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At Maria Tash's three piercing studios — located in New York, London, and Rome — new looks are put through a series of trials and tests before they make it into the beauty zeitgeist. "We're always beta testing new trends," she told Refinery29, "And for 2018, we'll be releasing a few of them." The jewelry designer and longtime piercer is one of the most respected in the game and says the ear is due for a comeback.
Famed L.A. piercer Brian Keith Thompson, who's worked with entertainment industry elite — Jennifer Lawrence, Beyoncé, Emma Stone, and FKA Twigs are just a few clients — agrees. He notes that naval and septum piercings have both plateaued, the nipple has slowed down, and lip piercings and dermals are "as dead as your Christmas tree," he jokes. "It's going to be the year of the ear," he reports. "I predict that the snug, the upper lobe, and multiple constellations are going to be big."
Tash notes that nipple piercings are still popular in New York and the naval is surprisingly big in Rome, but when it comes to the ear, she plays favorites with the high lobe. "It's first place for 2018," she says. "It's the most under-appreciated middle zone between the lobe and a really low helix."
Don't worry if these terms are lost in translation. Ahead, Thompson and Tash break down the most popular looks in L.A., the first big placement that is officially through beta testing in New York, and more.
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