First off I will say that the people were very pleasant and very nice. The place is very clean. Based on yelp reviews we decided to take my daughter there for ear piercing. We ended up not getting it done, honestly felt like the lady didn't really want to do it,my daughter was nervous and the lady kind of played into that. Also they mark the ear with a tooth pick, why not use a skin marker? Felt very clinical too, like a medical office which didn't help my daughter. Poor selection of earrings too. Would not recommend this place for children's ear piercing.
Review Source:I've been going to black hole for a few years now and I never hesitate if I have any piercing questions to go there. Emily has assisted me in piercing me and with jewelry multiple times. I've also been tattooed by Xavier. The staff is friendly and have always helped in any way they can. In my job in cosmetics I always have people ask about my piercings or jewelry and I always refer people to black hole on glisan
Review Source:This was my first time getting a piercing on my face, and as painful as it was, the girl that pierced my nose was aboslutely wonderful to deal with! Â She made sure I was comfortable, very clean with the tools and wearing gloves. Â I plan on going back to this location to do a cover up tattoo in the near future.
Review Source:Every time I've been to this shop there were super friendly laid back staff, and I've gone for piercings and tattoos. I would definitely recommend this place not only for the social and positive vibes but for how serious they can be too about cleanliness and having a safe and sterile station. I love these guys and give them 666 thumbs upp!!
Review Source:Had a great experience getting earrings for my young daughter. Â She really wanted earrings but was VERY anxious about having the studs placed. Â Brittany is just great with kids. Â She was very calm, patient, reassuring... and always made sure my daughter felt in control and was comfortable every step of the way. Â In the end my daughter was delighted with her earrings (perfectly placed), she never felt pushed, and was so proud of herself. Â Definitely recommended for kids earrings!
Review Source:I called at 11 am hoping to get in that day, and Xavier agreed to see me at 3:30. He was funny, intelligent, interesting to talk to, and he has the lightest hand I've ever had. It marked my 16th tattoo, and he was the 5th artist I've been to. From now on, I will go to him. Wonderful place. Cannot recommend it enough!
Review Source:My best friend got her belly button done here and I went along with her. I was surprised by how clean the shop was and how unlike a tattoo parlor to was. It was well lit and the staff were very helpful and knowledgeable. The process was very sanitary and the piercer (Emily) was very calm, confident, and helpful. When I get my clit and cartilage piercingly done,it will definitely be here.
Review Source:This summer my fiancee and I decided to do something memorable, what better way to make a sweet as memory than to get your tongues pierced? It was $60 each plus a few dollars extra for the downsize ring. At first I thought that it was way too pricey, but it really was worth! My piercer was amazing, she did a great job with me as well as my fiancee. The place was also very clean, nice and ubber professional, I love it!
Review Source:I was in Portland just for the weekend back in July, and on the spur of the moment decided to get something pierced. So thanks to Yelp my friend and I ended up at Black Hole.
We arrived just about an hour before closing on a Saturday, and were helped by Kevin, who is awesome! He commented on my Scooby Doo tattoos and had a fun chat about what a POS Scrappy Doo is...LOL. He was able to sterilize the jewelry and get me in before closing time.
I had a microdermal implant put in on my sternum, right between my breasts. I have had no issue with the healing and it is really cute. I would defiantly recommend this shop to anyone in the market for any body piercing at a very fair price.
What an amazing shop! Gave a  call to see if they could get me and my Step-mom in for a few piercings on a Sunday. There was no wait and no appointment necessary! The shop was really clean and the attendants knowledgable. Najwa was fabulous at making you feel at ease. Gave all the info needed to take care of our new piercings!.
I was definitely a little nervous so having someone talk me through every step was great. They even gave us little salt baggies to get us started on the right track! Would recommend and go again!
Emily was awesome piercer. Everyone was professional, helpful, and friendly. Highly recommend. Good selection of jewelry.
We took our nephew to get his ear lobe's pierced for his 18th birthday. They gave tons of information and answered all of our questions. While we were there we both got pierced as well. Clean, safe, friendly, professional environment.
The staff was off the hook awesome! 4 of us went in there to get piercings (3 of us got something done) Emily was an amazing piercer. Â She made us feel so at ease, and really knew how to do her and did it perfectly, quickly and wonderfully. Â The staff was awesome. Â Answered all our questions, made us feel at home!
Review Source:Nose bling going on here! Â I've been flirting with this idea for years. I just dig the look. Â So I thought, hmm.. maybe I could even incorporate this in to my daughter turning 21. Kind of a freedom ritual thing? I walked in spur of the moment and they were able to take me right away, before I lost the nerve.
Speaking of nerves, I was a tad nervous thinking about the pain and the needle. Â The sweet guy that pierced me was so wonderful. I could have been his grandmother and he was gentle, kind and trustworthy. Â He was matter of fact, told me what was going to occur. Â It was over before I even heard the first note of the fat lady singing!
Bling blang thank you maing!
Took my ten year old to get his ear pierced - great place to bring kids for ear piercing!!!! Â The person who did the piercing was Kyle, and he was fabulous; talked to my kid like a human being (no down talking), made sure it was his (my child's) choice to be there, understood the fears a kid might have and assuaged them in a casual and friendly way. Â Plus, was clearly very good at piercing - my son didn't even flinch.
Please don't  take your kids to get ears pierced at fluffy mall shops - they don't know what they are doing, they use equipment that has been proven to increase chance of infection - do it right, take them someplace like this that specializes in piercings, not selling hair clips!
Good experience with Kyle. I was a first time piercer and he was great about making me feel comfortable. Not going to be like a place in the mall but thats the appeal. Prices can be a little more than expected but worth it, imho. Also disappointed in jewelry for simple piercings but it ended up working out. Overall: Major thumbs up!
Review Source:Black Hole is the best! I have always had the greatest experiences with them, the staff has always been helpful and friendly. Their artists are exceptionally talented. The shop is very clean and well-maintained. They have a decent selection of jewelry for reasonable prices.
I haven't had any tattoos done here but I can say that it is a professional studio that is very attentive to safety. I would trust them to do work if I ever decided to get some ink from one of their artists.
I'm trying to count up the piercings I've had done here and I think I'm getting a final count of five...I thought it was more than that. Â
Lord forgive me as I'm terrible with names, but I've had the heavy-set guy and the short gal as my piercers and they've both been the epitome of professional. Â You know they've given the aftercare speeches a million times, but they took the time to make sure I understood everything and was comfortable and happy with the placement of the marks before any new holes were made in my body.
The shop is cute (cool? Â I am certainly no judge of cool), with a nice selection of jewelry, and very clean. Â The piercing room also had good lighting, both natural and artificial, which was comforting. Â My only possible complaint is that it's a little pricier than other places, but hey, you get what you pay for. Â I won't go anywhere else for my piercings now that I've found Black Hole, and I've brought friends here too.
I went there to get my nose pierced (which went very well) and the staff fixed my ill-formed helix spiral (which I had gotten at another shop a few weeks prior) for free. I didn't expect that at all when I went in, but I certainly appreciated it!
I also got some good advice on my stretched lobes, and the unfeasibility (due to ear anatomy) of me ever getting an industrial. I really appreciate the honesty, even when not everything I was told was good news.
I'll certainly go back next time I want to get any more holes put in myself :)
I go to Xavier Darling for my tattoos.
When I first found him he was at Golden Monkey Tattoo, and I was more than happy to  follow him to Black Hole in NE.
Xavier is 10lbs of Awesome in a 2lb bag! Â He pays great attention to detail, he definitely knows what he is doing, and he can work in a wide range of style. On top of all that, he is very humble and easy to talk to.
The shop has a good atmosphere and they play all sorts of music not just death metal :) plus the staff is very friendly and personable.
All in all I am very pleased with my Xavier and his amazing inking skillz  :)
Over a year ago now, I scoured Yelp for any reviews of piercing places that did more intimate piercings, like VCH, well (or even offered such piercings). Â I found such reviews lacking, so here I am to fill in a small gap for those of us interested in taking on a more daring piercing.
Obviously, with any more intimate piercing, the stakes are especially high if things go awry, so you want a professional. Â I chose Black Hole after scouring the internet for at least a week and finding it to be the most frequently-mentioned Portland studio offering such piercings.
The experience was incredibly pleasant - the staff were totally professional and treated my piercing no differently than any others, which helped a lot of the initial nervousness. Â Josh was my piercer, and as mentioned in other reviews, he did an excellent job of walking me through each and every step of the process, which helped keep me calm. Â The entire process was sterile and clean, and didn't hurt that much either.
I left with thorough instructions for post-piercing care, and one year later I'm able to report zero problems. Â
I had such a good experience with my piercing that I returned a few months later for my first tattoo. Â Since the tattoo was small and simple, I just dropped in, and Derek was ready to help. Â He did a great job, but the best part was that after I made a rookie mistake with the healing process that caused some of the ink to fall out, Derek was happy to repair the tattoo without charge. Â It's still not perfect, but I think that's more likely due to my own experience with tattoos than the artist himself.
The only reason I give Black Hole four stars is that both my experience with tattoo and piercing required a lot of shuffling between the Portland and Beaverton stores. Â On the day I got my piercing, it was only available at the Beaverton store; I got my tattoo at the Portland store but had it fixed up at the Beaverton store. Â A lot of this was due to artist availability, and staff weren't always on top of the schedules. Â I did more running around than I would have liked, but I make this complaint with the knowledge that I could have probably avoided most of it if I hadn't visited on a drop-in basis, and ultimately I reaped the benefits of dropping in, albeit with a little travel tacked on.
At 2:53 I called to see if they could fit me in/if I needed an appointment; by 3:39 I was pierced, in my car and on my way. Which isn't to say that it was a rushed or anything less than professional process. Rather, it's not a high maintenance, plan well in advance sort of thing. Which I guess can be good or bad depending on whether you have leanings towards impulsive behavior.
I've never had any piercings before. Ms. K has been requesting for a while now that that change, and it just so happened that the impulse struck me yesterday after I had finished having some (unscheduled) maintenance performed on my car. Prior to heading back to the land of cheese, cows, milk and oceans that I call home currently, I thought to myself, "Self, how about some piercing(s)? Why not now? There's no time like the present." Shortly thereafter I gave Black Hole a call (after searching Yelp for well-reviewed piercing places, of course) to see if they could fit me in on a mild Saturday afternoon.
Less than 30 minutes later, I was lying on a table in one of their upstairs rooms, with a needle poking through my body. Â Unlike the piercing place in Vancouver that Ms. K went to a few months ago to have her nose done, no appointment was required. They checked my I.D., had me fill out a one page sheet, asked if I wanted barbells or hoops and off we went.
The gentleman at the front desk downstairs was helpful if a little aloof. But I suppose that's better than the people that offer unsolicited advice or information and/or get "all up in your bizness." Â I was set up with Josh as my piercer. We went upstairs, he explained the process to me, the after-care instructions, did some test markings to see if they were where I wanted and then walked me through the breathing process and before I knew it I was walking back downstairs to pay my bill.
As I said, I was a piercing virgin prior to this, so I don't really have anything to compare it to. But Josh was nice and friendly and helped put me at ease about which I had a notable amount of apprehension.
I suppose I'll probably update this review in 6 months (when I'm supposed to be healed) and let you all know if there was any follow-up required and if so, how that went.
Now, if only I can perform all the required soaking and maintenance so this whole thing doesn't go sideways on me...
Oh Black Hole, how I love thee. I've been here for a lip piercing, ear piercing and twice for ear stretchings and have always left happy as a clam.
The shop itself is clean but doesn't have the creepy sterile hospital feeling some shops can't rid themselves of. You don't have to wait long for someone to acknowledge your presence and offer some assistance. The staff is extremely knowledgeable and I felt safe letting them put needles through my body. The first time I went was to get my lip re-pierced for the third time - however, the piercer took a look at the prior spot and told me it looked like he could just stretch it back out - all I ended up having to pay for was the jewelry because they stretch for free - how sweet is that?
The entire piercing process (or gauging process, etc) has been excellent every time. All the piercers are great at chatting it up so you relax and everything is wrapped up all sterile like so you know it's cootie free and such good things.
The prices, whether piercing or jewelry, are pretty reasonable as well. Thumbs up!
Impressive spot. I came to Black Hole to get a new nose stud to replace the one I had -- which disappeared somewhere I don't know.
I was helped right away, and was offered assistance to put the stud back in. Since I had been without for three days, I took up the offer, thinking that part of the hole might have closed up. I chose what I wanted from a pretty good selection. I was then led upstairs to an immaculate room -- it was like a doctors office, or even cleaner. Everything was wrapped in sterile packaging and Kyle helped me out and was very friendly. I was even given some sea salt to apply to the hole, just in case it gets irritated.
My nose piercing is as extreme as I get, but I felt at home there. Plus my SO got to browse the cool tattoo art books while he waited for me.
I found the Black Hole years ago after having troubles with my belly button piercing started giving me grief ( a few years into my piercing). Â I had it done another place and didn't receive much in the way of after care instructions for something like this. Â I inadvertently asked the pharmacist for treatment suggestions (BAD IDEA - they do not know the correct way to treat piercings, BTW which makes things worse). Â Anyhoo.... went to Black Hole and the staff was professional, helpful and gave me the product and info needed to make things perfect! Â I returned and bought a terrific piece of jewelry later and quite a few years later, I recently returned with my Mom and had our noses pierced (celebration of her victory over cancer). Â I wouldn't go any other place. Â Brian was awesome - they have the best jewelry around - they are SUPER clean, professional and their service goes above and beyond. Â I have friends that also have terrific experiences with the Black Hole and I recommend them to anyone interested. Â If you want to pierce anything - even your ears - THIS IS THE place to go!! Â KUDOS guys!! Â Definitely the #1 place in Portland area!!!
Review Source:The folks are friendly, the place is obviously very clean but doesn't feel scary and sterile. I felt safe at the hands of my piercer (Like Lauren said - real sweet while he jabs an enormous needle through your cartilage). I was getting my septum done and I had heard horror stories from friends (my sister had to get hers done twice in a row because the first one wasn't straight. Yikes.), but Brian was gentle and professional and my piercing was as painless and easy as possible. Healed up quickly and beautifully, too. Â The only bummer is that everyone and their sister has a septum piercing these days... But that's irrelevant. I like mine, no matter how trendy it is.
Review Source:This place is AWESOME, very friendly people, great music, good jewelry selection, knowledgeable staff. Â The thing is I totally neglected a nose piercing and made some poor decisions, I went in there and told them what happened and they totally helped me out and hooked me up!!!! Â My ring and nose are both saved, they didn't try to push new jewelry on me (which I have had happen in the past). Â They were just cool, I will definitely be back for more jewelry and more than likely another piercing ;)
Thanks Guys if you see this I totally appreciate it!!!!!
The staff are hip, friendly and bad ass. Â One of them has graduated his ear lobes out to earrings that are amazingly large hoops. Â They were very sanitary and professional with my friend's ear piercings. Â And it was awesome watching him suffer! Â He he he. Â Well, he was the one that wanted to go straight to a 10 or 12 gauge! Â Anywho...
They have a great selection of unique bone earrings. Â I had a great time there even though I wasn't getting pierced. Â I'll probably go there when I get pierced again.
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