Trends

Trend coverage is in production. The annual trend report, ideas galleries and ear curation guides are scheduled, and they will be written the same way as everything else here: what the placement actually involves, which anatomy it suits, and what it takes to heal.

The shift worth knowing about

The direction of travel over the last few years has been away from collecting as many piercings as possible and toward curation: fewer, better-placed piercings chosen to work together, with jewelry planned as a set.

That is good news practically as well as aesthetically. Piercings placed as part of a plan sit better, heal better and can be built up in stages rather than healing four cartilage wounds at once.

What is being asked for

• Stacked lobes, placed deliberately close together rather than evenly spaced.
• Faux rooks, which suit far more ear shapes than a true rook.
• Stacked and double tragus placements.
• Anti-tragus, less common and instantly recognisable.
• Hidden helix, tucked behind the rim so the jewelry appears to float.
• Vertical labret, the most requested lip piercing.
• Paired nostrils linked with a chain once healed.
• Eyebrow piercings, back in the mainstream.

Before you follow one

Two questions decide whether a trend will work on you.

Does your anatomy suit it? Several fashionable placements are anatomy-dependent. A piercer who declines one is protecting you from a year of healing something that was never going to settle.

Can you live with the healing? A trend piercing still takes the same six to twelve months as any other cartilage piercing, and still cannot be slept on. Check the healing chart before booking.