A Comprehensive Guide to Facial Piercings
Call it '90s nostalgia, call it work-from-home freedom, call it pandemic give-no-fucks energy, but whatever the reasons may be, more and more of us are choosing to compliment ear piercings with facial adornments.
"Tattoos and piercings are becoming more culturally accepted, and people are discovering that there shouldn't be a negative connotation to it," says Jim Kelly, head piercer at Banter by Piercing Pagoda. "If you have an eyebrow piercing, and you can do your job better than someone without an eyebrow piercing, you should still get the job." At Banter, the most popular facial piercings of the moment are eyebrows and septums, which Kelly ties to the wave of nineties nostalgia we've already noted in hair, makeup, and even nail art.
Your friendly neighborhood piercers are happy to comply with requests from nostril to tongue — just don't ask them to tell you exactly how much a piercing is going to hurt. "How we register discomfort has so much more to it than where a piercing falls on our bodies," says Bethrah Szumski, owner of Virtue & Vice, a body piercing and permanent makeup studio in Atlanta.
- Jim Kelly, head piercer at Banter by Piercing Pagoda
- Bethrah Szumski, owner of Virtue & Vice, a body piercing and permanent makeup studio in Atlanta
Personal factors like how you're feeling emotionally or how well you slept last night will have an effect on how comfortable — or not — a piercing feels. But if you keep reading, you'll discover the most and least painful piercings aren't necessarily what you might expect.
Before making an appointment, Szumski suggests searching for potential piercers on safepiercer.org, the membership database of the Association of Professional Piercers. Be sure also to seek out the portfolio of your potential piercer, both to confirm that they work often on the area of the body you're looking to pierce, and to make sure your styles align.
Once you've tracked down the perfect piercer for you, go forth — with this facial piercing guide in tow, of course.
Getty1/10Septum
According to Kelly, the septum is currently the most popular piercing at Banter. The reason, he hypothesizes, is the piercing's versatility. "You can have a piece of jewelry you can barely see or you can have some like serious bling," he says. "Something hanging from your nose or anywhere in between." It's also easy to conceal — once the piercing is healed (after about two to three months) you can flip it up inside the nostril, and no one will know it's there. (Just don't be like this editor's college friend, who tried to hide it from her parents during Thanksgiving dinner, only to pull it down during a bathroom break and forget to put it back up… making for a memorable return to the table.)
Courtesy of Banter by Piercing Pagoda2/10Lip
When it comes to lip piercings, the lip's the limit. You can pierce your upper lip, lower lip, center lip, slightly off-center lip, two piercings on either side of the lips, et al. As with most other piercings, you'll start out with a stud and can switch to a hoop once the piercing is healed. "A lot of people switch to hoop and find they have difficulty eating and it gets annoying on their teeth. For me personally, this isn't the case," says Kelly, who has a lip piercing himself.
While recovering, Kelly says the emphasis should be on limiting movement of the piercing as much as possible — any movement should be done with a cleaning solution provided by your piercer, which you'll use twice daily to "irrigate the area." Make sure you're using alcohol-free mouthwash and avoid agents like rubbing alcohol, peroxide, and Neosporin, which will make the skin around the piercing dry and crack and take even longer to heal.
Courtesy of Banter by Piercing Pagoda3/10Nostril
"Overall the most popular piercing forever, and I think it will continue forever, is just a regular nostril piercing," says Kelly. Not to be confused with a bridge piercing or high nostril (more on those to come), a standard nostril piercing goes through the soft cartilage of the lower sides of the nose. You'll be pierced with a stud, and piercers recommend waiting two to four months until the nostril is fully healed before switching in a hoop, which can be done in-studio. And as pictured above, there's no need to stop at one nostril piercing — you can adorn your nose with as much gold as possible.
Banter by Piercing Pagoda4/10Eyebrow
"I've been saying this to people and I think I'm right about this: Eyebrow piercings are popular because the nineties are back," Kelly says. Szumski agrees with that theory, though with one caveat — she's noticed that customers are requesting eyebrow piercings closer to the sides of the nose, rather than the nineties-era placement towards the outer edge of the eye. There's no difference in piercing process for either. Pain-wise, eyebrows have one advantage: Many of us tweeze, wax, and thread the area, so you may already be accustomed to a bit of discomfort on the brows. An eyebrow piercing, regardless of placement, should heal in six to eight weeks.
Courtesy of Virtue & Vice5/10Bridge
Find the space between your eyes and give it a pinch. Is it fleshy? Does it pull away from your face, even a little bit? If so, you're a candidate for a bridge piercing, or the horizontal piercing that goes across the very top of the nose. "A bridge heals pretty well," says Szumski. "In two to three months, people are good to go. There can be sometimes a lot of initial swelling, but it heals well when it's done correctly."
Courtesy of Virtue & Vice6/10Upper (and Lower) Labret
Also known as a philtrum or a medusa piercing when applied to the upper lip, the name "labret" applies to "any piercing around the rim of the lip," says Kelly. A "regular" labret is through the center of the lower lip, but as pictured above, the piercing can be done on the top as well. Szumski terms the labret an "advanced" piercing, and she prefers to perform them on clients who have experience caring for other body piercings as well.
Courtesy of Virtue & Vice7/10High Nostril
The matching studs toward the middle of the nose pictures above are known as "high nostril" piercings. This piercing, Kelly explains, is "really a partnership between the piercer and the client." The piercer will examine you and figure out how high on the nose they're able to pierce, then leave it up to you to determine where exactly the stud will go. According to Szumski (not to mention the photo above), most people who come in for a high nostril piercing already have a bridge, septum, or standard nostril piercing. Much like an ear stack, a high nostril piercing looks even better when it's nestled among friends.
Getty Images8/10Tongue
Fun fact about tongue piercings: they're relatively painless. "Tongue piercings are unique in that they seem scary and intense from a customer-facing perspective," says Kelly. "But most people say the actual procedure feels like a pinch — or less." What is uncomfortable is what happens afterwards, when your tongue swells "significantly more than non-oral piercings," making it difficult to eat (or do any other tongue-centric activities.) The majority of the swelling should subside in five to seven days, though your tongue won't return to its normal size for a few weeks.
Getty Images9/10Cheek
Designed to mimic the look of dimples, cheek piercings also fall under Szumski's "advanced piercing" category, meaning they're challenging to get right and can take a long time to heal. Cheek piercings have a few placements, including Monroe (a stud placed in the location of Marilyn's famous beauty mark) and Dahlia (two studs next to the corners of the lips). To make sure you mesh with your piercer's cheek work, be sure to seek out their portfolio (and certifications) before making an appointment.
10/10Surface Piercing (Cheekbone)
The wider category of surface piercing includes any piercing that lays flat on the skin. Many pinchable spots on the face have enough tissue for surface piercings, but one popular one is this upper cheekbone look, sometimes known as an "anti eyebrow" piercing. Szumski points out that surface piercings can be challenging, as sometimes the skin just pushes them right out. Your piercer should use a straight surface barbell, and never a curved ring.
