Have You Had Your Midlife Piercing?

It’s not as permanent as a tattoo, not even as dangerous as bungee jumping, but still quite rebellious and now even more popular than before amongst midlife women.

Yes, multiple ear piercings are living a resurging moment. You only need to look on TikTok. Currently, the #curatedear hashtag has over six million views on the app, and #earcuration has over 21 million views.

Far away from the goth or punk subcultures, nowadays the trend for wearing several mismatched studs – preferably in gold and diamond – and dainty hoops is booming, but this time it’s more about a celebration of one’s self and a vehicle for disrupting some ageing stereotypes.

Thanks to a host of celebrities like Kate Moss, Sienna Miller, and Jennifer Aniston choosing to decorate their ears with ever-more intricate piercing patterns, even normally conservative women over 40 are becoming braver in their choices.

“I think part of the reason it’s so popular is that people celebrate themselves and come in with their sweeties, their buddies, their mother, their daughter and it’s a bonding moment – says Maria Tash, the founder of a NoHo luxury piercing salon in New York (now even available at Liberty in London), and who counts Gwyneth Paltrow, 49, and Uma Thurman, 52, amongst her fans. ‘There’s no age restriction to celebrate the body or to use it as a bonding tool with someone else. Mid 40s is a key demographic and represents about 50 per cent of my clientele. These women want to do something for themselves that feels empowering,’.

But this time is not just adding a couple of needles on your lobe like in the 80s. Today’s culture of decorating ears with multiple earrings is more about ear-styling or ear-curation with several high-end fine jewellers attracting a glittering clientele and has turned to be as popular as styling our hair.

The reason for this success is due to luxury piercing salons which have introduced beautifully designed ear jewellery made from precious metals and gems. It’s about a high-end offerings made for a more sophisticated appeal and that comprise two or more piercings placed anywhere from the lobe to the helix (at the top of the ear). An achievable way to be edgy.

If you’re considering following the trend, don’t underestimate your pain tolerance. According to Tash, a nice starting combination would be a couple of lobe piercings, then a conch or daith piercing. The rook piercing (a cartilage piercing in the uppermost ridge of your inner ear, located above the tragus in the antihelix), instead, takes a little longer to heal than an ear lobe and it may be very painful. It’s better opting for a helix piercing, a lot more sophisticated now. Tash also recommends never having more than three piercings done at a time, in order for the body to recover and the piercings to heal effectively.

Whether it’s cool or not, nothing stops us from questioning if this is a trend as glamorous as the women queueing up to have them, or just a symbol of trying to stand out from the crowd?

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