The Photographic Dictionary: Body Jewelry Barbell Styles

BCR (Circular Barbell): The ball captive ring is essentially a hoop with a small opening. A ball, bead, gem, or decorative dangle is held into the opening by divots, closing off both free ends at once. In larger gauge captive rings, the ring itself may have open or indented ends and the ball protrusions, holding the item together more easily.

Curved Barbell: There are many styles of curved barbell, but the common type is simply a dual-ended single piece with a slight curve. When curved barbells are worn in belly button piercings with a small upper ball and a larger lower ball, they are often called “banana bells” or “banana barbells.”

Horseshoe: The horseshoe ring is a circular barbell much like the BCR, but with a larger opening causing to resemble (of course) a horseshoe. With this type of item, both free ends are sealed off separately, so balls, spikes, or gems may or may not match depending on preference.

Lippy Loop Shaft: Lippy loop labret rings are a unique item that has both a straight and a curved portion occurring within the same single-piece barbell. The flat portion is worn through the lip piercing like a regular post, and the other side curves up over the top of the lip, causing both ends to show and giving an appearance much like that of a horseshoe ring.

Post: Although posts are very similar to regular straight barbells, the main difference is that the portion intended to be used as the back is flat, and only one end may have a decoration screwed on or pushed in.

Spiral Barbell: Unlike regular circular barbells, the spiral barbell makes a full revolution before its ends come into play, and the free ends do not extend directly across from each other. This type of jewelry can be worn in many of the piercings that other circular jewelry can.

Straight Barbell: The straight barbell is one of the most common body jewelry items, and is most often used in piercings of the tongue. One or both ends may be decorative, and novelties range from vibrating capsules, to flat logo discs, to 3D designs, and almost anything else you could think of.

Super Spiral Barbell: The super spiral barbell is very much like a standard spiral, but with more than a single revolution, and a range of shapings, mostly vertical. This type of item is usually worn as a belly ring.