A Frugal Girl tries to spend money | Month #2
You may remember that last month, I bought a variety of things, but I did not spend my entire $100 budget.
And I rolled the extra $26 over into October's fun money budget.
Well, this month, I spent the entire budget in one single place. 😉
Now that I have completed RN school and am free from the piercing restrictions we have to abide by during clinical rotations, I thought it would be fun to get a second earlobe piercing.
Apparently, going to Claire's in the mall and getting pierced with a piercing gun is less than ideal (news to all of us who grew up in the 1980s!!)
In case you were also in the dark about why:
- piercing guns can't be properly sterilized
- they cause more trauma to the tissue than a needle
- the earrings used in them are not sharp enough to make a clean puncture
- the butterfly backs used for piercing gun earrings are not as good for healing as the flat backs
- piercing gun studs come in one length, but with a needle piercing, the piercer can choose the appropriate length for your particular ear, also allowing room for post-piercing swelling
(You can read some details on all of that here.)
All that said, my first earlobe piercing was done at Claire's, and it went just fine. So, I dunno; it might have been ok to go there again.
But as a whole adult, I decided to pay more and get the proper experience. There was a great guy that my girls have gone to before (and he is also the one I went to for help fixing the botched mall nose piercing I got.) He was the dedicated piercer at the tattoo studio he owned, but he recently retired. BOO.
I considered going to Rowan, which is a chain of stores that employs nurses to do to the piercings, presumably ensure the process is sterile.
But for a pair of tiny plain gold ball studs, Rowan wanted $78, plus $58 for the needle piercing, plus whatever you tip.
So, I went to a little tattoo parlor with a stellar reputation.
The piercer there was obviously quite experienced, and she took a lot of time figuring out the right placement and the right stud length for each earlobe.
It's been a very long time since I got pierced with a piercing gun, so I can't make a great comparison, but I will say that the needle-piercing process is only mildly painful.
With the tip added in, I used up my entire $126 October budget. So, it wasn't a whole lot cheaper than going to Rowan.
But I do like that my fun money went entirely to a local business instead of to a chain of stores.
Verdict: Yay for agency!
I feel quite satisfied with the level of happiness this purchase brought me. Some of this joy is from the sense of agency I felt in the choice; in the past, I have gotten a piercing not because I wanted one, but because I caved to unrelenting pressure from someone else.
But this piercing was my own decision; I got these earrings because I wanted them. 🙂
And that feels much better.
Now it's a new month, and I'm starting off with a fresh $100. Maybe I won't spend it all in one place this time!
Tell me: who else had their first ear piercing done at Claire's?
P.S. Based on a quick Google search, it looks like you can get a job as a nurse at Rowan and get paid about what I get paid at the hospital. This would be tempting if you just needed a less physically demanding job, but to me, it seems like very boring nurse work. I think I prefer the unpredictability of the hospital!
Personally, if I were to get my ears pierced again (last time, as a teenager, and I think it was at a local jewelry store), I'd pay extra for a nurse option. I like the idea that if a nurse needed a part time job, this would be a good paying option.
Nurses are needed in so many different venues beyond a hospital or say, urgent care.
Some of the best and most helpful nurses I have encountered are those employed in various types of physician practices. NPs and RNs are often very helpful especially when you can't reach a doctor in an office.
I love that you allowed yourself to get a piercing you wanted. I can't imagine someone pressuring me as an adult to get a piercing I didn't want. No way, Jose.
The new earrings look so cool!
I had my ears pierced at the back of a pharmacy, but I actually worked at Claire's many moons ago and learnt to pierce ears. I pierced the deputy manager's ears as part of my training but I left before I actually had to pierce the general public's!
I had nightmares from having to clear up the earring trees at the end of the day and sadly that's not hyperbole!
Me! When I was in high school, I was prone to get staff infections for ingrown hairs, etc., so I was afraid to get pierced ears. Then as an adult, I liked having one less decision to make in the morning, so I didn't want them anymore. When I turned 40, my new husband said he'd love to start giving me earrings, so I went to Claire's in the mall, held the stuffed teddy bear, and got my ears pierced.
I do like it now and have way too many earrings.
Also, as a young adult, I worked in a jewelry store. Part of my job was to pierce ears. We only had one gun, so when toddlers came in, I never could get the second ear done. It got to the point where when I saw a toddler come in, I sent the parents to the store that had two piercing guns!
I am glad to see that you are happily spending a little of your money on you.
I was allowed to get my ears pierced on my 12th birthday. My mother took me to the Fashion Tree which was the mall accessory shop that pre-dated Claire's. I don't remember much else about that day. It was a few decades ago. However, my piercings are well placed on my earlobe, and I've never had any trouble with them. However, my mother made sure that I kept them clean.
@Bee, I also got my first piercing at Fashion Tree!
Yup, I have Claire's piercings, too. I had to wait until I was twelve years old to get my ears pierced, which of course seemed like the most unfair thing ever. I survived, though. 🙂
I know of at least a couple of girls (who are still in their teens now, I mean) who have pierced their own ears. Claire's is better than that, yikes. Most people go to tattoo places now, though. I suppose I'll have to figure this out relatively soon, as I'm sure my now-8-year-old daughter will start agitating to get hers pierced and I don't think I'm going to make her wait until she's 12 like I did.
Good for you for supporting a local business. We all need to do more of that, even when it is more expensive (if we are financially able).
I am 65+ and have never had pierced ears. DD wanted pierced ears so I told her she could get them when she was 13 and old enough to deal with the care of them herself. I took her to a local cosmetic/plastic surgeon and it was so long ago I don't remember how he did the piercing. She rarely wears earrings these days.
@K D, I'm another member of the "65+ and never had pierced ears" club. However, I'm all for agency and free choice: We should all be able to do what we want with our own ears (and noses, etc.).
@A. Marie,
Amen!
@K D,
I also never had my ears pierced and never wanted to do it
@A. Marie, my mother took me and my cousin to the doctor's office. Good thing we didn't agree to do one ear each then the other - she chickened out. Not sure what happened but another friend used piercing hoops on me a couple years later. Makes me think perhaps I should get them pierced again as I have a fair number of precious gem earrings (and rings truth be told - gems are my weakness at fundraisers).
If memory serves, both kiddos got theirs done at Claire's - younger kiddo still ears earrings.
Back in the 70s, I used something called sleepers. They were sharp hoops that slowly worked their way through your lobes, taking about a week. My guess is they don't exist anymore.
@Mary Ann, I remember those. They called them self piercers. Seemed like slow torture to me. Was it painful for days?
@Kathy, was it bit painful when you slept on them. We would also push on them to try to get them through faster. There was that satisfying click when they finally got through. lol
@Mary Ann, I used those too and those holes have been trouble free. The second piercings I got at Claire's in the 1980s have tried to close up over the years.
@Mary Ann, I had my ears pierced with self piercers too. No it didn't hurt . One ear had a great result. The other got infected. That hole turned out a little crooked. Still crooked to this day but most earrings work fine.
@Mary Ann, I used Sleepers but they wouldn't go all the way thru so my mother's friend finished the piercing with ice and a needle! ?
@Mary Ann, I used Sleepers also but they wouldn't go all tbe way thru the back. My mother's friend finished the piercing with ice and a needle! ?
@Mary Ann, yes I remember those - best if you just pushed on them to get them through.
Love it! Of course I got my ears pierced at Claire's in the 90s. Your post was both inspirational and educational for me today!
I forgot to add that I wasn't allowed to get my ears pierced until I was thirteen, but I distinctly remember the ear piercing scene in the Parent Trap when I was ten or so! I'm glad it was less dramatic than that in reality 😉 I went with a friend when she got her ears pierced when we were thirteen or fourteen and she nearly broke my hand! My ears actually need repiercing but I'm too lazy to get them done.
I got my ears pierced at Claire’s!
I got mine pierced when I was 11 and I think it was the local jewelry store at the mall. My mom got hers done too, at the same time. When Mom was a girl (1940s), her mom thought pierced were "trashy" so she wasn't allowed to have them.
@Martha C, Neither of my husband's grandmothers had pierced ears. Nor did mine. Neither does my mother. Pierced ears were for "gypsies," or "the Irish." (I am the latter. 🙂 ) Funny how cultural attitudes change so quickly between generations.
@kristin @ going country, here it’s done at birth, in the hospital. Many people see gold earrings as “giving value” to a child . Society formed by slavery .
@kristin @ going country, my mom said pierced ears were trashy, too! I did not get mine pierced until I was 42. A younger friend was getting her nose pierced and just made an appointment for me, too. This was at a place called Holier Than Thou, right next door to the Hell Bomb tattoo parlor. Let me tell ya, I was the ONLY person getting EARS done! ?
Super clean, sterile wrapped needles, have never had a bit of trouble with the piercings. The person who did my ears had been trained as a phlebotomist, and said everybody in their family had some kind of job that involved trauma/blood/ER work. ?
Incidentally, my 75-year old mom went with her 80-something neighbor and got theirs pierced years later!
@kristin @ going country,
LOL, I come from "gypsy" stock. 🙂
@Bella,
Yikes about gold earrings "giving value" to a child.
@Janie H, Holier Than Thou! Who are these clever people who think this stuff up?
@kristin @ going country, my mother didn't get her ears pierced until she was in her 40s. My grandmother wouldn't let her do it when she was young because she'd "look like a gypsy." My grandparents were from Sicily.
@Liz B., The caraibes are shaped by slavery . We are an island build by slave owner and enslaved people. We have not much marriage, great importance are given of having something of value, show that you own and are not owned. Shoes are also a big deal . If you look at history, it makes perfect sense, sad sense but sense.
@Bella,
Thank you for sharing this. It does make sad, but honest, historical sense. The US has a long and horrific history of oppressing and enslaving people of color. My Sicilian great-grandparents likely endured a great deal of prejudice when they emigrated here as well.
Thanks again for sharing.
@Liz B., I was reading recently about how Italian and Irish immigrants weren't considered white in the nineteenth century in the US. It was less about skin colour and more about being in an approved class/group (horrific either way).
@kristin @ going country, yes my mother said if God wanted you to have holes in your ears I would have been born with them.
Then my sister got triple pierced ears and she never said a word.
I was allowed to get my ears pierced when I was 16 (despite the fact my parents believed it was not at all classy). I went to my pediatrician who did the piercing with a needle and surgical thread which they left in as a loop that I was supposed to keep clean and rotate occasionally. After a couple (?) weeks (or once it was sufficiently healed) I could insert my new gold post earrings.
I took my daughter to Claire’s when she was in middle school - with a couple of her friends - to have her ears pierced.
@Jean C, same here in terms of parental disapproval, but grudging permission. A year or two later, my older sister got hers done, and then my younger sister. Eventually Mom even had it done! I felt like such a trailblazer. We went to a local jeweler, and wow, it really hurt. Mom and I walked around the mall with me holding a cold drink against my ear lobes, saying, “ow”, over and over. That’s what probably kept my sisters and mom from doing it. I still have the earrings I bought right before I had it done, and I wore those for my wedding.
I didn't get my ears pierced until I was 28. That was the year I got my long hair cut off, and I guess I felt the earrings would make me feel/look more feminine with the shorter hair, plus you would now be able to see my earrings! I worked at a medical facility, so I got my ears pierced by a general surgeon with two RNs in attendance during some down time in the clinic! For free! I don't think it gets much better than that in terms of safety and sterility.
Yes to Claire’s. I accidentally let my 40 year old piercing close up in the pandemic. Darn!
@Stephanie, Me too. Am looking to get them redone. I miss my earrings!
My mother was an RN at the local doctor's office in our small town, and she always said you should have your ears pierced by a nurse. We didn't have a mall close by, and people did it themselves. I don't know how much it cost at the doctor's office, but it must not have been too much because about half of the people had it done there.
I have double ear piercings from Claires back in the mid-late 80's- and at 49 years old STILL have noticeable knots in the upper holes and less obvious in the lower ones. I went with a friend when she got her tongue done and I had my upper cartilage done on 1 ear. That was done with a needle and is a perfectly flat piercing. Hurt like heck but healed great.
I was not going to get the girls ears done until she was truly wanting them- and then go with a piercer and have it done with a needle.. BUT on a family trip daddy talked to her, they both got excited by the idea and they got her ears done at Claires.... and it ended up being a whole drama.... trying to keep her (7 years old I think) ears clean, got slightly infected, finally healed.... she was super sensitive... thought we were doing ok and she got kicked in the head by twin brother in the trampoline.. that jammed the earring really bad and it started to bleed.. Had to take it out. Let it totally heal over then went to get it re-pierced. They took other earring out to line up the holes and then put that one back in... within a week 2 infected lobes.. Pulled those earrings and let them heal completely.
Talked about going to get needle pierced eventually but with playing volleyball they would have to be out of her ears for lengths of time and she did not want to mess with it. Then COVID... figured that would give us a chunk of time- businesses started to do scheduled openings - we looked at rules and pricing and could not go b/c she was over 14 years old and she did not have legal ID as they require... Once she got her temps at 15.5y back to too busy with sports.. Now in college she is unbothered by not having them and doesn't want to spend that kind of money! lol
I got my first piercing at Claire’s, but after a couple decades opted to let the holes close up because of irritation. Then I wanted new piercings so I went to a tattoo studio and had an excellent experience there so I took my daughter there when she was ready to get her ears pierced.
The longest I’ve seen any scrub their hands was at this tattoo place. Having didn’t lots of time in hospitals, the cleanliness impressed me a lot.
Places I received piercings as a child/teenager: Claire’s, my bedroom by my own self, my friend’s basement.
Place I received piercings as an adult: tattoo shop.
We live and we learn!!
My father would not let me pierce my ears so when I went away to college I got it done at some local store in the mall with a piercing gun.
Fast forward many decades and I had stopped wearing earrings. Then one day I decided I wanted to see if I could put earrings in my ears. The holes were there but they were closed up. I think I repierced my ears because they bled. But I got the earrings in. And continued to wear them for several months. Now I am thinking I need to put earrings in again.
I guess I am ambivalent about wearing earrings but want the option.
@karen, I go months at a time with no ear rings in so I have to redo mine. I've found if I have alcohol on the stud part it goes in easier but still is uncomfortable. I've never had them bleed though.
My parents allowed me to get my ears pierced when I was 16. (weird, that they(unknowingly) let me start drinking at 14). Anyway, we went to the local lady who froze my ear with ice cubes, then held the back of the ear with the flat side of a cut potato while using a sterilized needle to puncture the ear. Washed the ear with alcohol twice a day for 6 weeks so it wouldn't get infected, it never did. About 30 years ago, I purchased diamond earrings, and have worn those ever since. I figure that I have saved alot of money in earring purchases because of the diamond ones.
@Lori, The Parent Trap approach!
@Lori, Exactly how mine were done! And, after having to cajole, persuade, and storm at my father to allow it (his final grudging words, "if you want more holes in your head then go ahead"), the following Christmas he gave my mother three pair of earrings for pierced ears, which hers were not. I got to take my mother into the kitchen for the potato, ice, and sterilized needle routine.
I'm glad you did this for yourself - its meaning is clear. My first piercing was done by my oldest sister when I was 11. She numbed the lobe with an ice cube and used a sterilized (maybe) sewing needle and just pulled thread through. No one considered that I needed earrings...my mother got me a pair with gold wires, but for months the holes would hurt like h*ll and got infected off and on. When I was 16 I got the ear gun piercing for the second hole and it went fine. It was someplace in the Galvez Mall in Galveston - Sears, I think. The 3rd hole in one ear was done with a gun at a jewelry store and it got so infected I let it heal after a couple of months. At age 55ish I went to a tattoo parlour and got that 3rd piercing again, higher up, same ear. It hurt for MONTHS but healed nicely. It went through more cartilage than flesh. I've been toying with getting another one - maybe to celebrate my 65th birthday. I have always loved earrings/pierced ears so much! Someone told me I was too old for the 3rd one so I HAD to go get it immediately, ha ha. (:
My ears were done in 1967 and I had to go to my dr, and get my ears deadened. I'm 74 now and the holes are still there. I think it cost $10.00 and you brought your own ear rings. Yours look very nice. I remember after your nose surgery you couldn't wear your nose ring.
Claire's was the place to go when mine were done but a friend's mom did mine. Needle then earring.
I never got my ears (or anything else) pierced. And I never wanted to. I have exactly the right number of holes in my body, please don't come near me with a needle, thank you. LOL. I used to wear clip on earrings occasionally.
No shade to those who make a different choice, just not for extremely squeamish me!
I got mine pierced for my 10th birthday at a local jewelry store way before Claire's was even around. However, I remember taking my daughter to Claire's for her 10th birthday.
Good for you on doing research to find someone who would do a good job. I definitely would not even think to go to a piercing person for just earlobes. But sounds like they knew what they were doing.
My ear piercings were done in the 80's at Claire's! I had my first earring piercing done when I was in elementary school and had no issues. However, I went back to Claire's for a second piercing a few years later and dealt with infections from the beginning. I eventually let the second set of holes close up.
I took my daughter to Rowan for her first piercing and it was a wonderful experience! They were gentle and the nurses were so good with her. Her left ear piercing is slightly wonky, and maybe that wouldn't have happened in more experienced hands... But so far at least I'm the only one who notices the wonkiness, so my lips are sealed!
There were two nurses at Rowan. One worked in Oncology and the other in the NICU, and the both took a second job at Rowan for a change of pace. I thought that sounded so smart: a slower pace and the ability to give some joy around sounded like a good way to balance those fields!
I also had mine done at Claire’s when I was 12 or 13 (parent acceptable age). I always thought extra earrings looked so cool, but first they weren’t allowed by my parents and then they didn’t fit with my professional image. I hit 50 and decided it was time. I also went to a tattoo place for safety. They did take a long time to heal properly, so I doubt I will get any more though I considered it initially. Now I wear my sparkly studs and have never looked back.
I got my ears pierced at the mall, back in the 80s, when I was in second grade. It wasn’t a Claire’s, but something similar. I remember the huge amount of pressure from the gun. Sadly, I had to stop wearing earrings when I was about 3o, due to allergies. I wasn’t able to find anything I didn’t react to, so I haven’t worn earrings in about 20 years! That number makes me feel very old! The holes are still in my lobes, though.
@JenRR, same here, I can’t remember the place! And years after my ears would get itchy and red, and difficult to put earrings in. I tried every kind of earring and it was like everything irritated them. I stopped wearing earrings about 10 years ago too.
@Jan in GA, Are you allergic to metals? I’m pretty sure I’m allergic to nickel, because I also have issues with smartwatches. I wear them loosely, but the metal sensor on the back hurts the part of the wrist that it touches.
@JenRR, I’m not sure! I don’t have issues with other things, like rings. But my mom is only able to wear cheap earrings from Claire’s because everything else irritates her ears. Could be…
I love the dangling earrings - so pretty!
I had my daughters wait until 9 or 10 to get earrings. Two don't wear them anymore, one has only two holes, and the other two have 3-5. I think the >2 holes were done at a tattoo parlor.
First piercing at 15 at a local doctors office. I let them grow over and went to Claire's early in the pandemic. They got infected and the masks pulled on them as well. I'm planning to have them pierced again right after I retire in about 15 months
My ears got pierced by my grandmother. With a needle and a potatoe in the back . Earrings in and on you go. I had never heard of paying for piercings, until I traveled. Here at the hospital, the nurses pierce for free on every baby girl’s. It use to be 100% now 80 % of mothers get the ears piercing at birth.
My piercings are all from Claire's! So funny - just yesterday I was looking critically at the decades-old ear piercings and complaining that the holes weren't evenly spaced. I'd put on a pair of earrings I rarely wear and it seemed to me to make it obvious all over again. No one else noticed, but I think my ears reinforce your wise approach to go someplace where the piercing process itself is a professional focus!
My first two piercings were done at a Claire's in the 90s/00s.
We had a very special experience with all three of my girls and our neighbor girl (who is like one of our own) at Merle Norman. My twins were 9, neighbor girl 10, my oldest 11. I got mine done first to show them it was okay and then my husband and best friend (mother of the neighbor girl) videotaped all of the girls getting their ears pierced one after the other. It was actually a really moving experience. I love wearing earrings and am known for my funky ear-ware at work, but I wanted my girls to be old enough to make the decision themselves and to be able to clean their own ears.
Yes to Claire's! In 1990, wow! And then I fought with a persistent reoccurring infection in my right ear for almost 15 years. Ugh. I still have to clean my ears & the earrings prior to insertion to this day. When I take my daughter for her ears this Christmas, it will be a needle situation as you've done!
I did! It was my big present the year I turned 10. I got my ears pierced at Claire's, then hung out at the "big mall" with 2 or 3 of my friends. We did the piercing first to get it over with (I am a total wimp) and my ears burned for the rest of the time we were at the mall. Ahhh, what a memory.
I don't think I realized that tattoo places did ear piercing. I knew they did nose, eyebrow, upper ear, but I somehow thought that a normal ear piercing was too boring. Good to know!
@Angel, most tattoo parlors pierce anywhere you want one...
All three of my ear piercings were done with guns at mall locations that I cannot recall long before Claire's existed. My nose was pierced at a tattoo studio.
Good for you for using your money in such a satisfying.
I got my ears pierced at Claire's over 30 years ago. I didn't really know of any other options at the time. The left ear was pierced at an angle and i still have trouble getting earrings in sometimes. Also that ear is way more sensitive to the types of metal in the earrings.
Then I got a second ear piercing there a few years later. But my left ear never healed right so I let the second piercings close up.
I am not sure if the left ear issues are due to a bad piercing experience or I just have one ear more sensitive than the other!
My mother thought pierced ears were trashy so naturally, shortly after my 18th birthday, I went to whatever the 1979 East Coast equivalent of Claire’s was, and had mine pierced with a gun. That evening, when I showed my mother, she sniffed and said that she would have had it done by a doctor. That’s all she said, but in the fairly near future, my parents gave me a couple pairs of earrings so I think she got over it. (Both of my sisters had long since gotten their ears pierced, but they were 10 and 12 years older than me.)
Claire’s ??♀️
All of my girls had theirs done at Claire’s, no issues related to where they had the piercings done. But one of the girls somehow worked the back of the earring into the hole in their ear. There was much crying and prayer working the back back through the hole and caring for it to make sure it healed properly. In retrospect, I probably should have taken her to the pediatrician for them to take care of it.
I’m in Ontario, Canada and I had my ears pierced at Clair’s too in the 80s ? I still thought it was the place to go haha
That looks so cool!! I went for my second piercing against the strict instructions of my mother at a Claire's type of place and guess what??
It got infected, badly, never really, truly was right, then I developed a very strong allergy to any metal that is not sterling silver or 9carat or above gold (so boring) and in general? I do not recommend. Not sure if that was just an unfortunate fluke and it didn't matter where the piercing took place, but! But!
Very interesting re the nurse role being of a similar remuneration to hospital nursing. Of course, you are at the start of your nursing journey and have studied long and hard to be in the medical field, but there may come a time, or a period of time when it suits you to do something lower effort / stress / whatever, whether that's because of unrelated factors in your life, wanting to sort of semi-retired-but-not-totally: very useful info!!
I got my first piercings at Claire's. I got my second done in my college dorm by some random guy that was doing lots of people with a needle and a match LOL. Shockingly, I didn't get an infection, but I look back at stuff I did in college and thank God I was young, stupid, and had a good immune system!
My daughter had her first piercing done at Claire's, because we didn't know about the reasons why not to. When she wanted a second piercing, we took her to a piercing parlor where they use needles. The atmosphere was a little more mature than Claire's 😉 but it was a good experience overall, and nice to know she got her second piercings done in a way that wasn't damaging.
When I was 40, I decided I wanted one of my ears pierced. A young lady from work REALLY wanted to be there when I did. Went to Claires at the mall (as one would back in 2000) and I heard the little pop from the piercing gun and asked if it was already in. The young lady from work thought I would show some reaction and was greatly disappointed.
Yay for doing things you want to when you want to!
I have only one set of piercings, the conventional earlobe ones. I had them when I was 15 or so and remember the chirurgical steel studs that you had to wear for a month before getting fun and fancy studs. And the sting of the sterilon drops you had to apply twice a day.
My second ear piercing was at Clare's. (My first was done by my best friend with a big sewing needle and an ice cube to numb my ear first. Not that painful and it healed well, but we were careful to sterilize everything.)
Yay for you doing something just for you!
That's good information. I took my daughter to Claire's for an ear piercing during the pandemic. I also got mine done at Claire's many, many years ago. I don't think I will add to the holes in my head, but if my daughter wants additional piercings, I can pass this on to her.
Love this series! Once the piercing is healed you can wear multiple festive stud earrings 🙂
My dad pierced my ears when I was (I think) six weeks old! He was working in a military hospital in the 80s and from the stories I've heard it was an interesting job and they got away with some questionable antics. I'm happy he did it before I could remember it, I have a major fear of needles.
I did get my belly button pierced when I turned 18 at a tattoo parlor, which was removed before I left college. Other than that, no other piercings and no desire to get them.
Small town, no Claire's. I think mine were done at JC Penney. My mom was opposed until I was 17. Person who did them pulled my ear lobes and holes were always at an angle. I've never been a girly girl anyway and didn't wear earrings often enough and a few years ago, I tried and could no longer get them through the holes. No great loss to me. Happy to hear this gives you joy. Everyone deserves to be themselves.
Back in the dark ages, I got my ears pierced by a doctor, just like everyone else did then. When it came time that my daughters wanted pierced ears, I felt very iffy about going to a piercing place that used who-knows-how-sterile guns. I took them to a doctor, too, and was teased by people I knew as being overly cautious. I was vindicated when it came out just how not-sterile some of those guns were back then (this was almost 30 years ago).
I later got a second piercing in my ears and after a few years, regretted it. I seemed to have more problems with metal sensitivity after that second piercing, so I let those second holes go. One of my daughters got second ear piercings like Kristen's, and the other one says no way will she do that. To each her (or his!) own.
Yep, I went to Claires too, and had no idea it was a problem. My adult children laughed at me that I was planning to do that again. I have had to have my lobes repierced a couple of times, because they close up so easily. The piercer at the tattoo parlor taught me that I should leave the studs in for a full year before changing them and always keep a stud in there for sleeping after that. I just had a knee replacement, and they wanted me to take all my jewelry off, but I talked my nurse into just covering them with paper tape. I couldn't imagine struggling to reinsert them under the influence of anesthesia.
Dating myself but when I got my ears done the only place you could get them done was a doctor's office - and I had to wait till I was 16 and could drive. Several friends used self-piercing earrings which I tried and that was a no go. It is wonderful you now feel free enough to enjoy some of your money, spending & enjoying is a talent.
M years were pierced when I was about 13 at our Kitchen counter, by my stepmom (an RN), with an ice cube, a needle and a potato (behind the lobe)! LOL
Claire's in the 80's. The gun got stuck in my ear. Didn't prevent me from going back ?
So glad that you are using and enjoying your fun money! It really is delightful to see what other people do with their fun money. I am looking forward to seeing what the commentariat posts they have done in October. Also, will the holidays and our current events change what we normally would do?
I am looking for a place to get my ears repierced. During the pandemic lockdown I quit wearing makeup and earrings. Who knew that even after 50 years they could close back up?! I miss wearing my earring collection! Am also reengaging socially. So many times on the way out I think "This outfit needs earrings." My options are somewhat limited by where I live. Do not want a gun. Think I should overcome my fears and prejudices about tattoo parlors. Will post on my local facebook page, and ask my over 50 lunch group. Goal to be pierced, healed and wearing my favorite earrings before Christmas! Thank you Kristen for inspiration once again! <3
My ear piercing story happened back in the early 1970’s, long before there were Claire’s or piercing guns. My friends mother pierced our ears while we were at camp one summer. We held ice to our ear lobes, while Thelma “sterilized” a needle using her cigarette lighter and a cotton ball of alcohol (not sure if it was the medical variety or the whiskey in her glass) Anyway, she held a piece of potato behind our ear so as not to perform an incidental craniotomy, poked the hole and stuck an earring in there. Rinse, repeat on the other ear. Next…. Amazingly, none of us got infections. I have since let the holes grow in because I became sensitive to all jewelry and don’t wear any now. But it’s a fun story, harkens back to a carefree time in our lives when summer was swimming all day, picking berries, reading comic books and playing cards. Catching fish, fireflies and campfires at night. Those were the days, my friends. RIP, Thelma!
I was in my 30's when I got my ears pierced for my birthday at the Walmart jewelry department. I prefer to wear small silver hoops, 925 silver because of irritation from anything else if they're in any length of time. Cowgirl wannabes wear silver as opposed to gold anyway. I have no desire to have any other piercings. I don't know how I do it, (well I know how I lost one, I was mowing and got it caught on a lilac bush branch and the earth swallowed it up) but I lose an earring from my ear about every other year.
I got my ears pierced at Claire’s in the mall as a teenager ! I picked out these light blue studs that went in the piercing gun that I wore for 6 weeks or so. I remember also buying their cleaning solution. I do love the look of second and third earrings but am just too impatient in the mornings to put them all in. I also feel them when I’m sleeping with earrings in. They I’m also pretty sensitive to non-gold jewelry so that narrows it down a lot! But who knows maybe I’ll get them!
I got mine pierced at age 10. My parents had said we had to wait until we were 12, but for whatever reason, they took me just before I turned 11. I remember my sister and I begged for what seemed forever for pierced ears.
I remember my mom's friend and my aunt coming over and piercing each other’s ears with the ice and needles in the 70's and I was glad I had been taken to a store to have it done!
Because of the "trauma" of having to wait to get mine done, I took my oldest to get hers done at 10 months old. Well, she was curious about the new things in her ears so she touched them a lot (no harm done, but I was always worried she'd pull them out or something!), so I took my second daughter for hers when she was under 3 months old.
My oldest still has 1 set, her oldest dsughter has 1, her second daughter has 3 sets plus her upper cartilage on 1 ear and her belly button. My second grandson wanted studs last year at age 13 to emulate his favorite soccer players. I'm not sure he actually got it done though. My younger daughter has 2 sets plus belly button.
I never really paid attention to my hole placement until my s/o got me large diamond studs for a birthday and I had to get plastic disc's for the back to keep them from hanging down in front. That's when I realized they are actually kind of low on my ears. You can see the edge of the disc at the edge of my lobes! Fortunately, my daily studs are just fine and don't emphasize the low hole placement. Because I'm really not a jewelry wearer (I tend to wear the same diamond stud necklace and earrings 24/7), and have never worn dangling earrings, I've really never been tempted to get another set.
I did, and I was probably 12. They got infected, and I let them grow closed, and that is that. Is it weird that I've thought about piercing my ears again at 55?
@Marcia,
I don't think it's weird! Go for it! But maybe have it done by an RN. 🙂
I got mine done at the "Piercing Pagoda " in the middle of the mall hallway when I was a kid, but just took my daughter to Claire's a few years ago to get hers done! I didn't know where else to go. Maybe I'll look into other options for daughter #2.
I'm such a baby now, would not go for a piercing at 45 for fear of pain. But back in the days : ears (with gun x 2 , then needle), nose, belly button and... tongue. Yuck, don't know how I did that without passing out!
I had a job in high school (1984) that included piercing ears and don't remember that we cleaned the gun between uses whatsoever.
Haha well, point made!
I got my ears pierced when I was maybe 12 or 13? But I have no recollection of where it was done. I suspect it was at some mall store or mall kiosk that offered it, ha ha. To be honest, I don't think it ever occurred to me or my mom at the time to have it done be a nurse or doctor, but that makes a lot of sense to me now. I've never had an issue with infection or anything.
I got my ears pierced with a gun the first time. My holes and have since closed and my niece also wants to get her ears pierced so I have been doing some research and found the going to a tatoo/piercing place is a good, safe, clean choice. We are going to go this month. I'll let you know how it goes.
I have 9 holes from piercings.
First lobes: Claire's (age 12)
Second lobes: Walmart (age 18)
Third lobes: Walmart (age 19)
Helix (one ear): Mall kiosk (age 17)
Tragus (one ear): Tattoo Parlor (age 34)
Daith (one ear): Tattoo Parlor (age 36)
I really only use my helix, tragus, daith, and first lobes regularly. On "special" occasions, I will do double lobe earrings, but I rarely if ever use all three lobe holes. I should have just done the tragus earlier rather than wait.
I want a second helix midway up my ear.
Oh, I get it! I was so happy to retire from corporate and open up my sadly unused third ear piercing again. It took a bit of persuasion but then I had done it myself at fifteen with two ice cubes, a well heated sewing needle in front of the hallway mirror in my childhood home. So I got it done the same way again (different mirror). Now I wear my nineties earrings again and look the way I think I should look. Being older has its advantages!
I'm glad you're enjoying your fun money. The new earrings look great!
I've never had pierced ears. When I was younger, I was afraid it would hurt too much and also worried about the possibilty of infection. Now I just don't want the bother. I'm not really a jewelry person.
Ha Ha I grew up in the age of when piercings were a needle with a raw potato or ice cube.
i was ten or eleven when i got my ears pierced. i followed the crowd although i don't usually do that. had my ears peirced by my friend's dad who was a dr. my mother let me do it although she did not have pierced ears. in the dr's office i got a little scared and i asked her to hold my hand. she wouldn't. she said you wanted this. 'nuff said about my mother. glad you spent your money the way you wanted to. go you. personally, i am not a fan of multiple piercings or tattoos.
In the late 90s I got my 2nd ear piercing at a Claire's. They have since closed up. Also took both of my daughters there when they were babies to get their ears pierced. All of it is a little controversial but no issues and both girls are happy with their piercings.
I wanted to tell you I made your egg bites. They’re the best I’ve ever had (and I’ve made a fair number). Definitely something I’ll make again!
Not I. I went to a jewelry store at the ripe old age of 29. My 7 yo daughter was begging to get her ears pierced and I was saying, “no!” I thought it would be wise to take her with me so she could see what the process entailed. BIG MISTAKE! She had a major meltdown in the jewelry store when she realized I was getting my ears pierced and she wasn’t. The lady in the jewelry store didn’t help either! When we came in, she assumed it was my daughter who was there to get her ears pierced and not me. I explained, but that didn’t help my daughter! I tried to carry her out, but she actually grabbed the door jamb and held on for dear life while screaming she wanted her ears pierced. In one of those parenting moments gone absolutely downhill, I relented and she got her ears pierced too. Yikes!!!
I would really like to get a second hole so I could wear the diamond studs my husband gave me, but I’ve just never followed through. You’ve inspired me to go ahead and do it. There’s plenty of reputable tattoo parlors around.
Your new ear piercing looks lovely on you! Congrats! And yes, back in my tweens I too was a Claire's piercing girl - I thought that was the only place you could go (my mom took me). Over the years I spent a LOTTTTT of fun time browsing all the cute little earring sets there, too!
My sister and I went to Claire's in the mall and got our ears pierced in the 1970's. It was a thing!
As a child of the 80's, I was shocked(!) to discover that there are places other than Claire's for ear piercing.
I know, right??
After a boatload of teasing from my parents and brother about getting another couple holes in my head, Mom took me to the doctor's office where the nurse did it.
I did all of my ear piercings with needles at home! I did some, a friend did one, and a boyfriend another. They have closed up since I stopped wearing earrings about 10 years ago. My daughter’s ears were pierced at Claire’s when she was about 11!
My mom said yes so my older (9 years) sister took me to a huge mall at the time and I got them pierced there. No problems. I think I was 13.
When I was 20 I wanted double piercings so I may have gotten those done at the local mall. Then at 21 I pierced my own left ear for a third hole. Did it drunk and with ice and my original studs.
I'm 64 now and the holes have closed up. I thought about getting them done again and asked at a place at the mall and was horrified at the price. I thought of a tattoo place near me and they do piercings but I haven't gotten there yet. My neice got her tattoo there so I know they do good work.
I have never understood multiple ear piercings. I think they look fine, but I had enough trouble deciding what earrings to wear every day and I had only one hole in each ear. (I always tried to be out the door 20 minutes after the alarm rang.) Now I don't even fill that hole, so more than one per ear would do me in.
First piercing, circa 1970, was done in a private hospital in Mexico. Probably cost <$10.
Eventually, the holes closed and I had them re-done ca. 2005 at CLAIRE's in Petaluma, CA.
Now, I rarely wear earrings, because as I age, my earlobes want to stretch and I don't want them to. The holes still work on the rare occasion I choose to wear earrings.
When I was seven, a girl in my class got her ears pierced by a local doctor. So of course, I wanted the same. Surprisingly, my mother said yes and she took me to that same local doctor who had pierced my friend's ears. However, looking back, I believe I was too young to know the importance of keeping my earlobes clean with alcohol wipes and not touching them all the time. They got infected, the earrings had to come out, the holes closed up. My mother said that was the end of that.
When I turned 13, she gave me permission to have them pierced again. This time it was at a local department store. I guess being a little older was enough to know enough to take care of them. Never had a problem but have no inclination to go through that procedure again.
I got my first ear piercings at a department store with a nurse - no such thing as Claire's when I was 15 (1971)! My mom got hers done at the same time. When Dad saw them, he told Mom he could understand my getting my ears pierced, but SHE should know better - LOL!
My second set of holes DID come from Claire's, about 10 years later, and after my mom saw how good it looked, SHE went to Claire's and had hers done, too! I've had the double piercings ever since, with no problems ever.
90s kid checking in (born in '92), got my ears pierced at Claire's before starting high school (also due to some inadvertent pressure - my slightly-older crush mentioned that "all" girls in high school wear earrings!). I never went beyond the original piercing but your comment about agency is intriguing!
My grandmother made me get my ears pierced when I was five. I’m not sure it was at Claire’s, but it was someplace in the mall with a piercing gun. I couldn’t stand the way they felt- I still can’t handle wearing jewelry, it also feels so heavy. I took them out immediately, but still have tiny earlobe scars 41 years later. I like piercings and tattoos on other people, but not for myself. Yours look great, though!
I got my ears pierced when I was 16, had to stand in line, they did use a gun and I figured that if the 2 Month old baby having hers done in front of me didn't cry, I couldn't. Yeah, I cried, I don't do pain well. Then I drove home walked across the street and got my best friend and made her get her ears pierced. Her mother had an absolute fit. To this day, they are the only piercings that I have because, again, I don't do pain well. The earrings you purchased are absolutely lovely. You rewarded yourself for hard work. You go girl