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People have been piercing their bodies for centuries, and over time, the trends have veered from your traditional earlobe piercing to everywhere else you could imagine. You can express your style and individuality with everything from dermal piercings and belly-button piercings to lip piercings and nose piercings. Still, with people wearing face masks these last few years to protect against the spread of COVID-19, preferred locations for nontraditional piercings have changed, and so have the recommendations of experts in the sector.
One of those placements includes the eyebrow area. Matt Mayfield, a piercer at New York Adorned, previously told POPSUGAR that he has noticed "eyebrow piercings making their way into 2022." Elayne Angel, the author of "The Piercing Bible: The Definitive Guide to Safe Piercing," has noticed the same thing: "Since they show above a mask, I think they make an excellent pandemic-era option for ornamenting the face."
With the piercing expected to continue trending in 2022, we spoke to a piercing expert about everything you need to know about eyebrow piercings — from the different placements you can choose to the pain and more.
An eyebrow piercing is described as "a piercing resting against or across the rim of the brow of your eye," says Jim Kelly, piercing training program manager at Banter by Piercing Pagoda. Eyebrow piercings differ from other facial piercings because they are surface piercings. Meaning? "The entry and exit points of eyebrow piercings sit on the same plane of skin, unlike a lip piercing, which goes from inside of the mouth to outside, or a nostril, which goes from outside of the nostril to the inside," Kelly says.
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There are five different types of of eyebrow piercings:
Every piercer has their own individual style (and price range) when it comes to doing an eyebrow piercing, but Kelly says you can expect the process to be fairly similar across the board. To start, all piercers use hollow-point, single-use piercing needles, and the skin should always be prepped with an antiseptic skin cleanser. Some piercers use forceps and others a freehand technique, but regardless, the jewelry should be followed through after the needle in one smooth transition. After the skin is pierced, it's set in place by screwing on the top piece of the jewelry.
Though there are a range of jewelry options that can be used for this piercing, Kelly particularly recommends using gold or platinum. "A curved barbell is best for a vertical eyebrow piercing. Horizontal eyebrow piercings and anti-eyebrow piercings should be done with surface bars to minimize chances of rejection, but a hoop is not recommended in an eyebrow piercing at all."
Kelly especially likes the Banter by Piercing Pagoda 016 Gauge Curved Barbell in 10K Gold ($70) and the Banter by Piercing Pagoda 016 Gauge Crystal Curved Barbell in 10K Gold ($70).
While everyone tolerates pain differently, Kelly says the pain of getting an eyebrow piercing is generally on the low end of the scale. Compared to other facial piercings, like the lip, which tends to have more nerve endings, "it's something like a two out of 10," Kelly says.
Eyebrow piercings have a higher chance of being rejected, and proper aftercare is key to successfully healing the piercing. "Pulling on them or sleeping on them consistently leads to higher chance of rejection, along with improper care and improper initial placement," Kelly says. "Horizontal eyebrow piercings and anti-eyebrow piercings have a higher chance of rejection than others, but the [chance of rejection for] an anti-eyebrow is much higher."
To verify if an eyebrow piercing is being rejected, Kelly recommends checking with your local piercer or taking note of how much skin is showing once the initial swelling goes down. If after a few weeks you notice more skin is showing than before, then the piercing is probably rejecting. If you do notice this, Kelly says removing the piercing to eliminate the chance of your skin developing heavier scarring is the best course of action.
Kelly recommends cleaning the piercing twice a day, using a clean cotton Q-tip or gauze, with Studex Advanced Piercing Aftercare & Cleanser ($15) or H2Ocean Piercing Aftercare Spray ($16). He also recommends "letting crust build up and fall off naturally in the shower" and making sure to get the piercing on the side of your face that you don't sleep on. "Although it is more forward on your face than ear piercings, the pillow may still come in contact with the area of the piercing, causing a higher chance of rejection," Kelly says.