Body jewellery information

Body piercing jewellery information

Body jewellery is now widely avaliable form many online and high street retailers, most have absolutely no idea what they are selling, and do not have any idea even what it is made from, what size it is and even what piercing it is for...  We strongly recommend that you only ever buy your body piercing jewellery from suppliers that actually know what they are selling, and not companies importing sub standard body jewellery that is sometimes made from what is not legally the standard grade of surgical steel. Please buy your body jewellery from a reputable specialist body jewellery retailer, it is very important that body piercing jewellery is suitable for that use, if not you risk allergic reaction at the least. We have been selling body jewellery for around 20 years now, and we only stock items that we know are suitable quality.  

All information given is purely advisory, if you think you may have any sort of problem with your body piercing then go to a reputable body piercing studio and ask a piercer to have a look at it and see what they think, if you are still concerned in any way,  then ask a GP for their opinion. Body piercings will usually look fine for a time, and people think it is all healed up very quickly, but after a few days they usually start getting red and more swollen, and then take a few weeks to heal properly, so you really need to just keep it clean (NOT with soap), and let the process complete itself. If you do this, your body piercing should not have problems in the future.   

Belly bars, navel bars, curved barbells, banana bars, BCRs (ball closure rings) and circular barbells can all be used in belly button piercings. These are all available in different sizes, to suit the size of your piercing. UK navel piercings are generally done with 1.6mm (14 gauge) body jewellery (the thickness of the bar that goes into your piercing), and the initial belly piercing will usually be with a 10mm or 12mm long bar.

Once your belly button piercing has fully healed you will be able to change the bar, either to a jewelled bar or a more ornate design, it is important not to rush this healing process with any body piercing, just be patient and wait until it is fully healed before changing the jewellery.

The actual bar (that goes through your piercing) can be different lengths (size of piercing jewellery), if you are unsure about this, we do have advice about how to measure your body piercing.

You should try to ensure that you wear a belly bar that fits you well, not too tight, but not with too much of the bar sticking out either. Although our belly bar sizes are measured in 2mm increments (6mm,8mm,10mm & 12mm) , you will need to find the bar size that will fit you best. Most piercers use 10mm or 12mm long bars for belly button piercings, and most high street shops only stock 10mm belly bars. 

We firmly believe that we use the best grades or body piercing jewellery we can, and we insist on certified confirmation of metal contents before we deal with any body jewellery suppliers. (We have been in the body jewellery business for over 20 years, so we have built up a large range of reputable and reliable suppliers in the UK and also other countries.) 

For tongue piercing jewellery, there is a similar size & materials situation, people are pierced with titanium bars, and as the piercing will probably swell up a bit just after it has been done, you will need to wear a longer bar initially  After your tongue piercing has fully healed you can change the bar to one with a logo design, jewelled ball tongue bar, plastic tongue piercing stud, or just something a little different and also of course, one that is a bit shorter a more comfortable to wear. Tongues are lots of different sizes and thicknesses, and also the length of the tongue bar you will need also depends on where on the tongue you are pierced (tip or middle etc.).

Popular sizes for tongue bars are 12mm,14mm and 16mm, with 14mm being the size we are asked for most, but we do stock tongue bars from 8mm long to 24mm long, so there is obviously a huge difference in sizes people need and also prefer to wear (some just want to wear a long bar in their tongue piercing). It should also be noted that your tongue will swell in different situations (when you eat & sleep etc., ) so you should always bear that in mind when choosing a tongue bar, do not wear one that is too tight or else the balls may get pulled into the piercing.

Teeth can suffer when tongue bars are worn, as some people continually rub their tongue bars against their teeth, it is advisable to bear this in mind when choosing to have your tongue pierced, and acrylic bars and balls are not so abrasive towards your teeth.

Our tongue bars are available in high grade 316L surgical steel, as well as titanium tongue bars that are made for use in piercing studios, and we also stock a wide range of UV reactive acrylic tongue bars, as well as clear, pink and flesh coloured tongue retainers to hide your tongue piercings.

Ear lobe stretchings

If you want to stretch you ear lobe piercings (or any other body piercing you have) and wear larger gauge body jewellery (flesh plugs tunnels etc.,) then please always do this slowly, only go up 1 size at a time, and do not rush the process.

If you do try to stretch to bigger sizes too fast you risk ripping or tearing your piercings, which will permanently damage your body.

It will obviously feel a bit uncomfortable when you stretch with a taper or ear expander, but only go up 1 size at a time, and it feels too uncomfortable then stop. Do not force your piercing to stretch too quickly, the slower you stretch your piercing, the better it will be, and also, you have a better chance of it going back to normal size if you ever decide to take your expanding jewellery out. People's skin is different, and some stretches easier than others, so don't expect to be able to stretch your piercing easily and painlessly just because someone you know did this. Our ear stretching kits are fantastic value, most working out at wholesale prices for single spikes etc., this is because we make our stretching kits up ourselves.