I worked with Blake Perlingieri for my whole childhood, I'm his oldest kid any many customers grew to know me over the years as Mayan or Delilah. Knowing him personally and professionally and getting older, I can say with confidence that this business and business owner needs to be held accountable for his actions and be shut down. He pierces under the influence of opiates and benzos, although some are prescribed that behavior is extremely unsafe for someone who is doing medical procedures. He changed his hours and location multiple times due to restraining orders from customers he took advantage of, and to escape child support payments under the guise of working in what he calls a "lowkey location". He is extremely narcissistic and although some people may interpret it as charisma, he lies and manipulates and uses fear tactics with customers. His bedside manner is extremely lacking; if you are a parent and have taken in younger children (or any age for that matter) you may have experienced this intimidation. He uses his washed out 90s era claim to fame to entice and brainwash families into trusting his skills. Although he is one of the few piercers that will do infant piercings (as I myself was the first baby he ever pierced in 2002), his prices are unpredictable and are on a sliding scale depending on his mood or how he feels personally about the client. A lot of his techniques are extremely outdated, he isn't welcome at the APP anymore even though he is apart of the original founding crew, and it's for a reason. He bends rules frequently which directly violates his American Cross Bloodborne Pathogens Training as well as his piercing license in Oregon. He has an extreme white savior complex and claims do do discounts for LGBTQ+ and BIPOC people, and doesn't follow through, he uses the N word and the R word frequently and brings up political ideologies which isn't professional in a work environment or anytime when meeting new people as a business owner. There's nepotism, as I grew up there; since I cut him off for putting clients and his children in unsafe situations, he has my younger siblings working and sterilizing (which requires state training) for chump change and cannabis. I'm not a heartless person and am not leaving this review with revenge as my intent, but Blake could very easily get a job in the town he actually lives in in Clatskanie so he could still support his toddler and not put people at risk anymore. My sibling Izzy's nose piercing is crooked as f*ck, and his decision making skills are very questionable considering I've had my eyebrow redone 4+ times. This man is not the same person as he was in the early 2000s and it terrifies me knowing that people are still bringing in their kids and teenagers. His loose knit style and booking isn't cool or trendy or the "tribal experience" he claims. He has no right to claim it. When I came to return my jewelry and visit my sibling who had been sleeping on the floor of his shop with him, he pulled a gun on me on camera and threatened to kill me if I didn't "get off his property" even though I was in the parking lot of ActiveSpace, not in his studio on the second floor. My family hasn't had any luck with legality and cps the way the system works, he's had 15+ cases in the past 4 years, and because he's been taking advantage of the system for so long he can navigate it and hasn't had to deal with any legal repressions and it's very disappointing and dangerous. read more

I was very disappointed by our experience at Nomad. On our first visit, we had our daughter's ears pierced by Blake and thought he was short and not very warm during our stay. We went to him because of recommendations and because of his experience. We chalked it up being not exactly what we were looking for, but at least it was done right. The real problem came when we went back 8 weeks after to ask for help because we had taken our daughter's earrings out and one seemed not quite healed and we couldn't get them back in ourselves to finish healing. Blake was confrontational, judgmental, and down right rude to my daughter and I. He blamed me for not following his rules (Didn't I know he has written a book about this? ), and said he would help us but would charge us double if he had to see us again and triple the next time. He was sure our intention was to put "mall jewelry" in her ears, and time and time again I told him this was not our intention. I explained to him that we misunderstood his guidelines and thought it would be okay to take them out at 8 weeks and he continued to shame me for our mistake. We should have left then. During the procedure my daughter was whimpering and he told her very shortly to stop. She began to whimper again and he said, "Yeah, you can thank your mom for that." It was terrible. He complained about having to end his day this way and continued to be accusatory towards me when I tried to ask questions about cleaning her ears. He could only get one earring in and said we'd have to come back to get the other. I asked him what the charge would be and he said, " I don't know. If I'm in a good mood maybe $20, if not then more." We left without saying goodbye, my daughter was sobbing and I was holding back tears too. One of my most awful experiences as a mother. My daughter chose to take the one earring out the next day and let her ears close up rather than deal with any piercer again. I don't blame her. It was supposed to be an empowering experience for her, and we got completely the opposite. I do not recommend taking children into Nomad. read more

Nomad piercing is the only place we go for piercings and quality jewelry. My fiancé and I live in sacramento, CA but have family in Portland that we visit once a year.We will will not go anywhere else!! We were recommended by a family member who has had work done here several times, and decided to check it out, we were not disappointed. Our experience was excelent from the minute we walked in until the minute we left, we were greated by a cool young girl, one of the owners daughters! (A family owned and operated business is a huge plus!!) She was very polite and attentive, quoting acurate prices for the piercings we were about to get(a nostril piercing for me, and a septum piecing for her) and was awesome answering all our stupid questions. Next we me with Blake, owner/ operator of Nomad. This guy is great! A wealth of knowledge would be an understatement. I had an exsiting piercing on my nostril that wanted matched on the opposite side, no problem! He marked it out with a pen, asked me to varify that it was were I wanted my piering, and pierced it. Nice and quick, no jerking around. Same thing with my fiance, without being told Blake pointed out that she had scar tissue in her nose from a surgury years ago. He what he would do to work around this, and absolutely nailed the piercing. Normally I would not take the time to write a review, but we were very impressed with our experience, so much so that we waited for our next trip to portland to come back and purchase jewelry. Well worth the wait! I will personally will not get pierced anywhere else and look forward to going back to Nomad in the near future read more

Our family is totally committed to Nomad Piercing Studio. After reading all the information on his website, I was convinced that this is the place to get quality piercing and jewelry, and I have not been disappointed. My first experience at Nomad was to get my lip pierced. It hardly hurt and healed very quickly. I went back to get my ears gauged, which definitely hurt (I don't think there's any avoiding that), but again, everything healed very quickly. When my 6 year old daughter decided she was ready to pierce her ears - of course we went to Nomad. I knew firsthand that Nomad's claims were true about the typical mall piercing being poor quality. When I got my ears pierced, at age 6, it was the epidemy of a bad experience. My piercer was my mom's hair dresser! And she came at me with the gun, totally traumatized me, and it took them a long time to convince me to let them pierce the 2nd ear. My piercings ended up completely uncentered and off balance. I had to clean them constantly and they never seemed to heal. Finally we realized I might need some better quality jewelry, and then they were finally able to heal. So, when I was reading the info on Nomad's site, it all made perfect sense to me. Hoops instead of studs, a needle instead of a gun. My daughter's experience was perfect. Couldn't have been better. She was skeptical that it would feel like "butter" but afterwards admitted it didn't hurt at all, "it just felt weird." Her ears never got irritated or infected even the slightest bit, and have healed very well. She is so proud of her earrings! Thank you Blake! read more

As someone who always wanted to get their helix pierced but is well aware of the risk of infection for such a piercing, I wanted to make sure that when I got my helix pierced that it was done right and I wouldn't go through any of the nonsense that so many people do. I was not disappointed. I had to run get $40 from the ATM up the street ($30 for the piercing, $10 for the cleaning care, they only take cash) and in no time after filling out the paperwork I was taken to the room where Blake does the piercings. He didn't psych me out or make me nervous at all (as was a terrible problem when I got my traditional piercings at Claire's when I was 12). He did the job quickly and efficiently, and let me know I could relax. The piercing is almost healed now, and I haven't had a single problem with it. The cleaning-care is well worth the extra $10, as it works wonderfully. The $30 may sound steep to some, but I can promise that getting it done right the first time with such an excellent professional is definitely the way to go. You're paying for excellence and quality. read more

Lets start this off right Nomad is hands down the best shop in Portland to get and work done from the normal to the hey Blake do something crazy. Also the best prices in town and great selection of plugs for the few of us out there with large lobes. Also I have known Blake for a while now and he is nothing but nice even if he is tired or whatever it may be. He repierced my nostrils and strecthed them for me and they look killer. the man knows what he is doing. The shop is always clean and tidy and the atmosphere in the shop is awesome not only is it a clean piercing studio but a killer mini muesum from stuff that Blake has collected over the years. Also I will not send anybody at anytime ever to go anywhere eles to get pierced. I WILL ALWAYS SEND PEOPLE TO NOMAD FOR THEY ARE THE BEST. much love to blake and the nomad shop and family. To everyone eles go to the shop and have a awesome time in a friendly studio!! read more

I have been going to Nomad for 10 years now. He is the only one that I would trust with my body, and the only jewelry that I allow in my body. Over the years I have had 8 piercings done by Nomad and gauged my ears. Nomad is very professional, kid friendly and just a great professional laid back place to go to get your piercings done. Nomad is great at creating something unique to fit your style or give you the "standard" piercing if that is your wish. He has lots of jewelry to choose from, and is willing to do custom orders if he doesn't have it in stock. You also can't beat a lifetime warranty on your Nomad jewelry. It's also kid friendly, and he has a spot set up for kids with toys, pillows and whatever else their little hearts could want during their visit. As I said I have been going to Nomad for 10 years and will continue to go to Nomad for all piercing and jewelry needs for at least another 10! read more

THIS PLACE IS HORRIBLE!!!!! My best friend and I went to this place 4 years ago and I can't believe I didn't write a bad review sooner. This man was the rudest person I have ever met and please NEVER bring your kid here!!!!!! My friend and I had a whole plan when we were 8 years old. We had a plan to have me go first since my friend was nervous but he wouldn't let her! HE CALLED HER A SCAREDY-CAT AND GRABBED HER!!!!! He would not let her go first and only ever gave up when she ran to the car. I got mine first but my friend never got hers pierced. TO THIS DAY, MY FRIEND IS TRAUMATIZED OF NEEDLES AND PIERCINGS!!! Just do yourself a favor and go to Claire's. My friend is getting her COVID-19 shot next week even thought she has a phobia so good for her!! I also forgot to add, my friends mom never got her money back!! So she lost $264 because her daughter decided she didn't want to after watching me. read more

This guy is the biggest asshole you will ever meet. Me and a friend went in together to check it out. I was lookong to get my tragus pierced and my friend was trying to get her nipple pierced. We walked in kind of on the fence and openly said we weren't sure we wanted to get pierced today. He then asked for our id's so we gave them to him thinking it was normal like every other piercing place and that he was just checking our age. Then he starts making copies printing our information out and asking us which jewelry we want when we didnt even say we were wanting to get pierced. After hearing this he got all pissy with us and bitched us out saying that we were giving him "bad paper karma" because we just made him kill a tree. Maybe it's just me, but I like my piercers to be friendly and inviting, not assholes who have absolutely zero customer service. read more

I've had piercing done at Claires, Milano, La Belle Vie...but I can honestly say that nothing has compared to my experience working with Nomad. I went in about a month ago and got my Christina pierced. He made me feel reassured that I was capable of getting it (it's a rare piercing) and he discussed all of the risks with me, as well as how to take care of it, etc etc. The entire process was just so much more personable and I had comfort in knowing he'd help me as it continued to heal. I know I can go to him with any questions, without any judgement. Blake is a really sweet guy and very thoughtful. He's passionate about what he does, and he does an amazing job. Not to mention, his custom-made jewelry is absolutely gorgeous! I fully intend on going back to Nomad for all of my future jewelry and piercings. I definitely recommend this guy. read more

Found this place through word of mouth from one of the moms at my son's preschool. I was looking for a place to get my baby girls ears pierced before I was even pregnant.. crazy right. But true, baby piercing is part of my culture. So as soon as we found out I was pregnant and with a baby girl, I waited a while before I committed to it. When I finally did, she was about 7 months old. My dad who was a Buddhist monk for over 5 years in Thailand, said that my baby has a way of reading people and their energy. When we brought her to the studio, it was instant that she leaned towards him. I was shocked because she would not let anyone hold her that she didn't know or approve of. He did a fabulous job and was very knowledgeable. My mother in law was also present and was impressed. Highly recommend this place for baby piercing. read more

This place is great! Not only is it very family-oriented and kid-friendly, but reasonably priced, and Blake is FAST! I was a bit scared to have my ears gauged at first, but he got the job done, practically before I knew anything had happened. He gives explicit instructions on aftercare as well. For instance, I used to get small infections all the time when I had smaller lobe piercings, but have had gauged ears, and have stretched now for about a year and a half. No more infections! They are very clean. Sharps come in their own packaging, are used once, and are immediately deposited in a biohazard sharps container. I took my daughter there to have her ears pierced as well. She was, and still is, over the moon about her piercings! Every chance she gets, she tells people to GO TO NOMAD!!! read more

I've had quite a few piercings over the years, initially at low quality places and then at really high quality shops (all down in California). I needed to find a great shop in Portland so I did some research when it was time to pierce my daughter's ears (she's three months old) and Nomad was highly rated. For reference, I should say that I am a counselor and my husband is a medical doctor. We are picky about not only the cleanliness of the establishment but also what the experience would be like for our little baby. The whole process was wonderful! Yes, she cried but it was very short - much less than when getting shots. Blake encouraged us to relax and hang out for awhile. He and his shop were lovely. I would definitely go back and recommend Nomad to anyone - adult or child. read more

Blake is THE PIERCER. I went into multiple shops and left feeling like it just wasn't right, I was getting mixed info. from a confidant person, and most importantly my ideas were not being heard. I used to go into Nomad in Bend, Or. when they were there and my boyfriend would get his stretching done. When a friend told me they were here in Portland now I was elated. I went into Blake and without having met him in the past I instantly knew I came to the right place and was getting the right information. If you listen to him, and take his advice it's a guarantee you'll piercing will look the best for you and your body and heal properly. In my opinion there is no one in this city who can do for you what Blake can and I'll never trust another piercer. read more

Blake is a true professional. He (rightly) takes great pride in his use of sterile technique, disposable needles, and cutting edge antimicrobial agents designed to be gentle on the skin. My 10 year old daughter and several of her friends had their ears pierced yesterday afternoon at Nomad and the experience was fully positive. S. had previously been pierced at a mall location and had the backing embed itself into the back of her earlobe, causing scarring and a great amount of pain and tears when we had to remove it. This time, the procedure was done right, and was amazingly fast and painless. Nomad is a beautiful, clean studio and I trust this man to do a fabulous job. It is worth every last penny. Karen M., MD Hospitalist/Internist read more

This is THE BEST place to go for piercings. He's taken care of my girlfriend several times. The Nomad is, hands down, one of the nicest guys. He truly cares for his clients. Each time I felt that my girlfriend was being treated as family and not as income. He knows his stuff, more than anyone else i know. The shop is filled with beautiful artifacts from around the world and the walls are littered with notes of praise about his craftsmanship. I would highly recommend Nomad's any day of the week. He doesn't deal with crap jewelry. When you go to Nomad's you get quality. Going anywhere else would be selling yourself short. read more

As to the previous poster they are obviously just trying to slander the good name of nomad. All of his equipment is properly cleaned and autoclave, he has all his sharps containers and hazards labeled. Year after year I visit and am never disappointed, not with his work, his selection or the beautiful art and museum pieces that are hanging from the wall. I have referred all of my good friends, and they have all referred their friends as well. I trust my body and both of my daughters to Blake and will always be a faithful customer. read more

What can I say, Blake is JUST the BEST ever !!!! I have over 10 piercing over the past 15 years and love them all. It was fast with very little pain ! He is everything that everyone has said and much more ! Nomad Piercing Studio, his family, and Blake are wonderful and I am proud to call him a great friend of mine ! I have sent many people to him over year's and they all feel the same way as I do about him and his wonderful shop ! read more

We went to Nomad to have my daughter's ears pierced. I wouldn't trust anyone else, he was polite, fast.... and clean! No dirty piercing guns here - sterile needles only. My little one didn't even cry an entire minute, which was great. Her ears have never become infected and they look amazing! Anytime someone asks, I always send them Nomad's information! Well worth the little bit extra to have it done right the first time!! read more