Fun & Famous

Oorfeest

I have a small accessory problem. First of all: I am really drowning in rings-earrings-necklaces-bracelets. Secondly: I can't choose. So you can expect me to arrive with all my jingling ornaments, because I just wear everything. Well, a selection of everything, I shouldn't exaggerate either.

That's why it's quite amazing that I've managed to limit the holes in my ears to just two (one per ear) for years. I still remember getting them, after a lot of nagging; I was twelve and they were classically pierced at the local drugstore. After that, I went wild: I was known throughout my entire high school career for my large earrings. When I started studying in Amsterdam, where everyone wore huge earrings, I took a more creative approach to stand out. Sometimes I wore just one, which led to dialogues like: you've lost an earring, no, that's intentional. Or I wore two different ones, because I still couldn't choose back then, which also led to confusion among the viewers. Strangely enough, the nineties trend of multiple holes in one ear completely passed me by, but I've since made up for it quite a bit.

The culprit is Emily Weiss, from the beauty blog Into The Gloss, but perhaps better known as Super Intern from The Hills (The Hills! I still miss it. I used to reenact The Hills with Renske Hoff at the ELLE editorial office and I remember many a Friday afternoon where we drunkenly belted out ‘I’m staring at the blank page before me…’, those were the days. But I digress…).

Emily Weiss wrote in 2012 about the piercing craze that fashion girls in New York were obsessed with and about her personal hero, piercer J. Colby Smith. He designed the most delicate gold piercings; no ugly barbells made of surgical steel or titanium that you had to wear for months before it healed.

I had to do it too. Luckily, I happened to be in New York at that moment, so I immediately made an appointment with Colby.

Colby looks at your ear like an artist: what is beautiful? What fits with what you already have, with your personality, with the shape of your ear? Together we decided on a diamond set in gold for my earlobe and a graceful helix ring. Gorgeous!

It's a good thing no one told me beforehand that such a helix piercing takes 5 to 10 months to heal. I couldn't sleep on my ear for two months and it kept bothering me afterwards. I learned new terms like ‘cauliflower ear’ (those little inflamed bumps behind your ear) and ‘crusties’ (scabs, yes). But after five months, the helix was really healed and my number of piercings has now grown to seven. Yes, it's a shame if most of your earrings are lying in the drawer, right? This way you can showcase something.

Number eight is going in on Saturday, because ‘my’ Colby (who has also done, among others, Emma Watson, Scarlett Johansson, and Zoë Kravitz) is now in Amsterdam for a bit. As a guest of jewelry designer Merrel Westhoff from Monocrafft , he is working today and Saturday at the concept store Cottoncake in Amsterdam. If you're quick, there might still be a spot. Otherwise, don't be sad: they also have beautiful gold jewels at Classic Ink & Mods and Dare2Wear that can go straight into your new piercing.

Then two tips from me: for the daily cleaning of a new piercing, I use Physiomer Baby (yes, you read that right, baby), physiological salt in a bottle with a handy spray nozzle so you can spray well around. And for stubborn infections, you can try tea tree oil.

Geschreven door Ilonka Leenheer