I don't usually write reviews but my experience was soooo bad that I have to. I currently have seven piercings. I decided to pierce my traguses before my upcoming vacation. My regular piercer was away and instead of me WAITING, I decided to find another piercer online. I found Hustlers Parlour. I called and spoke to Rob. He told me that it costs $60 to pierce the tragus. I thought that was expensive since my place charges $30. I was in a rush so, I agreed. I told Rob that I was going to bring my own jewelry (factory sealed), since his shop only has surgical steel and I needed titanium. I went to check out the parlour. It seemed clean. Rob was working on a tattoo at the time. Before we got started, Rob asked me which ear I wanted to pierce. I told him both. He said that the cost would be double. I didn't have enough $. I told Rob that I would return the next day. As it turned out, I returned two days later. I asked Rob if he was a licensed piercer. He showed me his credentials. Rob asked me to sit in the "Hot Seat". I gave him the jewelry which is a press fit set from Neometal. Rob wasn't familiar with that type of jewelry and had to google how to insert it. No biggie. Then he set up his equipment. I saw a bottle of anti bacterial spray, grease, q tips, two needles and a glass tube. He put on gloves and asked me if I was ready. I said, "You're not going to mark the spot so that I can see where you're going to pierce me?" Rob said that he can if I wanted. WHAT? Of course I wanted to see! Rob used his gloved hands to open up a drawer and rummage thru it to find a marker. I should have left right then and there. Rob marked both ears and I went to look in a mirror at the back of the shop. From the beginning, I told Rob that I wanted it pierced as far forward as possible. When I looked in the mirror it was way to far back. He said really? I said yes. I reiterated that I wanted it as far forward as possible. Rob marked me again. He said that if he pierced it any further forward, that it would be a different piercing. I said ok even though I didn't agree with him. I should have left. I sat back down and he wiped me ear with something. I didn't even see him clean the jewelry. Even though it was sealed, my other piercer would have autoclaved it. I should have left. Rob then took the needle, and without any warning, stuck it in my tragus. He had difficulty piercing thru my tragus because it's very thick. He pushed and pushed. PAINFUL! Seemed like minutes instead of seconds! After he finally made it thru the other side of my tragus, he threaded the 18g labret post piece thru the freshly pierced hole. When Rob tried to press the front gem piece into the post piece, he couldn't get the two pieces to snap shut. He tried for minutes without sucesss. Rob said oh, your jewelry is too small for your size tragus. WHAT! As a piercer you can't tell if a piece of jewelry will fit BEFORE YOU PIERCE? Now I have a hole in my ear and no jewelry!!! If he had said that my tragus was too big for the jewelry I had, I would've called the whole thing off. I said what now? He said that he has medical grade surgical steel hoops that he can insert. At this point, what could I do? I agreed. He walked to the back of the shop. I felt something running down my neck. When I put my hand there, BLOOD! Soooo much blood! It was all down my ear, my face, my neck, my hand. When Rob returned, I told him that I was bleeding. He said, oh you are. Unreal. Rob said that he only had 16g jewlery so that he had to repierce my tragus with a larger needle in order for the jewelry to fit. Unbelievable! We proceeded. The repiercing was PAINFUL! I had to dig into my arm with my nails to deal with the pain. After he pulled the hoop thru, Rob said, ohh, the jewelry is 18g after all. UNREAL!!! You don't know the size of your own jewelry? Where do you store it? In an unmarked drawer? This means that I didn't need to be repierced with a larger needle after all! I should've left! I debated if I should let him do the other ear. CRAZY RIGHT! I didn't want to only have one side pierced so I let him do the other tragus. WHY? Rob pierced my other ear then tried to thread the hoop back thru and LOST THE CONNECTION! He had to push the piercing needle thru a SECOND TIME. UNBELIEVABLE! After he was done the hoop wouldn't lay down flat like it does in my left ear. The hoop sticks out sideways!!! My right tragus was more swollen than the left tragus. I thought the swelling would go down in a couple of days. But after 3 days of meticulous care, my ear remained swollen and very painful. The other side throbbed a bit, which is to be expected, but the right was aching. After 3 days the ring was stuck and wouldn't move even when cleaning it. I decided to take both rings out and let the holes close. In a week or two, I will go to my real piercer and repierce a 3rd x. Woke up this morning and my right ear canal is closed like I've been on a plane. Possible infection? UNREAL & $100 WASTED. read more
