Looking for clear, straight, plastic (or acrylic) ear piercing retainers.

August 12, 2009 3:23 PM

This is my left ear and this is my right ear. I need help finding a reputable online shop that sells clear, straight, plastic (or acrylic) ear piercing retainers. Please help!
posted by aloneinvietnam to Health & Fitness (4 answers total)

I haven't ordered from BodyArtForms, but they have decent reviews as well as retainers.

How old are the piercings? If they're less than a year old, I'd recommend glass over plastic/acrylic, as the latter can irritate fresh piercings. The clear quartz plug in an 18ga might be your best bet.
posted by kwaller at 3:35 PM on August 12, 2009

Changing jewelry in a healing piercing is generally not a good idea; if you're going to do it, put in the retainer and leave it in until it's healed (at which point, you can swap jewelry all you want). Acrylic is also not the greatest material, especially for new piercings. Like kwaller says, use glass or quartz.
posted by spaceman_spiff at 3:39 PM on August 12, 2009

Response by poster: Thanks gang. Six of the piercings are from two years old to fifteen years old! The two that I'm worried about are less than one month old. I'm sending in school and job (abroad) applications this fall, so interviews won't be until next February/March. By then the new piercings will already be healed. I have never had to worry about this sort of thing, but workplaces in Southeast Asia can be quite formal.
posted by aloneinvietnam at 3:47 PM on August 12, 2009

Wildcat: they have these and these. But by Feb/March they should be healed enough that you can remove them for a few hours and (gently, perhaps with some lube) put them back in.

In a pinch, you can use clear fishing line. Cut a bit off, heat a knife or nail file, press one end of the fishing line against it until it flatens.

(Not sure what Wildcat's shipping times are like these days though.)
posted by K.P. at 4:46 PM on August 12, 2009