I had a phone call today from a young lady inquiring about the price of a nostril piercing with a stud. She called back a few minutes later wanting to know how much it would be without the stud. ???

We have never understood how normally conscientious people can choose a piercer by looking for the cheapest price! But it happens, and the people get taken for a ride. We see the results when they come to us and ask 'Can you fix this?'. Most of these problems would have been avoided if the people concerned knew the correct questions to ask.

Piercing aftercare has evolved significantly over the time I have been piercing. A number of myths about aftercare have gained prominence in the industry simply because of the democratic nature of the internet. Dispelling these myths, and finding aftercare protocols that actually worked has been an ongoing endeavor at Blackstar.

We have come to realize three basic principals.

When I started piercing (now too long ago to specify) the state of the art was poor. Few people had anything besides their ears pierced, with a few nostrils thrown in for variety. The IDEA of piercing a nipple, or, heaven forbid, something else was completely foreign to most.

The rise of the Punk Rock movement (remember the safety pins and widespread dermatitis from the nickel reactions) created a split between the "I want that" and the "Why would anybody do that" groups without any hope of common ground or acceptance.