you. Depending on the stack you have, there are earrings that are spiraled and can snake their way up the ear, looping through each hole.
Ear piercings can be as subtle or as bold as you like, which means that they can match a dainty outfit or be chunkier and great for edgy outfits.