Body Suspension is a beautiful, intense, and powerful practice spanning back hundreds and thousands of years. In modern times, it’s practiced around the world, with a range of different approaches, methods, and mentalities. The online space is a powerful point of connection and community for those who enjoy suspension. And anyone who participates in the online community knows, one of the most frequently asked questions on any post or image is “Can you do this if you are bigge

Every single time we sit down to do a piercing, our goal is for it to heal well. Piercers spend hours and hours agonizing over the perfect placement, the ideal angle, taking classes on how to do better piercings. We are always in forums discussing our technique and researching how to be better. Clients often, do something similar. Following up with their piercer as things heal, being diligent about aftercare and cleaning, perhaps even being in your own forums or online spaces

Continuing our series of what's normal during piercing healing, let's talk about swelling! But not just normal piercing swelling, or even over-swelling (which we talk about here ). Today, I’d like to talk about swollen lymph nodes. Lymph nodes are small bean-shaped organs that are part of our lymphatic system. They filter lymph and remove harmful substances like bacteria, viruses, and cancer cells from our system. Lymph nodes can become swollen when they are working to fight

Making mistakes. We’ve talked about it before here on the blog, and discussed the fact that piercers are only human. We do sometimes make mistakes. Perhaps we lose the transfer on a piece of jewelry, and the angle comes out less than perfect. If you are like me, perhaps you use the strength  too often and break the threads off a threaded cluster. Whatever the case, we make mistakes sometimes. The mark of a truly great piercer, in my opinion, is not never making mistakes, but

As some of you may know, I recently got top surgery! This has been a process 3 years in the making, and something I’ve been dreaming about for far longer than that. I opted for one of the most popular forms of top surgery- double incision without nipple grafts. This is one of the largest and most invasive surgeries I’ve had done, if not the most invasive. It was also the first time I needed to wear retainers for surgery, and I wanted to share my experience. Specifically, I wa

“I don’t know how to sell you earrings at the end of the world” I posted this a few days ago on my professional page, part of a longer piece about how difficult it feels to market myself right now as a piercer with everything happening, as well as a reconnection with some of the more connective, ritual, deeper elements of piercing. Of creating and then holding space for ritual pain, pain that people have used to process the horrors for hundreds of years. But what I didn’t put

We are approaching the one-year mark of my offering my sliding scale program in it’s most robust form, and I wanted to discuss what that has looked like for us at Nexus! I was first inspired to do a sliding scale after seeing many tattoo artists and hair stylists offer something similar, as a way to help those with lower incomes or different living situations still access safe services. This resonated with me heavily in a world where many of these service industries are becom

As 2025 comes to a close, I find myself reflecting on a year that has been both profoundly beautiful and deeply challenging. This year was nothing short of transformative. A dream long held finally came to life with the opening of Nexus Body Arts and the birth of the Nexus Body Suspension team. For years, I envisioned a space that would embody care, connection, intention, and liberation—and in 2025, that vision stepped into reality. I began teaching and hosting classes for Se

So you’ve gotten a genital piercing, you’ve been responsible for the first few weeks, you’ve cleaned things, you’ve worn the best underwear, and you’ve avoided anything too strenuous with it. It’s feeling good, the bleeding has stopped, and the swelling is down. You feel like maybe it's time to enjoy the fruits of your labor! But….wait. How do you do that safely? What do you watch out for? It’s a bit awkward to ring your piercer and ask, “How do I have sex again?” It’s a some

So we’ve looked at the classic helix piercing , and its popular counterpart, the forward helix . We’ve even discussed the recently popular vertical helixes . So of course, I have to round out the subject by talking about helix fold piercings! Sometimes called catflap or ear rim piercings, these are piercings done through the folded ridge of tissue at the tip or the ear. These are very anatomy-dependent piercings that require a very specific ear to support. But if you do have

The piercing industry has gone through a great many iterations over the years. From earlobe piercings done at home by grandmothers and aunts, to the flourish of queer BDSM and leather piercing in the 70s and 80s, and the exploration of extreme body modification in the 90’s and 00s all the way to the modern gold and diamond-covered ears. Many who have been in this industry through its changes lament a loss of some of the magic that made piercing unique back in the day. In the

Let’s talk about makeup and piercings! Now, I already have a blog post all about how makeup can affect things with healing and healed piercings (and one on skincare for my skincare folks!). But what about getting  pierced? See- folks want to look their best when they get a new piercing so they can show it off afterward. Of course, I understand the desire to share that new sparkle with everyone and get your new piercing selfie in. I do the same. But increasingly folks are c

I adore that this industry consistently gives me new experiences, new perspectives, and new things to focus on. We are about 6 months into Alex’s apprenticeship at the time of writing this, and he’s just done his 111th piercing! Watching him progress has been amazing, and what a wonderful feeling to see his growth and progress. I’ve known since very early on how excited I was to have an apprentice. When I was just getting into the industry, I was so so excited for my mentor a

We are continuing our 101 series with the Christina or Vertical Pubic Mound Piercing today! Christina piercings are fairly popular vulva piercings that sit on the pubic mound, and exit at the ridge of tissue just above the start of the clitoral hood. These anatomy-dependent piercings are visually stunning, being able to sport an array of decorative choices. However, unlike other genital piercings, they are non-functional, not providing any stimulation to the area. However, th

Recently, I had to have a filling replaced. A normal part of the aging process. I experienced some temperature sensitivity in the days following, and one night I made a note to call my dentist the next day and see what was going on. My dentist was out of the office and called me back the following day to chat. After a haircut and color touchup, I noticed there was a spot where the color didn’t take that was still bleach blonde. I messaged the studio, but it was my stylist's d

As a piercer, when I do a piercing, it’s with a singular goal in mind. I want it to heal. I want it to be a healthy, happy, healed...

I’ve already written about nostril piercing and high nostril piercings as part of my 101 series on my blog. So of course, we gotta add...

We’ve all woken up in the morning to find a disappointing pimple somewhere on our face. A little whitehead in the corner of our nose, or...

Body Jewelry is one of those topics I could probably write about for days and weeks and months and still not have covered a fraction of...

We have talked about downsizing before on this blog, as part of my Size Matters series, which you can read here . Downsizing is the...