It's not uncommon to see someone with an ear full of piercings these days. What was once a trend has become the norm, especially among fashion girls, but that doesn't really mean that you should fill your ear with holes with no rhyme or reason. There's undoubtedly an art to piercing, and few people understand it as well as Brian Keith Thompson, the owner and piercer of the wildly popular Body Electric. I visited the Melrose Avenue shop on a recent trip to Los Angeles for a third piercing in my ear, and based on the crowd gathered in the waiting area that afternoon, it's very apparent that Thompson has quite the following.
Since Thompson has been in the piercing business for decades and sets so many piercing trends, who better to get the scoop on the piercing mistakes he sees most frequently? Piercing is clearly a permanent thing, and it's best to be well informed going into it, so consider this required reading if you're in the market for a new one.
Scroll on for the four biggest ear-piercing mistakes Brian Keith Thompson sees, and to see some of his very stylish and un-cringeworthy piercings, and shop earrings that are perfect for multiple piercings.
Mistake #1: Sporadic piercing placement
"A lot of people think piercing is just cause and effect. You go see your piercer, and that's it. But piercing is dynamic. There are two sides to piercing: One is the physical act of getting a piercing; it's the needle going through the body. The most important part—well, both are equally important, actually—but the other side is the actual decoration. Most of the time, I cringe when I see someone come in and they've spent a buttload of money and their ear is just not decorated. It's just like someone didn’t really give them time, didn't really care, and just placed the piercing sporadically like they were just shooting at a barn in the dark with a shotgun. Just no rhyme or reason. Now, I'm all for the constellation piercings. But even though they're sporadic, there is a reason I put things in certain places. So there’s a lot of cringe when I see a terribly decorated ear, and I'll tell the client that it's not just the act of decorating; it's putting jewelry in certain locations. Not all jewelry should go in certain areas. And a lot of times when clients come in, I'll tell them straight up when I don't like something. I'll tell them 'I don't like this. I don't like that. We need to redo this…' I'll actually have them take out misplaced piercings and then I'll redo them…. READ MORE