Primer: I'm a dude. That being said, without TMI, I know what I'm talking about.
Piercing Guns:
As others above me have said, never get piercings at Claire's, or anywhere that uses a piercing gun. How they work is they literally jam the blunt end of the piercing through your skin, which is horrifically damaging and causes a lot of pain. Additionally, the piercing gun housings are single pieces of molded plastic, meaning that they cannot be disassembled and cleaned, which is why the infection rates are so high. Just go to a certified piercist and pay the $20-$40 for a good job that won't hurt you or infect you.
Materials:
1. please, please do not use acrylic. Acrylic is porous and therefore holds all kinds of funk, and over time, acrylic WILL break down into its constituent chemicals, which are inherently carcinogenic. This process is sped up with exposure to UV rays and heat.
2. Organics (wood, bone, etc) are really cool, but not all of them are body safe. There are certain woods that are too porous for long term wear or will leach harmful organic compounds into your skin. I'm not paid by them to be a shill or anything, but Omerica Organics makes high quality stuff made out of body safe organics.
3. Silicone is not inherently a good choice, either, and can cause a lot of irritation if you use low quality silicone. Look for certified "body safe silicone." I personally use and endorse Kaos Softwear.
4. Metals. Generally speaking, "surgical steel" is a meme, it's just stainless. Stainless steel is fine. Titanium is a high quality, excellent choice, however, there's an asterist there, which is the coatings. Titanium doesn't like being not titanium color, which is just silver, which means that the vast majority of alternative color titanium jewelry are just coated with a polymer that is that color, which defeats the purpose of using a non reactive, body safe metal. An excellent alternative is the more exotic (and a little more expensive) niobium. Niobium is an exotic metal used primarily in the aerospace industry for extreme heat and corrosion resistance, which is just a fun fact. It is as durable and corrosion resistant as titanium, with the added benefit that, like aluminum, it can be anodized into all kinds of different colors, blues, reds, purples, all kinds. Since it is anodized, it means that the niobium itself has taken on this color, so there is no flaking or fading of the color cost and no polymer to potentially leach nasty chemicals onto your skin.
Locations:
Holy shit, please do not get the "frog eyes" or "venom" or whatever they are calling it. It is extremely dangerous and can severely and potentially permanently damage the nerves in your tongue. The classic tongue piercing is fine, but specifically the ones at the very tips go through all kinds of nerves. Think about how sensitive the tip of your tongue is. Additionally, it pins the left and right sides of your tongue together, which promotes tearing in some cases.
As with other mouth piercings, just exercise caution, especially when considering a piercing that would have jewelry be in regular contact with your teeth. Over time, they can lead to serious tooth erosion, which is bad for obvious reasons.
Anyways, I'll stick around and answer any questions or whatever if you have them, or if you want to yell at me for some of my spicy takes that's fine, too, lmao. Please don't hesitate.
I don't know what the fuck that employee was doing to my friend but it scared me off of piercings until high school when I got my first set of earrings done.
