SO, OP, what did you decide?

Two big differences that I cared about

1. The piercing gun pushes a sharp earring through - there's more chance of scarring this way. A piercing shop will use a hollow core needle that actually pokes a hole in the ear and push the earring through to fill that hole. It's less traumatic for the skin.

2. Claire's wants you to use their detergent solution where piercing shops will send you home with a bottle of saline spray (you can buy the exact same thing for $4 at CVS).

Anonymous wrote:If you can afford it, go to Craig Pokes You. Why take a chance? I've heard enough stories from friends who received crooked and/or infected ear piercings from the mall.

NP but there are other piercing shops who charge way less than Blake. He's amazing, but very expensive.

I've been to Claire's, Piercing Pagoda, and a licensed piercing shop for my own piercings (lobe and helix) and the experience was so much better (no pain, proper healing procedure, etc.) at the piercing shop that I would never go back or recommend a mall shop ever again. I took my own daughters to a piercing shop at ages 5 and 6 - it was a really easy, painless experience and the piercers were so great about explaining everything to the kids, showing them how and why things were sterilized, and most importantly, asking their consent. I saw them ask one family to leave when their daughter would not stop crying about how she didn't want to get it done (and the mom was pushing her to do it). I just have so much more respect for licensed professionals than I do for a random teen at the mall who is feeling intimidated/bullied by a mom into piercing a crying child (yes, I've seen this happen to - I took my kids to get their hair and nails done at Sweet & Sassy in Leesburg and it was horrible).

I got mine done at claires at 12. Had to wait for them to close ip and re do in college at a tattoo place. They were crooked and weird.

^^ surgical steel?

Anonymous wrote:It was fine for my kid. No issues.

Same.
My DD had it done at Tyson’s without any issues. She went with cheaper option for the post and got stainless steel instead of more expensive metals.

It was fine for my kid. No issues.

If you can afford it, go to Craig Pokes You. Why take a chance? I've heard enough stories from friends who received crooked and/or infected ear piercings from the mall.

Anonymous wrote:I got my ears pierced at Claire's as a kid and they're super crooked. I'd go to an experienced piercer.

This. One of my holes is at a downward angle. Got mine pierced at 13 in a Claire’s.

Anonymous wrote:I had mine done at Claire's as a child and took my daughter to the pediatrician.
I think they both use similar equipment.
I think Claire's is fine but I would follow my ped's advice of only solid gold earrings for the first year. We bought nice gold studs that she could wear all the time.

+1
I've seen our pediatrician piercing ears before and it's the *exact* same gun/equipment used at Claire's.

Anonymous wrote:My kid wants to get her ears pierced for her sixth birthday. I’ve seen a lot of recommendations for piercing places and pediatricians. Has anyone recently done Claire’s? How was the experience? It seems so easy in comparison…

Claire's is absolutely fine. The only people who will tell you otherwise are granola moms on DCUM who insist you go to a tattoo parlor instead. My daughter had her first piercings done at age ten at Claire's and then got double piercings at age 18. Perfect placement, clean, no problems at all.

My Claire’s holes are uneven and it’s really obvious with studs.

I had mine done at Claire’s as a kid and they got infected and closed up. Then I got it redone in HS at a piercing parlor and thought it was much better, so that’s where I’ll take my daughter when she’s old enough.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had my ears pierced there when I was young. The piercings were placed too low on my lobes, so there are certain earrings I can never wear.

Same! I highly recommend Craig Pokes U so they placed it correctly

I looked very closely at where they put the marker. Asked them to adjust. It would have been off but after fixing it, it came out fine.