We’re now offering earlobe piercings for children ages 6 and up. This service is offered by appointment only from September through April to avoid the most common complications we see from swimming, travel, and various summer activities. These appointments must be made over the phone. We will not accept online booking or walk-ins for this service. Earlobe piercings are the only service we will be offering to minors at this time.
For legal purposes, all procedures require appropriate identification. Clients under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian and provide documented proof of their relationship, such as an original birth certificate or court document. Photocopies will not be accepted. If the last names on the documents are different from those on current identification, additional paperwork will be required. If you have any questions or concerns regarding identification or what to expect during your appointment, please don’t hesitate to call or email our studio. (Only a parent or legal guardian may bring a minor in for a piercing. No exceptions.)
For a parent/legal guardian, this includes a valid (unexpired), legal government-issued identification including: Driver’s License, Passport, State ID, or Resident Alien ID. Identification for a minor includes a combination of the following: Passport, State ID, School ID, Child Safety Card, or School Yearbook and an original birth certificate, adoption paperwork, or court-appointed legal guardianship paperwork.
Thank you so much for considering our studio for your child’s first piercing. It’s an honor and a privilege to provide a safe environment for this milestone. Please contact us directly with questions, curiosities, and to schedule your appointment.
Call: (484) 557-5778
Email: info@safeharborbodyadorment.com
“Why come to a piercing shop instead of a mall?”
There are many differences between the ear piercing service that we offer and what you can expect at a mall store or kiosk. At a body piercing boutique like ours, you will find much higher quality in client care, staff knowledge, cleanliness, materials, aftercare, and overall respect for the history and profession of body modification.
As a piercing-only studio, our staff is dedicated solely to helping you make informed decisions about your piercings and your jewelry. Our goal is to adorn your body safely and respectfully in a way that will heal and bring you joy for years to come.
We believe that creating an experience for this moment requires excellent customer service, client education, and empowerment. This is true for everyone who enters our doors, regardless of age. We strive to make every client feel confident and prepared on the day of their appointment. If someone changes their mind last minute, that’s okay too.
We are a full-service piercing studio, and we do not treat the earlobes any differently from other parts of the body in terms of piercing technique, sterility, and cleanliness. Most retail stores that offer piercing services use a reusable piercing gun/tool, sharing the device between clients over and over again until the machine fails mid-use. Not only does this method have a high risk of spreading contamination, but it also means the tool can get jammed halfway through your piercing.
Our shop uses a 100% disposable technique, meaning that all tools for every single procedure are used only once and properly disposed of. Nothing is reused between clients. We sterilize all our tools before your piercing and use multiple sterilization-monitoring methods to ensure our autoclaves are always in top working order.
Because there are few to no regulations for retail stores that offer piercing gun procedures, there is no control of the material quality or surface finish of the jewelry used. Most mall kiosks use jewelry that is secured with a butterfly back. When this type of earring is left too tight, it doesn’t allow room for swelling and can be a bit pokey on the side of your neck when you sleep. Often, you are getting plated material or mystery metals, and, in many cases, the finish will have burs and scratches. Gold plating can chip away inside of your piercing channel. All of these issues create an excellent environment for harboring bacteria, greatly increasing the risk of infection.
In our shop, we only pierce with implant-grade titanium (ASTM F-136) and solid 14k/18k gold. All of our jewelry has been hand-polished to a smooth, mirrored finish. Our labret piercing studs have a flat back with enough length to accommodate swelling and allow proper cleaning. We carry them in multiple sizes, as no body part is one-size-fits-all, and different bodies need different-sized jewelry both for initial and healed piercings.
Appropriate aftercare is crucial for the healing and longevity of your piercings. Most retail establishments that perform procedures with piercing guns will offer a non-descript mystery aftercare spray for cleaning and tell you to twist your jewelry. We have even seen some places offer aftercare pamphlets with a section listing products and chemicals you should not use, such as benzethonium chloride, only to find it as the top active ingredient in their aftercare solution. Using a product that is too abrasive can sometimes be worse than using no cleaning solution at all. We suggest sterile saline (sodium chloride) for all piercing aftercare and even provide you with a complimentary bottle at the time of your piercing. We discuss the importance of a good aftercare routine and send you home with a small cheat sheet covering everything you need to know about your jewelry, healing time, when to come back to have it downsized, and crucial tips for caring for your new piercing.
Given the global history of body modification, we like to treat children’s earlobe piercings as a very special rite of passage. A kid approaching their parents to ask to modify their body and change their outward appearance is a big deal! We also understand some parents’ anxiety when allowing their child to consent to a complete stranger perforating their ears. We strive to make the experience special and informative for the child as well as comforting and relaxing for the parent.
For children under 10 or clients who are extremely nervous, we will offer a Children’s Earlobe Consultation. This is a half-hour non-piercing appointment where we will discuss what to expect during the procedure, required documentation, jewelry options, and view piercing tools and materials; answer any questions either of you may have about the piercing and healing process; and go over the importance of your child’s bodily autonomy and consent. We’ve found that this helps bring a lot of ease for children and parents who follow through with getting pierced.
Lastly, your child is their own person, and getting their first piercing is an excellent time to show respect for their autonomy. Your child’s comfort, safety, and consent are our utmost priority. If at any point during the appointment your child changes their mind or they don’t want to finish, we respect and honor that wish. The procedure ends. If this happens, we can re-evaluate and reschedule the appointment for a later date.
Thank you so much for considering our studio for your child’s first piercing. It’s an honor and a privilege to provide a safe environment for this milestone. Please contact us directly with questions, curiosities, and to schedule your appointment.
Call: (484) 557-5778
Email: info@safeharborbodyadorment.com