Why You Can't Return Body Jewelry

(A.K.A. Why We Won't Sell Potentially Worn Body Jewelry)

I'm going to list a few situations, in which the outcomes will, unfortunately, be the same. Then you're going to have to read some science.

• Its nearly Christmas, and Evan walks into the studio looking for a gift for his partner. As he approaches the case he sees the piece - a yellow gold and black diamond clicker that matches the exact asthetic of his partners setup. He approaches the counter and let someone working know that thats what he wants. The price tag on it reflects just how beautiful it is, but his partner is worth it. The person working the counter lets him know it's 14g 3/8", and wants to make sure those are the correct measurements. Uh... yes. Yes, that should work. He keeps it in its packaging because its beautiful and wraps it up, excited for it to be opened Christmas day.

• Sarah has been scrolling Pinterest looking for inspiration for new jewelry for a healed rook. She's been excited to change it, and the time has finally come. She come across a gorgeous ad with a beautiful ring on sale. She's not exactly sure if the ring is the right style or size for her rook, but she does know that her piercer said it was a 16g, and the sale is for twenty percent off, so she goes for it. She'll have her local studio install it once it arrives in the mail.

• A grandmother stops into the piercing studio. Her grand daughter has been asking to get her ears pierced for a few months now, and she wants her experience to be special! She lets the person working the counter that she's looking for earlobe jewelry for her granddaughter. They ask if she knows what length jewelry she wears, and the grandmother replies that her granddaughter doesn't have them pierced yet, but they're planning to surprise her with an appointment to have them done. The person working the counter asks if she'd rather buy jewelry at the appointment which is how it usually works. The grandmother says no - mom wouldn't allow her to buy such expensive earrings and besides, she knows her granddaughter will love them. She arrives home, puts them in her own ears to test the size and they look like they'll be perfect for her granddaughter.

It turns out, Evan's partner actually wears rose gold and 14g is too big for their septum piercing. Sarah goes to her piercer to have the rook jewelry she bought online inserted and they let you know it's too big of a diameter. The granddaughter decides that she's not ready for earlobe piercings, and mom lets grandma know that she doesn't approve of how large and decorative the earrings are. None of you are able to return the jewelry you bought.

But why? The jewelry Evan bought for his partner has never left the box he bought it in, Sarah's jewelry was sterilized by her piercer and put back in a bag to keep it clean, and the grandmother only had the earrings in her own well healed ears for less than five minutes. None of these are WORN body jewelry, not really anyway. Unfortunately in the eyes of health and safety (and likely insurance) leaving the shop means that anything could have happened to them. But why is that? What could have possibly happened to them that would make those pieces un-sellable?

Lets talk about biofilm, what it is, and why it's important.

What is biofilm? Biofilm is defined by the CDC as an assemblage of surface-associated microbial cells that is enclosed in an extracellular polymeric substance matrix. In easier terms, it is a microscopic layer of bacteria and biological "glue" that resides on jewelry. Biofilm can hold bacteria, fungi, protists, and have been proven to be able to be secondarily colonized by viruses. Biofilm is formed when microbial cells excrete EPS (a sticky substance hydrophobic qualities) to protect microbes and adhere them to a surface. Adhesion of microbes can happen as quickly as seconds to minutes.

Biofilm is often made up of more than one microbe. Many microbes are nearly inert, but surgical tools in medical facilities have been shown to harbor staph and other bacteria that can cause blood and skin infections. While surgical equipment and jewelry are not one in the same and tend to be used in different areas of the body, the same method of thinking holds true.

Autoclave sterilizers do exist, and should be used in every piercing studio, though they are not fool proof to biofilms. This is also the reason that Luna Piercing is a single-use tool studio. In order for microbes in biofilm to be non-issue, they must be removed. Biofilms are largely chemical resistant, which means mechanical removal with the aid of chemicals is often the process used in medical facilities before autoclaving. In body jewelry, there are often moving parts, hard to reach areas, nooks and crannies. All of these harbor bacteria and their sticky excretions. Even in medical facilities where trained decontamination technicians are in charge of processing medical tools, about 60 to 70% of nosocomial infections [infections acquired during a medical stay] are linked to medical devices.

Friends, I am but a nerdy body piercer. I am not licensed to nurse you back to health, I am not insured against brain eating zombie viruses (probably? Fine print is such a devils detail) and I sure as hell wouldn't ask you to wear somebody else's booger-catching snot-mandala septum jewelry.

There are many Facebook groups and secondhand online marketplaces in which you can sell worn body jewelry, and I absolutely won't gatekeep that information from you, because as adults, you are free to make your own decisions about your health and safety. You can find those Facebook seller spaces at the Fine Body Jewelry Exchange, Fine Body Jewelry Sales, and probably others that we're currently unaware of. Poshmark, Thread Up, Mercari and others also allow you to buy and sell secondhand body jewelry. Many piercers are a part of these groups themselves (Jamie and I are!) because again, as consenting adults who are able to gather information and weigh the risks for our own bodies. We just won't make those decisions for you or others within our studio.

Laura