Rich Ink

My tragus studs that I purchased online, were getting in the way of my ear buds, and ear plugs. I went in to see Danny today to change them back to the kind I was originally pierced with. Walked right in, and he took care of me. I will go back to have my nose pierced by him, since  getting it done in 2008 in Venice, I somehow  woke up and it was gone. LOL. I have one last tattoo to get, and will get it here, since they are always very clean, friendly and professional. Danny even gave me a couple bars for my daughter who has her web pierced, and kept losing her jewelry.  Thanks again Danny!

Came here back in January to get my septum re-pierced (after some other tattoo shop did it crooked). Nick did a great job. Quick and painless. They even went to buy me a coke cause I got a little pail (happens to me all the time I get pierced. I think I'm anemic, has nothing to do with nick).

Came back today for my girlfriend to get hers redone as well. Found out nick doesn't work there anymore. Ashley took care of us. She was so nice, kind and awesome. She even remembered me from the night I got my septum done. She pierced my girls septum right away and did a great job. My girlfriend didn't even flinch and it was a 14 gauge horse shoe.

Overall the place is really clean and the people are very friendly. I have referred friends and family there. My brother and his girl both got tattooed there too.

I highly recommend Rich Ink. The experience that Ashley provided was great. I'm planing on going back for more tattoos and piercings.

A couple of weeks ago, I got my helix and tragus pierced by Danny at Rich Ink. I chose Rich Ink because I had gotten my navel pierced there about a year prior, and Danny had been so wonderful the first time that I knew I wanted him to pierce my other holes as well. Of course, it also helped that he offered me a great price--two holes for the price of $30.

I went in, very nervous, and Danny was again, as great as I remembered him to be. He pierced my tragus first--no problem--and then my helix. He pulled out an earring with a butterfly backing, the exact kind I had gotten from Claire's a couple of years ago when I got my lobes pierced. I had read online that butterfly backing earrings were awful for piercings, because they harbored bacteria... but I trusted Danny to use his best judgment.

The tragus piercing was fine after three days. The helix piercing, however, was struggling. It was red and inflamed some days, pinkish on other days. I didn't think twice and just left it alone.

Last night, my ear swelled up about twice its size. I figured I had hit it the wrong way, and left it alone. When I awoke this morning, my ear was swollen about four times its size. I went online onto some piercing forums and posted pictures of my ear.

Everyone immediately told me I had to get the earring refitted with a new one, or at the very least, loosen the backing to give my healing piercing room. They also chastised me--"did you get that pierced with a gun? what kind of piercer would put such inferior quality of jewelry into a helix piercing like that?"

I immediately went to try and loosen the backing, since Rich Ink wasn't open yet. To my horror, when I pulled the backing slightly, the entire earring PULLED BACK INTO MY EAR as if it were a soft cheese. Half of the earring was embedded into my ear cartilage, while the backing was still visible. It began bleeding profusely, and oozing white/clear liquid both in the front and back. I immediately started panicking and crying. It was still really early in the morning, and there were no piercing shops open.

Finally, I ended up calling up a different piercer who told me to come in ASAP. He took a look at my piercing (I was again asked if I had been pierced with a gun) and told me that the quality of the jewelry in my helix piercing was of an inferior quality, causing my ear to have a major allergic reaction. He cleaned it up, pushed the embedded earring out, and switched in more appropriate jewelry. I was again (and very understandably) chastised for my choice of piercer.

I know this is long, but I want to be absolutely accurate when it comes to potential risk of the health of myself and others. I do not advise anybody to get pierced at Rich Ink until they replace their jewelry with higher quality materials. NO reputable piercer should use butterfly backings or metals that contain nickel.

As for myself, I'm very sorry to have to be updating a previously glowing review to a negative one. I hope my words are taken seriously and that Danny and the other piercers at Rich Ink will be conscious enough of their customers' health to replace their cheap metals with better quality stuff.

----edit Aug. 26: Tiffanie contacted me & responded to my review: "I am extremely sorry you went through that. I just want to thank you for the kind words about Danny and the shop. I do however want to assure you and everyone one else reading this that our jewelry is up to health department standards. We order from a reputable company. As you have had other piercings that have healed just fine an allergic reaction would not be likely. I would also like to clarify that we DO NOT pierce with a gun ever."

She offered to give me a free bottle of H2Ocean aftercare spray, and said that she would double check with her supplier to make sure the quality was up to par. While I think it's great that she is so passionate about the shop and her artists, I have a bone to pick with her response to my review.

Tiffanie, I'm sure your jewelry is up to health department standards, but so what? So is the jewelry at Claire's, as well as their horrible piercing guns. Does that mean it's good for any of the people who get it or use it? Absolutely not. No matter what you say to defend your methods, the jewelry used was NOT appropriate for the piercing. In my case, the type of metal played a factor. Maybe it wont matter for somebody else who is not as sensitive. Regardless, whether it is made out of white gold or silver, it SHOULD STILL NOT HAVE BEEN A BUTTERFLY BACKING EARRING. The length of the earring was not appropriate for a fresh piercing. Everything about it was WRONG.

I don't know if I made it clear in my previous edit, but my ear WILL scar from the trauma it suffered from the low quality earring. I WILL have a PERMANENT, red, unsightly scar on my ear. This may not matter to anybody else, but it matters to me. And this is DEFINITELY not something a free bottle is going to solve. Not in a MILLION years.