I just got my nose pierced two days ago in NYC. I have plenty more piercings but here ya' go: Sorry the image is so big :\
Do you own the "How to Be Cool Handbook for Dummies: Do's and Don'ts Edition" ? Don't be an elitist snob. They can absolutely be kept in your ears for aesthetics.
You sound like the guy at Hot Topic that has giant sagging holes in his ears but refuses to plug them up because it's not cool anymore.
Uhh no I've just taken classes seeing as though I used to be a piercing artist, although it was only a side job. Most people wear pants on their legs because that's what they're used for but if you want to wear them on your torso then more power to you. I'm sorry your ego got so hurt I hope you become rich in wealth and spirit and I sincerely apologize for trying to educate someone. In all honesty people in the body modification culture tend to poke fun at people who use things incorrectly just like any culture but hey, it's your body do with it as you please.
Awww shit, you took classes...i was a piercer for years and i still pierce if the shop is needing a piercer...we don't poke fun at people who wear tapers as plugs because many people use tapers as jewelry (hence why some jewelry companies sell 2 tapers in a kit)...all we do is tell them how to take care of their ears and piercing, we also tell them not to sleep on a newly stretched ear with a taper. Who are you to judge what jewelry people wear? "Us" people in the tattoo culture (actually it's the tattoo industry) poke fun at people who think they know about the tattoo culture when they don't know much about it...like someone who took "classes" so they automatically know everything.
You have to take a class in Florida in order to work accredited. I'm not bragging or saying wearing tapers is wrong, just saying its not what they were meant for. Indeed my man I share love and I'm so sorry you also got your ego hurt. I have a traditional Chinese tattoo I got in Shang hai done by hand and 5 done with modern tattoo guns. I'm by no means experienced but I am familiar with the body modification culture, industry, whatever you want to call it. Edit: I also never judged anyone or for anything in this thread, hence my pants analogy.
please call them "machines" and not "guns", biggest pet peeve for people in the industry is to call the machine a "gun". It's like people calling plugs and tunnels "gauges" or "i'm gonna gauge my ears"...it's like nails on a chalkboard... but you didn't hurt my ego, but you can't just say "oh, i'm right because i took a class and had a side job as a piercer"...i took many classes and traveled to different parlors and studios around the world and wearing tapers as jewelry is popular all over the world, people use them to stretch their ears and they use them for the healing process...it's not frowned upon at all, it's just different. Now, if you were to wear surgical steel tapers that were meant to stretch and that's it, then that's just wrong but the tapers in Hot Topic have a spot for them to sit in your lobe which is why they include o-rings on them.
Haha sorry man how about I say magnet driven need machines and start talking about needle types. I honestly hope this doesn't bother you dude I totally don't care. I personally would never use hot topic jewelry I only use amometal or industrial strength brands for jewelry. Not arguing that it's popular to wear tapers but just as you mentioned how people say gauging instead of stretching tapers are solely meant to stretch so wearing them as jewelry is technically wrong. Nevertheless I don't care what anyone wears in their ears as long as they are happy. Just like you would educate someone that the correct term is stretching, I like to educate people that tapers aren't manufactured to be used as jewelry because maybe they themselves aren't aware. I'm glad your ego is in tact, now please stop making me explain myself.
Well, if you were right then you wouldn't have to explain yourself, correct? The only thing that bothers me was you coming in here and saying "i've taken a class so i'm right"...since i obviously have more time with piercing and more hours logged into classes, i guess i'm more qualified than you are to say whether it's right or wrong to wear tapers. Anyway, some tapers ARE designed and manufactured to wear as jewelry, it's just you don't use the companies who make them. We use Industrial Strength tapers to stretch piercings at the shop since they're medical grade surgical steel (which would be too heavy to wear) but there are plenty of high-end jewelry companies that make acrylic and even horn tapers to be worn as everyday jewelry. Almost every company who makes jewelry has tapers with o-rings for the purpose of wearing them daily. Full Taper Kit (14g - 0 gauge) now, do i think people SHOULD wear them? No, in my opinion they look dumb as fuck and do more harm than good since they get caught on everything...but my opinion doesn't make it wrong to wear them.
i'm not trying to be an asshole about it but you can't just come in here and shoot someone down for wearing tapers because you took a class and pierced as a side job...that doesn't give you any room to say what's right when it comes to someone's personal preference on the matter. The truth in the end is that it's fine to wear tapers that were designed to be worn as jewelry, there's no "it's wrong" about it because it's not wrong.
So ANYWAY I'm thinking of stretching my ears again, in the past I did it myself slowly with tapers I got at like hot topic, that was 10yrs ago. I wanted to know like what would a reasonable stretch my first sesh be? How much does that cost to get done? Do most pierces stretch?
what are your ears at right now? you have to be careful because if you have any scar tissue from your ears healing from the last time you stretched and let it heal then you may have a harder time stretching...if you DO have scar tissue then you should use some Emu oil and let it break down the tissue until it's good enough to start stretching.
you can get them dermal punched at an 8g or 6g if you'd like, although i'd only do that if you were impatient and wanted to be at a 6g that quick. If not, get your ear pierced at a 10g and let it heal for about 3 months, after that stretch it up to an 8g (some will go 6g) and then every 2 to 3 months you can go 1 or 2 sizes up depending how well your ears are healed. What size did you wanna stop at?
that's easy if your ears heal fast without any problems, you could be at 00g by summer if you do it the right way...i know guys who do it faster but there's a high risk of blowing out your lobes if you do.