We get a lot of questions on the daily. Our frequently asked questions are always: How does this jewelry work? How do I open this? So we figured we would give you a little photo diagram on how some of our jewelry works.

Threadless Jewelry: works with pin pressure, in order for it to fit securely in a post the pin on the decorative end must be bent slightly. When inserted into the post the pin straightens out and is held in securely. To much of a bend and you run the risk of snapping the pin or damaging the end. To little of a bend and the end will either run the risk of falling out.

Threaded Jewelry: all of our threaded jewelry is interal. Which the decorative end has the threading and the post has the hole for it to be threaded onto. Similar concept to anything else that screws together, a righty tight, lefty loosey concept is how you would thread things together. We throw slight caution at over tightening as that can strip the thread and cause issues. We do recommend checking your ends every so often to insure they are “locked” on.

Seam Rings: these are the rings that do not have balls, and give you that perfect illusion of the circle being complete. People run into issues opening and closing these all the time and mostly end up ruining the piece. In order to instal these you would torque the ring open into a “S” shape and close it with equal pressure in the opposite direction. You will never want to open these like a bag of chips and create a “U” shape as it will never return to the normal look and will most likely damage the jewelry in the long run.

Captive Bead Rings: similar to an seam ring these will need to be opened and closed in the same fashion, but will be complete with a “dimpled ball” that pops in to keep the ring secure. To install the ball you will want to set one part of the dimple into one side of the ring and just pop in the other side until you feel it click. Simlar concept on removal, just apply pressure to one side of the ball and it should pop out easily.

As always we are always happy to help with installs and removals at the shop. We currently aren’t working on under the mask piercings due to the pandemic, so we hope that this diagram and descriptions help you if you need it.

If you’ve been an OG client of ours, you’ve probably noticed our jewelry displays evolve over time while we shift focus and adapt to new trends. In the last four years, we’ve gradually broadened our selection to include solid 14/18kt gold and genuine stones pieces.

Its been a wild ride with ups and downs, but we love being able to showcase that piercings can be professional and elegant while still giving you the edge that we all remember from the 90’s (albeit, Corey does love bulky hoops from time to time).

Remember, your body deserves the best of the best, and we are happily here to help you get there.

As you all know very well, we are currently dealing with a world wide pandemic ravishing the streets like a zombie from The Walking Dead.

After being shut down for four months, things are running slightly different for us here. We were typically a walk-in studio for many of our services. Whether it was last minute tattoo decisions or a quick stop through to creep on our jewelry cases. These are memories of the past, for now.

We quickly had to adapt to an appointment base service for anything, and we mean anything, to allow time for deep sanitizing in-between clients; to keep the flow of traffic to a minimum and drop the amount of contact between our employees and clients alike.

We put a halt to under mask piercing services to minimize the potential risk of contracting anything and putting our selves and others in danger. We understand other studios might be allowing it, but we care about our safety. So please bare with us while we navigate this.

Studio policies have also change dramatically:

We are not offering any additional company into the studio to tag along during your appointments (that means no hand holders or team to root you on while you get your Pinterest design). We are taking temp checks and asking everyone to sanitize your hands and phone upon entering the studio. We ask that you leave any extra baggage in the car with you, please just bring what you immediately need to your appointments. No outside food or beverages. Leave them in your car, you can grab them when you take a break. You will also be required to wear a proper face mask during your entire visit at the shop. No questions. If you refuse to abide by this, you will be asked to leave.

Any tattoo related inquiries can be done via email @ darkstar.tattoo@yahoo.com

Overall, please be kind to us and realize we are experiencing these changes right along side you.

We’ve been little MIA recently, over a year, how time flies. A lot has changed in the shop over this time. We’ve had renovations, losses, new hires, but the heart of Darkstar is still strong.

Let’s get introduced to some of the new faces in the shop:

We have Nina, an ex-circus performer that we found wondering the woods singing Fleetwood Mac songs to the ghosts of the night (this might be fraudulent, but we love a good story). Nina joined us last August and has been a perfect addition to our family.

Next up we have Neil. After back packing through the Mediterranean, searching for treasure on sunken ships and fighting deep sea monsters, he got tired of the sea life and wanted to gain his land legs back. With an eye for detail you can understand why we’d kidnap him and steal his soul.

Both of them can be found at the shop, along with our other artists Tuesday through Saturday.

Booking, for tattoos (due to COVID-19 ravishing the world and flipping our lives upside down for the foreseeable future), is a little different. In order for us to set things up:

Please send and email to darkstar.tattoo@yahoo.com and:

– include your name, number, and artist you are looking to book with

– any reference photos you have

– location and any other details you might need to relay

Due to us being shut down for 4 months and trying to get through the back log of previously cancelled appointments, please expect some delays with us reaching back out to you. Generally you should receive a response back within 2-3 business days.

Piercing appointments can be booked through our “Piercing” section with any of the links at the bottom of that page.

Black Friday Specials

5$ OFF ALL PIERCINGS

AND WHEN YOU PURCHASE

100$ IN GIFT CARDS YOU RECEIVE

A FREE DARKSTAR T-SHIRT.

We hope to see you all Black Friday!

and as always thank you for your continued support of us!

We are so appreciative of it all!

-Darkstar Tattoo

Our friend Liberty is starting her senior project for her last year in college and asked us if she could come by and take some shots of the shop and crew!  @libertyheyesphoto

The internet is a wonderful place to get sucked into the void. With answers being at our fingertips in any given second. Piercing aftercare is a very broadly answered thing. You can search this topic and end up with multiple suggestions and it can be very confusing.

While every artist and studio will recommend something different, there are a few things you should avoid.

• Rotating and/or twisting your jewelry.

This very old wives tale of your jewelry getting “stuck” if you’re not moving it is a myth. You just end up causing more trauma, which is not needed. Would you rip the scab off your skinned knee every morning? No. Thats pretty much what you’re doing every time you spin your jewelry. Just let it chill, and allow your body to do it’s thing.

• Bactine/ Neosporin/ Alcohol.

None of these are actually helping your piercing heal. It’s a puncture wound, not a paper cut. Using Neosporin can potentially trap bacteria and not allow your wound to breathe. Which can just leave you in a sketchy situation you do not need to be in.

• Sleeping and unwanted pressure.

Avoid sleeping directly on your piercing site. This can just prolong healing and make things more irritated and cranky.

Our shop is very focused on just allowing your body to do what it’s supposed to do. It’s made to heal things, so just leave it alone. Rinse thoroughly after a shower, don’t pick at the crusty friends that are on it, and just keep it clean.

If you are a client that prefers having something to clean with, Sterile Saline Wound Wash is a go to product. Use twice a day to help irrigate the wound site and just making sure all products are off. After, just lightly wipe or pat dry.

Overall, keep it clean, don’t mess with it, and enjoy you new adornment.