Agape Art Collective

I went to Jake because my friend has gotten most (if not all) of her great tattoos from him and she has had nothing but amazing things to say about him .  The shop is in a great location...it's clean...and everyone there was super professional and welcoming. Jake was awesome and was able to fit me into his busy schedule. When I arrived, I was super comforted in the scripture written on the wall in his station. He had my design all ready for me when I arrived and worked with me on the size and lettering to make sure it was exactly what I wanted.  He was super patient with me,
made sure I was comfortable, and reminded me to breathe (which is surprisingly easy to forget!) The end result was exactly what I was looking for and I couldn't be happier. He even touched up my tattoo that my first Tattooer had messed up! All around it was an awesome experience and I'm so glad I went to Jake! I will definitely be seeing him for all of my future work. Thanks!!!!

So it's been almost  1 1/2 months since I've had my tragus and cartilage pierced here by Mykey. I had to get rid of the tragus piercing because it got really infected, I had to take antibiotics. I also regret taking the earring off from his suggestion bc I had to tear off the new crust forming over the healing area to drain out the pus that was still in the piercing every time.  I did this a couple times/day for several days after he extracted the pus from it.  I still had my cartilage piercing  but not without complications even though I did everything right with the seal salt soaks, cleaning it and not touching it.  It didn't get infected but it's a bad piercing on soooo many levels. First of all, the position of the piercing should be angled outward (on the cup of the outer rim) to show off the back of the jewelry. Most experienced artists and piercers will know that the piercing is meant to show off bling from all angles of the ear. The back of this one was on the cusps of the cup, making it very difficult to heal and does not show off the back of the earring (if I so choose to get a double gemmed jewelry type). Mykey also basically told me 6 mm is all the length you need for a fresh piercing to heal. Wrong! You need at least 8 mm if not longer to account for swelling, cleaning, etc.  I was not able to clean my piercing effectively.

The shop also does not have any IMPLANT grade jewelry, only "surgical" stainless steel, so I had brought my own which was basically the same. He said I could use it when I came to check before hand. I wish I had at least started with the higher quality jewelry if not having a more optimal piercing. I would be about half way done healing already. My piercing looked fine except for the back which was always irritated and slightly swollen due to the low quality grade and the length. It kept rubbing against the opening of the wound so much that I had a hard time sleeping. And once my tragus infection was gone, I realized a lot of the symptoms It thought were from the infection was actually from the cartilage piercing being swollen and irritated.  I would hear clicking noises inside my ear. My ear felt congested and clogged. The piercing site felt stiff and inflexible while I'm moving my head around.

I finally had enough of the irritation and went to this other piercing place in HB, that ONLY does piercing, to change out my jewelry, where I discovered all this information.  This older gentleman with 22 yrs of piercing experience looked at my piercing and explained all this to me.  I also did my research online and they all coincided with the information I was provided.  So now after changing the jewelry out, my healing time resets and I'm left with a piercing, though more comfortable, feels like it was JUST done yesterday. Waste of time and money.

Mykey also charges more for his piercing services than other places. He charged me $80 for both without jewelry while other places only charge $55 with high quality Anatometal, Neometal, or Industrial Strength jewelry. They all make their products with IMPLANT grade material, meaning it's safe to use inside your body, let alone on a piercing.  JEWELRY DOES MATTER!! I knew he was more expensive from the start but he seemed very nice and down to earth that I wanted to give him a try. That's my mistake to make.

He's a nice guy. He cleaned my piercings several times after the tragus got infected and was always cheerful and nice. But for my piercing needs, I'd rather go to someone who would've told me all these things from the get-go as this is all new to me.

I'm sure he'll still do well even with this not so great review and I hope he does. But I also hope he learns more as I did to make piercing experiences better for people. Be more responsible as a piercer and artist.  I've been living with an very uncomfortable ear for the better part of the last month and half.  My coworkers were always asking me why my ear is red and swollen. I hope to at least salvage one piercing though I'm seriously debating whether to just take it out and start over again.

Went in to get a piercing changed. Jimmy was super helpful and awesome. Would definitely recommend. Everyone in the shop was really nice.