-Since the tragus is a bit closer to the face
and more on the inside of the ear,
it can be a little bit more painful than others.
I don't want to market too deep or else it will start
digging into the side of her cheek there.
So we want to keep it fairly close to the edge.
-I'm Briana Wise and I'm getting a tragus piercing done today.
It's been about a year since I got a piercing
and I'm itching to get poked.
I was inspired to get this piercing
because I saw it on a bunch of
Aesthetic Ambition's Instagram posts
and I am excited
to brighten up that area of my ear.
Overall, I have about 16 piercings.
It's actually 17 -- my septum -- but about eight on each ear.
I probably waited to get the tragus piercing
because I used to wear headphones a lot at work
and actually working in a pandemic at home
has allowed me to take the earphones off
and now I have that available.
I'm actually really good when I have a piercing
to make sure that I sleep on my airplane pillow.
The airplane pillow prevents your ear from being smashed,
and pressure that can sometimes build up a keloid.
You got to be dedicated. [ Laughs ]
-I'm Luci Doll. I'm a piercer
at Aesthetic Ambition Piercing and Fine Jewelry
in Marina Del Rey, California.
I've been working with Briana since about 2015,
so I've been seeing her throughout my entire career.
My favorite part about working in the piercing industry
is challenging myself with new styles of piercings,
new, different ways to do the piercings.
Self-expression is so important and I feel like a lot of people
don't have that opportunity, so when they come in here
and they're excited for new piercings,
I see it as their way of decorating themselves
the way they want to be seen.
The tragus, on the ear anatomy, is this a little bit right here
in the very front part of your ear canal.
It's just a little tiny bit of cartilage
and it's a very popular piercing.
-I choose Luci for all of my piercings
because she is so gentle, I honestly barely feel a poke
and it's done before it's even started.
Anytime I come in to get a piercing,
I know I'm in really good hands.
-Hi, Briana. -Hey, how are you, Luci?
-Good to see you. -You, too.
-Alright, so we're doing your tragus today?
-Tragus. I think I'm really feeling
going more colorful.
-This capri blue option,
it pops like crazy once it's on the skin
and it would go awesome with the pieces that you have in.
-Yeah, I love that one. So, let's do that one.
-Alright, let's get started.
-Mentally, I didn't really need to prepare for this.
I'm so excited.
-Briana wanted her jewelry a sort of yellow-gold.
In cases like these, with titanium jewelry,
we can do a process called anodization.
This is an electrochemical process that gets us
a nice imitation gold.
When my clients are laying down
and getting ready for the piercing,
they'll hear me go over all of those steps of the process
before we actually start anything.
I get her all cleaned up with a sterile alcohol pad.
I let it dry for a bit, and then mark out exactly
where I want to place it.
After the marker is dry, I wipe it down with an iodine swab,
wiping down everything that I could potentially touch.
For this piercing, we use a tool called a Felix Tool.
This is something that we created in our studio.
We found that the Felix Tool provided
the exact amount of pressure that we needed
so that when I press my needle through,
I can get it through the other side
without tenting the tissue.
One of the most common problems that I see
with tragus piercings is they're usually too deep.
The jewelry will start to dig into the side of the head.
If you have a smaller tragus,
it is something you need to discuss with your piercer
and they can tell you exactly what size of jewelry
that you need.
♪♪
Once we are through, I transfer the jewelry in with a pin taper.
♪♪
The post is in and I snap the top little capri blue opal on.
After doing so, I wipe off all of the iodine
and any excess marker in the area,
push it back, and she's ready to go.
-Alright.
- Thank you. Oh, my God, I love it!
-Yay! -Oh!
That was the right blue to go with.
-It came out perfect.
-My initial reaction to the final look was that I loved it.
It looks amazing. I love the color.
Didn't feel a thing. No pain.
Luci, such a pro.
-The tragus piercing looked perfect on Briana.
It was absolutely the compliment
that she needed to balance out the design of her ear.
-Right now, my ear feels fine.
I'm sure if I were to bump it, then I might feel something,
but it is just fine. The only thing I felt
was during the piercing, a little bit of pressure.
-The tragus is a cartilage piercing,
so it does take its time to heal -- on average, six months.
Sometimes it can take longer, up to a full year and then some.
For tragus piercings specifically, we recommend
a sterile saline spray
one to two times a day, always after a shower.
After the spray is applied,
we use a Q-tip to remove any crusties or dried blood.
Other than that, don't sleep on it,
don't touch it and don't wear anything
inside your ear like ear plugs or headphones.
-The only concern would be headphones,
but I luckily have AirPods, so I can wear it in this ear.
-Once the piercing is fully healed,
then you can downsize the length of the post
and there's no more issue with contamination or pressure.
You can wear your earbuds on that side again.
-I really feel like this tragus piercing
completes this side and is going to allow me
to add a little bit more color and fun.
-She's a really joyous client
and it's nice to see her excited about what we do.
And it feels like we're doing something right.
It's been amazing working with Luci.
I've had her do a bunch of my piercings,
so it was a pleasure again today.
-Thank you for watching Refinery29.
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