Want to wear beautiful dangling earrings but the clip-ons don't look right? Do you feel the only answer is to pierce your ears?  Do you want to pierce your ears but don't know the outcome?  Read on dear reader and see what Tamara has gone through in the past 30 years trying to answer the same questions.

Do you want the pierced look without the hassle and the time involved with healing and putting in "keeper" studs all the time?  Go to the end of this article for some pointers.

Wearing earrings is (or was) such a feminine thing that it seemed to always go hand-in-hand with dressing.  Cast-off clip earrings, many without a matching half, purloined earrings, and occasionally a few purchased earrings seemed to do the trick for many years.  Then I realized just how sexy earrings hanging through holes in a woman's ear looks and decided to take the plunge.

I went to a beauty shop and had a complete makeover done, with a set of acrylic nails, and had a single hole punched in each ear.  The tiny piercing studs opened up a whole new feeling, one that I would never go back on.  I wore the earrings for two days, had to go back to work and took them out.  The holes healed and I went on with life.

Seeing just how easy it was to pierce ears with a piercing gun, I bought my own and a dozen sets of piercing studs.  Had to buy a dozen so that I looked like I knew that I actually used the thing on other people, not just myself.  You know how the logic runs with these issues!  Anyway, I proceeded to place two studs in each ear.  Kept the studs in for 2 weeks worth of vacation and took them out to return to work.  The holes healed up, couldn't force any earring back through.

Decided to do some research on the healing time and how the ear reacts to different materials.  I read someplace that a piece of fishing line run through the hole held it open until it healed if you kept the things in for the prescribed healing time of about 6 to 8 weeks.  Being totally paranoid at that time (like I'm alone in that respect!) I didn't want others to see that I had pierced ears, both with two holes each!!!

I cut 30 pound test monofilament in short pieces, touched one end to a hotplate to flatten the end to prevent it from pulling through the ear, and sterilized them in alcohol.  I pushed them through the holes after using a French ear wire to make sure the hole was open and I could line up the exit appropriately.  I then touched a dab of foundation to the exposed end and felt that I was fooling the world.  I went to work with some trepidation and found that not a single soul ever said a word about my ears.

Today, I have four holes in one ear and three in the other. 

       Now when I or any other member of the family loses a back or a stud it isn't the end of the world.  We simply go the the jewelry box and find another one.  I also bought red and purple stones to put in the earrings findings to match my outfits. So that I may may find them easily, I push them into a piece of fabric screen and put the backs on to hold them in place.  That way I can find all the colors or matching studs or earrings when I want them rather than having to dig through a mess.

Without a doubt, eBay has been the biggest boon for most of us in our procurement efforts.  Earrings, wigs, dresses, and anything else is readily available without any embarrassment or contact with others.  Way too simple to spend money.....

I routinely wear monofilament in each hole.  I don't bother melting the ends anymore, just run the mono through the ear, clip it off on the front and pull it flush with the front of the ear, then trim the back just slightly longer that the hole itself.  Reaching up to my ears during a meeting to twist the mono is a delight, and the holes are all ready for the next outing. 

Pointers:

Either buy your own piercing gun or have them pierced by an earring shop.  In today's society, more men seem to be wearing earrings than women.  I recently sat in drab in a busy store front having two additional holes added.  Not a person looked at me funny.  The cute young technician never batted any eye.

If you pierce your own or have them pierced and want multiple holes, make sure the placement suit your desires, I like the angle of the holes to line up so that when I wear multiple hoops, they all hang at the same angle.  Really looks nice!

However they are pierced, do not take out the studs for at least three days if you want to make the holes permanent.  Trying to take out the piercing studs and inset monofilament in less than three days is a nightmare and a major ear infection waiting to happen.  By three days the ears have quit swelling and the initial pain is lessened. (Believe me, sleeping the first few nights can be painful)

Pierced look with no pain!

I found these tricks over the years and wanted to share them with others. 

1. Buy spring loaded hoop earrings.  They look just like pierced hoops but have a small pad on each end of the hoop and cling to the ear by spring pressure.  The small moveable end opens up to accept your ear lobe and then closes to hold firmly all night. The only drawback I have found is that after few hours they can hurt just like clip ons, dah??  I routinely wear 8-10 of these if I am really going to show off and wear really short hair.  Remember the distraction thing? 

2. Buy the magnetic earrings.  They are the same face as a normal stud but have a small magnet as the backing.  You place the stud where you want it, reach around the ear and place the magnet opposite the stud.  In theory they will hold all night without problems. If your ears are really thick they may have a problem holding.  I do not use this method that much because the magnetic earrings are expensive and I try to get away with as little expense as possible.  Why not save that money for a new wig??

3. Buy an assortment of loose Cubic Zirconia stones.  I bought 100 3mm stones for 5.99 through the Internet. I mounted a number of them into the actual earring settings that you see in this article and used some of the rest for other things.  I pickup a CZ with tweezers with the pointed end down.  Then I gently touch a tad of a drop of nail glue on the pointed end and place that little stone anywhere I want.  Want a nose stud or 10 studs in your ear?  This is the trick I used many times before, and after, I pierced my ears.  Really looks good, but can be detected by looking at the back of the ear and not seeing earring backs in place.  The answer to that is, right, break off the backs of earring findings and glue the back into place opposite the stud.  Looks perfect.