Forward Facing Nostrils 101

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 forward-facing nostrils aka Mantis Piercings to the 101 series, especially with how popular these have been getting. And I am so beyond here for it, I think these piercings are so cute and fun, I love how they look, and I really enjoy getting to do them. They are a statement piece for sure sitting right in the center of your face. They are also a deceptively difficult piercing to get and heal, they can be prone to migration in ways classic nostrils are often not, and they can leave some more serious scars. There’s a lot to consider before getting these done, so let’s take a closer look at everything you should know before getting these piercings!

But first, some historical fun. Shannon Lariat on modblog first posts about mantis piercings in 2012, done and dubbed mantis by Massimo Cortese of Wildink tattoo studio in Naples, Italy, and not that long after a set done by Mateo Way on Pauly, and then a set from Luis Garcia. However, he later reported that Brian Skellie’s wife, Sandrine, had done her own set of these for over a decade before that first set by Massimo. He also notes that this placement has a long history in a number of various indigenous societies. When we consider modern body piercing and the piercing industry, mantis piercings are a fairly "new" thing, and their recent explosion in popularity is definitely a newer trend. I never stop being excited by what piercings resurge in popularity and which decline, and the history behind how we do the piercings and placements we do today. So a major nod to Sandrine, Massimo, Mateo, and Luis for having an early hand in popularizing this placement.

Anatomy

Like most piercings, these are quite anatomy-dependent. There are two main factors we look at with anatomy considering forward-facing nostrils. The first is the amount of space inside the nose for these. Good anatomy for this placement has a decent amount of space at the tip of the nose for these to rest internally without resting against the septum and putting pressure on things. This is not anatomy that can be assessed visually, but rather anatomy that needs to be felt. I’ve seen plenty of noses that, at a glance, you may not think would have any space internally to support these, but upon feeling with your fingers, are actually quite spacious and has plenty of room.

The second anatomical factor can be visually assessed. In fact, you can even check it at home- its’ the shape of the tip of your nose! The shape of the tip really helps us determine how we can place these and how they will rest. If you told your head downward and look down at the shape of your nose, you can see how much flat surface area you have and how this will effect placement.

Clients who have broad, flat nose tips will have the easiest time with these and the most opportunity for placement. Clients with narrow more asymmetric nose tips may have more limited placement options and may have a trickier time getting things to sit symmetrical. Fortunately, there are a variety of placements we can do along the nose, and we can adjust the placement to accommodate for the shape of your nose. If the very tip of your nose has too much curvature for things to sit in a way you like, we can go slightly lower down or further out to get things to sit more symmetrically. We can also sometimes go a bit higher up, based on your nose. But the shape of your nose truly does make a huge difference in how these sit and look aesthetically, and you should really consider how much space you have on your nose, what jewelry you are hoping to wear, and how that will flow together! In fact the shape of your nose is probably one of the biggest factors in determining placement. I strongly suggest folks come in having an idea of the placement they prefer but also being willing to go with the placement that works the best for their anatomy- whatever that ends up being!

Initial Jewelry

In my blog post about nostril piercings, I run down all the different styles we can use for them. Now when it comes to forward-facing nostrils, I exclusively use threadless style pieces, for a few reasons. One, those spaces in the nose are much more narrow, and I want jewelry that is going to rest comfortably inside those spaces. Screws, L-Bends, and the like are just so much metal to have in your sinuses, and they can collect and trap a lot of debris and boogers. I do swap between flat backs and bead backs depending on clients' anatomy, other existing piercings they have, and lifestyle factors. I do find bead backs can often be easier to keep clean with crust or boogers while things are initially healing. However the larger bead can also be comfortable for some clients or interact negatively with other piercings or the septum, so the backing style is determined on a case-by-case basis. Fortunately, these do not tend to have a ton of swelling, so they can be started at similar lengths at traditional nostrils and be much less obtrusive, and take up much less space inside the nose. Even with that many clients will end up getting multiple downsizes as these usually go to a very small very fitted length once fully healed.

Now the other element of initial jewelry is the gauge or thickness of the pieces. Forward-facing nostrils can be a bit more prone to migration than other placements in my experience. On the tip of the nose, they are more likely to catch and snag, and they have a tendency to get banged around a lot more than other nostril placements. Piercing them slightly thicker at 16g or 14g allows for increased stability against these things, and overall seems to allow for significantly better healing. I’ve done these at both 18 and 16g at various points in my career, and I dramatically see a difference in healing at 16 for stability and irritation. Especially if your plan is to wear chains or bars, or even larger ends, this slightly thicker size is also much more stable for this. But, a thicker size is going to leave much more visible scarring. Already these leave pretty noticeable dimpled scars on the front of the nose even at 18g, so piercing at 16 or 14 is going to leave even more severe scarring. So we do need to weigh the pros and cons of what size we start at and the end result.

And lastly, the decorative element of jewelry. While many folks want the smallest, daintiest piece they can get, this is still a fresh piercing we are talking about. With small ends, if this is yanked or snagged hard enough, they can pull through the piercing channel. As a general rule 2mm-3mm tends to be a sweet spot for initial piercing, where even if you do accidentally snag it, it won’t pull through. I personally won’t use something smaller than a 2.5mm in an initial forward-facing nostril because of this risk. This goes in the other direction as well. While I love, truly love big, bold pieces in nose piercings….they really often aren’t the best for initial piercing. 3-4mm ends is often the largest folks will use. And this is only with flat styles- I outright won’t use prong settings or tall pieces on initial high nostrils. They are too snaggy, too likely to get bumped or caught, and I see them cause way too many issues during the healing process for it to be worth it. You can of course, use a cabochon cut gem, a disc, pave setting, and any matter of larger, flatter styles to wear big ends in nostril piercings. These pieces are stunning but they are also a major amount of work to keep clean during healing, and also can sometimes catch and snag more. I’ll use large ends like this on clients after a discussion of the risks and responsibilities needed. So if you love jewelry that’s really really small or really really big, ask yourself if you want to deal with the process of healing with those pieces and the potential risk of more difficult healing and migration, or if you want to compromise on something easier for healing to start and get your goal piece once you heal. And please respect piercers who don’t want to pierce you with either end of the spectrum to start- it’s because we see the issues very small and very large ends cause and we don’t want you to deal with that.

Healing Expectations

Good news- forward-facing nostrils generally tend to be pretty easy healers! They often heal very similarly to traditional nostrils, if not a tiny bit easier. The tissue we pierce through for forward-facing nostrils is often a little thinner than your traditional placement, especially on clients with good anatomy for these. This means they go down in swelling pretty quickly and can usually be downsized a little sooner. Most clients getting these already have other nostril placements, and across the board, the general feedback I see is that these are easier.

That said, it may not be easier for everyone. With these on the front of the nose they can catch and snag much easier than a traditional placement, especially when taking shirts on and off, washing your face, sleeping heavy in your pillows, giving folks hugs, so many different daily activities can cause these to get caught or snagged. And these snags can cause some irritation, but even migration. While it's very uncommon for these to reject, they do migrate easily. Since that tissue at the tip of the nose is often a little thinner on many clients' anatomy, that means it’s easier for a good catch or snag to cause that migration. This is especially unfortunate in this placement since folks are usually doing these paired, and you want those pairs to be in perfect alignment. Being extra cautious during healing and wearing lower profile pieces that minimize snagging, and staying on top of downsizing, will really help.

Forward-facing nostrils can often have a lot of this back and forth due to this- and that means a lot of time spent coming back into the studio for various downsizes, upsizes, swapping ends to help deal with irritation and a lot of communication with your piercer for troubleshooting and healing. Obviously, as piercers, we hope every client has a smooth, seamless, easy process of healing any piercing we do for them. But I’m a realist- and forward-facing nostril piercings can be hard for some people to heal. While I’m very grateful that most of my clients have had a very easy time with these, don’t be hard on yourself if you don’t. These can be tricky for some!

There you have it folks, a comprehensive breakdown on all things to consider when getting your forward facing nostrils pierced! These piercings are adorable, wear so many fun styles, and compliment almost every facial piercing setup. I hope this blog post can help you prepare and make some informed choices about placement, jewelry, and aftercare. Happy healing!