Tips for Choosing a Piercing Artist

When you decide to get a new piercing, there are several factors involved with choosing a piercing artist. While piercing artists usually do maintain a portfolio of their previous work, these photo albums are really not as informative as a tattoo artist's portfolio might be. Since there can be a wide variation between one persons nose and another person's nose, for example, even seeing a photo of someone else's nostril or septum piercing will not tell you much about how it might look on you, or how skilled the piercing artist is at doing those piercings. So while a piercing portfolio might be a place to start looking for a piercing artist, I would recommend considering it alongside other factors.

First, if you have friends who have a lot of piercings, or have the particular piercing you want, ask them who pierced them. Generally speaking, a lot of piercing artists get their new clients via word of mouth from old clients. So a person with multiple body piercings can probably give you good advice on good local piercing artists. They may also be able to tell you if there are local piercing artists who they would avoid. In my case, I went through three different piercing artists before I found the one that I really like going to. This was ultimately through word of mouth-my roommate had started going to a specific piercing artist, and she recommended him as the best one she had found.

Second, especially if you are female, you may want to consider where you are getting pierced, and whether you would prefer a male or female piercing artist to give you that piercing. For some females, having a female piercing artist pierce more "sensitive" or "delicate" areas may be their preference. For others, however, this isn't much of a factor in their decision.

Third, you will want to check out where the piercing artist does his or her work. Is the area clean, well lit, and reasonably comfortable? You want to be assured that the equipment and jewelry will be clean, along with the location in the shop where the piercer does his or her work. Good lighting is critical to your piercing artist being able to see what he or she is piercing. And you want the room to be reasonably comfortable-you wouldn't want to be sitting on an old overstuffed couch while being pierced, but you shouldn't feel too uncomfortable while you are awaiting your piercing.

Finally, and most importantly, you will want to consider what sort of certifications your piercing artist has. Licensing is also important, but hopefully you've already found a piercing artist who is licenses. Certifications, on the other hand, may not be as prevalent. Piercing artists can obtain certifications regarding their knowledge of blood-borne pathogens and human anatomy. The more of these up-to-date certifications your piercing artist has, the more likely it is that he or she will be able to deal with any problems that arise, and the more devoted he or she is to his or her chosen profession. Some organizations for piercing artists require these up-to-date certifications in addition to a piercing license, so learning that your piercing artist is endorsed by an organization for piercing artists is also a good way to choose a skilled piercing artist.