Those who listen to the latest piercing news and trends in Toronto & Vancouver will have heard an earful about the curated ear recently. Those who have looked into it know just how appropriate the term “earful” is for this new ear piercing trend.

What is the curated ear?

The curated ear is a term coined by famed jewellery designer, Maria Tash. It’s multiple ear piercings planned to work together. The curated ear is a celebration of piercing as an art form - you curate your ear piercings with carefully selected pieces, as you would picking paintings for a gallery. Curated ear piercings are generally done over a longer period of time, even though they are planned to work together. As a rule, we recommend not exceeding 3-4 piercings at any one time. This allows for the best piercing aftercare treatment and healing conditions. The intention is for each of the piercings in a curated ear to be beautiful on its own. So you can spread out the piercings over weeks, months, or even years without hindering your personal style. The end result is to have all these piercing compliment each other, your ear shape, and personal style for an enhanced look. But you don’t sacrifice your style on the journey there.

Advantages of the curated ear

The biggest advantage of the curated ear is that it is customized entirely to you. The end result fits your look, personality, and needs. Most of the advantages of this ear piercing strategy come down to the benefits of customization.

Planning ear piercings ahead of time

The curated ear involves planning your ear piercings ahead of time. This is a big advantage over simply getting multiple ear piercings over time. For one, all of the jewellery and piercing placements are pre planned to ensure they compliment each other. So the end result is a series of piercings and jewellery that look great and intentional. A second advantage of preplanning your piercings is that it allows more creative freedom. Too often, planning is regarded as a barrier to creativity. But with piercings, this is far from the reality. Existing ear piercings place more limitations on what a piercing artist can do with new ones. They are forced to work around the existing piece. But, when you plan them all out ahead of time you can figure out the exact placements you want so that they do not interfere with one another.

Matching piercings to your ear

All ears are unique. They differ in size and shape. What works for your friend is not necessarily the best look for you, and vice versa. By planning out piercings with the curated ear, you get to lay them out in a way that best compliments the unique shape of your ear.

Curated ears are truly unique designs

Those looking for unique piercings need look no further than the curated ear. With each piercing and jewellery piece individually chosen, odds are you will create a combination that no one else in the world has. Yes, you can look to others for inspiration, but it’s a great time to create a design unique to you.

Match your personal style

The customizability of the curated ear means the end result is a series of piercings that matches your personal style. You can enhance and embolden an existing look, or develop a new style altogether. A curated ear project can be as bold or discreet as you choose.

How many piercings in a curated ear?

There is no set number of piercings for a curated ear project. Most of these ear projects have at least 4 piercings, but there is no specific goal range you need to fall into. The goal is to match the piercings to your personality, look, and ear. Not the other way around.

How many piercings are too many?

There’s no defined upper limit for the number of piercings in a curated ear. Granted, you don’t want to have an overcrowded look. Consider the size of your jewellery and ear to allow for adequate spacing. Below, we see Scarlett Johansson with a 10 piercing curated ear at last years Oscars. Scarjo has mostly smaller jewellery pieces, so the design is carefully crafted to allow for many piercings that don’t infringe upon each other. Numbers as high as 12 to 14 piercings are not uncommon.

What type of piercings and jewellery are used in curated ears?

Ultimately, you can do whatever you want with a curated ear. However, there are some standard practices for choosing your jewellery and piercings. For starters when picking multiple ear piercings you want to pick piercings that compliment your features. For example, you can use earlobe piercings if you want to make your ear appear flatter, or helix piercings to make your ear more prominent. Additionally, you want the piercings to compliment each other. For example, a tragus piercing can be a nice compliment across from upper ear helix piercings. Some of the most common piercing types for curated ears include:

• Conch
• Snug
• Daith
• Orbital
• Rook
• Tragus
• Helix
• Lobes

Picking the right jewellery for your piercings is just as important. Generally, most of the pieces will be smaller, such as studs and rings with just a few or single larger piece. Try to pick jewellery pieces that compliment each other. That doesn’t mean they all need to be the same material or style. But they do need to come together to complete one look. Just like putting a wardrobe together.

Getting curated ear piercings in Toronto & Vancouver

You can do your own research to design a curated ear. But most people start these projects by consulting with an ear piercing specialist. You can start getting the first piercings on the day of your consult. Then you can plan dates for your next round of piercings, or come in for walk-in ear piercings. It doesn’t matter how long you take to finish your curated ear, but it’s always best to stick with your vision.