Tattoo & Piercing

The Home Stretch: Using Ear Stretching Kits So you’ve decided that you want to stretch your ears, but would prefer to do it from the comfort of home? Well in that case, first thing’s first: you’ll want to get a home stretching kit. Ear stretching kits are essentially a set of tapers or expanders that span a range of sizes, making gradual stretching possible. These sets usually include a single taper of about nine different sizes within your given range, complete with matching rubber o-rings to help hold each item in place. For example: a stretching kit for those who […]

The Hidden History of Body Mod: on Pins and Needles Tomorrow is a funky and offbeat holiday known simply as Pins and Needles Day. Originally celebrated as the anniversary of the Pins and Needles musical that opened on Broadway in 1937, this awkward little observance has evolved significantly over the years. To all of us in the modification world, we know exactly what to think of when we here the word “needles;” being pierced and tattooed of course! So without further ado, let’s start the celebration! Here’s a little something about what pins and needles mean to us: Piercing is […]

The Hunger Games: Alternative Fashion at Capitol Couture For anyone who hasn’t heard, the first of Suzanne Collins’s hit novels, The Hunger Games, has been translated to film and is set for release later this month. This much anticipated first installment of Collins’s Hunger Games Trilogy is already taking the tween scene by storm. Perhaps more surprisingly though, is that the forthcoming film is making big waves on the adult fashion scene as well. The Hunger Games fashion blog, Capitol Couture, has already partnered with powerhouse Rodarte, and with a penchant for luxurious and lively names like Dior, Alexander McQueen, […]

The Ins and Blow-Outs of Stretching My Ears About 5 years ago I decided that I wanted to finally get my ears pierced with the intent of stretching them to a larger size. Going into it I will openly admit that I knew nothing about the process besides: Put stuff in ear, ear gets bigger, put even bigger stuff in ear, repeat. The only sure things in my mind were that I liked metal and I wanted it to be big! I started off by getting my ears pierced at an 8 gauge, the largest that I was told it […]

The Ins and Outs of Tongue Piercing Tongue piercings are generally performed close to the center of the tongue, and far enough forward to avoid any serious risk to the teeth. The human tongue can be pierced in a variety of places however, and multiple tongue piercings are not uncommon. Veteran piercer Elayne Angel actually has five of them, and managed to perform the last four herself. The human tongue has an amazing capacity for mending itself, and consequentially the initial healing time for tongue piercings can be short, sometimes taking place in as little as two to four weeks. […]

The Irish Claddagh The Irish claddagh, or “clasped hands and heart” is a powerful symbol that dates back centuries, featured originally only in rings, and now available in a vast variety of jewelry items. The claddagh dates back to 1600’s Ireland, and is traditionally represented as a pair of hands clasping a heart that’s topped with a crown. The heart in this design represents love, the pair of hands friendship, and the crown atop signifies devotion. The true history of this remarkable design is sadly lost to time, however there are several popularized tales that lay claim to the claddagh’s […]

The Low Down on Dermals So, like a lot of us, you may have been thinking recently about getting a dermal. With all that internet info out there though, things can get a little confusing when you’re doing research. To remedy the issue, we’re going to break it down into just the basics, to turn that “uh, huh?” feeling into an “ah-hah!” feeling. Here we go: The Look Dermals have an amazing and unique look that fits into a variety of aesthetic niches. As single point piercings, they can be as simple as a solitary gem resting on the cheek, […]

The Many Gauges of Cartilage Piercings So you just pierced a new hole in your ear, but you’re not sure what size jewelry you should be looking for. If your piercing was done with a needle in a piercing shop, they may have informed you of the size right there, but maybe you just forgot what your piercer told you. Or maybe your piercing was done with a piercing gun instead. Whatever the reason, if you’re curious as to what size a particular hole in your ear is, let me break it down a little simpler for ya. An earlobe […]

The Mathematics of Body Mod: Say Hi to Pi So today is officially Pi Day. And no, we’re not talking about celebrating grandma’s awesome dessert-making prowess with some fruity delights. We’re talkin’ pi, as in mathematical pi. Or specifically, 3.141592653589793238462… Well, you get the idea. Pi is a mathematical constant, a number which (when expressed in decimal form), never ends. It’s a figure commonly employed in mathematical equations involving circles or ellipses, and it represents the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. But pi also represents an eternal enigma, a number whose existence may never be fully understood. […]

The Modern Modification Lifestyle: a Day in the Life of an Alternative Model Alt model Andi Lee is definitely an up and comer, but her presence and demeanor would surprise more than a few. Measuring up at about five foot six, she weighs in at a noticeably slight 115, and that’s while rocking out in some oversized sweats and slip-ons. Polite, unassuming, and quietly composed, she’s not exactly what most of us think of when we hear the words “tattoo model.” But don’t let the shy and soft-spoken side fool you, because this girl is brimming with major personality, and […]