style accessory: adornments

I remember a few years ago visiting my Nanny and Granddad, and my Granddad showing nanny all my "adornments". I had just got my 8th piercing (I have 12 now) my third lobe, piercing done and granted my ears were full of too many too heavy earrings. Elephants, leaves and stars were my chosen piercings, and were all gifts from different people so I wanted to wear them all at once, and didn't even think of how over crowded it looked. Piercings for me, aren't just about the metal in the ear however. They are a personal expression of who I am, and are part of my style. 

Each piercing I have, I got with someone, or for a particular event like my birthday, so its not just about the earnings for me, its about the piercing too. I got my first lobes, done for my 10th birthday and my cartilage and forward helix where my 16th birthday present. I got one with my friend, and a matching piercing with another friend, I got one when I left school and another when I started college and would often visit my sister just to get another done. There is something so effortless about piercings. I often keep the same studs in for months at a time, cleaning them regularly, but somehow they complete every outfit and become so me.

Piercings aren't everyone's cup of tea however and if ears are as far you'll go, here's a diagram to show you all the possibilities you have. When you decide what one you want to get done, be careful where you chose to get it pierced, some places don't follow safety measures, and you could end up with an infection. If you are going for cartilage piercings, make sure you get them pierced with a needle rather than a gun too. You'll have to clean them everyday for the first 6 weeks to 3 months depending on what you get pierced, and you'll have to be careful sleeping on them and when you change them for the time. But after that, you are free to swap and change your adornments as much as you like. I love really simple silver jewelry from hopes to small studs, with a different one thrown in to add some interest.