 Children’s lobe piercings are a service that we love being able to offer at Bink’s. We appreciate that clients are more educated than ever on the benefits of visiting a professional piercing studio instead of a retail store that offers ear piercing. In order to continue offering this service at the level we provide, we have some guidelines in place based not only on the Florida Department of Health’s legal requirements, but also on our own personal ethics and standards as members of the Association of Professional Piercers. This blog post exists to give a detailed overview of these guidelines and provide some clarity on what to expect when booking for children's lobe piercings.
Establishing informed consent is essential with any service we provide, and it gets a little more complicated in the case of a child’s piercing. In order to respect your child’s bodily autonomy, we want to be certain that they fully understand the process of receiving and caring for their lobe piercings, and we want the person performing the piercings to feel comfortable and confident that they have established informed consent. There are also several documentation requirements set out by the Florida Department of Health to verify legal consent, including a notarized consent form paired with photo identification (for guardian and child) and proof of guardianship. In order to ensure that we can meet these guidelines, we have a minimum age requirement of 8 years old for lobe piercings at our studio. We also require an initial consultation appointment separate from the piercing appointment. We know it can be a little inconvenient to plan two trips to our studio, but this is the best way we’ve found to ensure things run as smoothly as possible on the day of your child’s piercing. It gives you and your child a chance to familiarize yourselves with our studio, meet your piercer, and ask as many questions about the process as you’d like.
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We believe that safe piercings should be accessible to as many people as possible, regardless of socioeconomic status. One of our goals as a studio is to provide affordable services while upholding high standards and paying our employees a reasonable, living wage. Transparency about pricing helps our clients to understand how much they should expect to pay and what they are paying for so they can better make decisions for themselves regarding their piercing services. The goal of this blog is to provide transparency for not only the initial cost of a piercing, but potential subsequent costs over time. The final price of any service provided at Bink’s is dependent on two factors: the cost of the service (this covers set-up materials, tools, & labor and contributes to other overhead costs) and the cost of any jewelry purchased.
In addition to the initial price of the service & jewelry, piercing clients can expect to pay the cost of any aftercare products they choose and future additional jewelry costs for necessary downsizes. To make downsizing even more accessible we waive the jewelry change service fee for initial downsizes and cap the price of each initial standard piercing downsize at $20. We really want you to downsize your piercings so that they have a better chance of healing successfully! It's also important to note that the cost of piercing supplies and jewelry is not static. As our manufacturers change their pricing, we may have to adjust our pricing to reflect that. That said, here are some cost breakdowns of what you can typically expect to pay for a new piercing with basic, high quality jewelry (think implant grade titanium balls & disks), organized by piercing: Ensuring our services are equally accessible to all of our clients is a priority to everyone at Bink's. While we acknowledge that there are still improvements to be made in our studio concerning accessibility, we want to provide an honest breakdown of what the studio is currently like. If there’s anything that isn't represented here that you’d like to know, we encourage you to reach out! We view creating an accessible space as an ongoing effort and welcome input from our community. Entering the StudioOur building is elevated 2.5 feet from the ground. Our front entrance (facing the street) requires 4 steps to reach the door to the lobby. We also have a side entrance (facing the parking lot) with a 4-foot-wide ramp, reachable by crossing the sidewalk or gravel parking lot and a patch of grass. Both exterior doorways are 3 feet wide. Neither entrance has an automatic operator, but our staff is available to open the door for you when necessary.
Procedure Rooms We have 3 private procedure rooms, each with 32-34 inch wide doorways. Doors to the procedure rooms remain open unless in use. Services are typically provided with the client laying down, and head & foot rests are available on all piercing tables. We are able to provide services with the client sitting up on exam tables and/or while using a mobility device if needed. You can always request a specific procedure room when booking your appointment or upon arrival.  Our most accessible piercing table is located in this room - it has a weight limit of 600 lbs and can be lowered to 19 inches. Sunset has two entrances, each with 32” wide doorways. This room can be accessed from the main lobby as well as the outside ramp; to reach Sunset from the exterior side door, there is a 1.5” lip that you have to pass over.
The piercing table in Woodpecker has a weight limit of 350 lbs and sits 32” from the floor with an 11” high step. This room is located a short distance from the main lobby and has a 34” doorway.
We aren’t positive of the weight limit for the piercing table in Oak - it’s an older model that we’ve been looking to replace. It sits 27” from the floor and has a 2” step that we can slide out if necessary but typically leave pushed in. This room is located a short distance from the main lobby and has a 32” doorway. Restrooms Our main client restroom is located across the hallway leading from the lobby/front entrance. The doorway is 27" wide with a 1/2" lip. With the door closed, there is 1 foot of clearance beside the toilet & 3 feet of clearance in front. The handwashing sink sits 3.5 feet from the ground. The door to this bathroom opens inwards.
We also have a secondary bathroom located near the side entrance with a 36" wide doorway. With the door closed, there is 2 feet of clearance beside the toilet & 4 feet of clearance in front. The handwashing sink sits 2.5 feet from the ground. The door to this bathroom opens outwards. If you would prefer to use this restroom, our staff is available to give directions. There are currently no grab bars in either restroom. SpanishOur counter staff Cindy is bilingual and able to assist with Spanish language interpreting. At this time, Cindy is typically available every Tuesday & Friday from 10am-6pm and alternating Mondays & Saturdays from 10am-6pm. Auditory & VisualOur staff members are willing to remove masks to assist with lip reading and/or communicate via text. Currently, none of our staff members are fluent in ASL. Our consent forms are all digital and completed with either the use of our iPad or your smartphone, meaning VoiceOver and other screen readers are compatible. Our staff is able to verbally express shapes, colors, and sizes when assisting with jewelry selection. Sensory & AllergenOur studio is well-lit and free of tripping hazards. Ambient noise and smells are minimal throughout the studio. No background music is played, and often the only sounds other than conversation are our HEPA air purifiers. We don’t typically use fragrances throughout the studio, but our cleaning products may leave behind a mild scent. Hayley BushProfessional Piercer/APP Member If you're a piercing enthusiast with great customer service skills, now is the perfect time to apply for a Counter Staff position at Body Piercing by Bink!
*** Sorry to disappoint, but we are NOT currently looking for (now or in the foreseeable future) Apprentice Piercers. *** We are looking for someone who:
Job Responsibilities (some shared, not all entirely on you):
Perks of the Job:
To apply, you can email a PDF copy of your resumé to info@bodypiercingbybink.com. If you'd like to drop your resumé off in person, please schedule an appointment (BodyPiercingbyBink.com/Booking) so that one of our Piercers is available for a quick chat. Since 1994, Body Piercing by Bink has been the place to go for body piercings done right. The first place in town to offer implant-quality body jewelry, we never wavered in our commitment to providing safe piercing experiences for every one of our clients. There are certain piercings we won’t do because they are not safe, like the one that goes horizontally through the tip of the tongue and comes with a high risk of gum erosion and dental damage. There are other piercings we caution against but will still perform if the client understands the risks and wishes to proceed, like getting a cartilage piercing on both ears at the same time. Our detailed disinfecting procedures between each client may have seemed excessive before COVID, but it’s just one of the ways we have continued to keep our environment clean and safe all these years.
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, as case numbers grew and medical professionals called for masks and social distancing, we struggled with the question, “what should we do?” At the end of March 2020, we decided the safest choice was for us to close our doors for a bit until this all blew over – after all, it’s awfully hard to do a piercing from six feet away. But as it became clear that this wasn’t going to just blow over, and without any business or income, it didn’t make sense to keep paying rent for our unused space. We moved everything into storage and said goodbye to our old location on north Monroe street. As the vaccines were rolled out and made more widely available, we dared to imagine a day we could safely return to piercing and decorating our community. By May, our entire staff received a full dose of an available vaccine. We started looking for a new place, and discussed new policies and procedures we would need to institute in order to keep ourselves and our clients safe. In June, we opened in our new location on McDaniel street with a few new rules: appointments are required for everything; masks are required for everyone; no more than one support person per appointment; and, under the mask services are only available to fully vaccinated clients who can provide proof of their vaccination status. For the last three months, we have been able to operate safely within these parameters and have been delighted to be back in action doing what we love. With few exceptions, our clients have been grateful for, or at least understanding of, our new policies. Occasionally we have had to turn away someone who had made an appointment and was excited to get a new nose/tongue/lip piercing, but neglected to read the lines in our booking and consent forms that state “proof of COVID-19 vaccination is required.” These situations are uncomfortable and unpleasant for everyone - we really love piercing and really hate saying no! But with the safety of our staff, their families, our clients, and our communities in mind, we have pushed through that discomfort and upheld our policies. The fact that none of our staff has gotten sick, nor have any of our clients reported COVID-19 or other illness after visiting us, speaks to the efficacy – but not infallibility – of these policies. Starting September 16, Governor DeSantis threatens Florida businesses with fines of up to $5000 per instance of asking for proof of vaccination. For a governor who has always claimed to be in support of small business, even announcing Florida to be “[re]open for business!” earlier than most other states last fall, this move is illogical at best. In public appearances DeSantis has reasoned that he’s trying to “protect individual freedoms, not corporate freedoms.” But small businesses like ours are made up of individuals; we serve individuals; and we have the right to refuse service to individuals as long as that refusal isn’t based on race, religion, sex, age, ability, or national origin. Pre-pandemic, it was widely considered legal and perfectly reasonable to refuse service to someone who threatens the health and safety of your workers or customers. Why should that be less true in a time of even greater risk? As body piercers, we are constantly at risk of exposure to bloodborne pathogens. OSHA has mandated that businesses with risk like ours should offer Hepatitis B vaccines to its employees. For veterinary technicians, the rabies pre-exposure vaccine and regular boosters are similarly required by OSHA. Schools, businesses, healthcare settings, and even the US military have been requiring vaccinations against the most prevalent vaccine-preventable diseases for over a century. The supreme court has ruled in multiple cases presented since 1922 that schools requiring vaccination are, in fact, constitutional, citing that one person’s rights do not include liberty to expose the community or child to communicable disease. As for anyone unwilling or unable to get the vaccine, their access to these communities was denied until infection rates slowed. For such deadly and devastating diseases as measles, mumps, rubella, polio, hepatitises A and B, pneumonia, meningitis, tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, and even chickenpox, we as a society have come to accept that vaccines are the most reliable and effective way to prevent infection and community spread. But the topic of debate here is not whether vaccines are effective, nor whether everyone should be required to get one, it is simply whether or not individuals and their businesses should be allowed to ask for proof of vaccination before deciding to provide a service that could expose its workers and other customers to a communicable disease. With the many precedents for even more invasive requirements surrounding vaccines, and considering the rights of businesses that Governor Desantis himself has previously advocated for, it seems like it should be an easy call. Unfortunately, Desantis’ executive order which goes into effect September 16th and imposes exorbitant fines creates a dilemma for businesses like ours. Once again we’re asking, what should we do? It isn’t in our best financial interest to withhold services from would-be paying customers, but we certainly can’t afford thousands of dollars a day in fines for maintaining our safety protocols. If the choice is between offering under-the-mask services to everyone, including unvaccinated clients, or offering those services to no one, the safer choice is obvious. Our commitment to safety has gotten us this far and we’re not about to sacrifice that now. Starting September 16th, we will no longer offer nose, lip, or tongue piercings for any clients, regardless of vaccination status. For under-the-mask JEWELRY CHANGES (for existing piercings, whether they were done here or elsewhere), we are requiring proof of a negative COVID test result within three days of your appointment. If you are vaccinated and would like to show us proof, you may opt out of the testing requirement by doing so. We sincerely hope that Governor DeSantis soon realizes the absurdity of this new rule and quickly retracts it. In any case, we anticipate that a discerning judge will soon declare Desantis’ order to be beyond his lawful powers as governor and we’ll be able to safely return to piercing your lovely faces!
Local Resources & Black-owned BusinessesBelow are a few local favorites, but there are so many more in Tallahassee. Branch out to find additional locally black owned businesses; we encourage everyone to check out these directories:
Restaurants, bakeries, and eateries
PRoFessional Services
CALLS TO ACTION & HOW TO GET INVOLVED
(Inter)national Shopping — Black-owned Products & RetailersSupport black entrepreneurs, makers, producers, growers, and retailers around the world.. Guides & Directories
Bookstores
Fashion
Artisan & Home Decor
Food
#BLM ResourcesGet involved with the Black Lives Matter movement. Calls to Action & Organizations
The following organizations have received overwhelming support during the last few weeks and have requested that other organization receive priority in donations. We still encourage watching these organizations for ongoing action and future needs.
BAIL FUNDS FOR BLM PROTESTORS
Media LibraryIntrospection, examination of bias, and intentional self-improvement is a lifelong process. It's important to view diverse stories, listen to a wide array of voices, and read words written by marginalized people. THINGS TO WATCH
Netflix
Criterion Collection (currently offering free streaming for content focused on Black Americans)
TedTalks
Other media outlets
Resources & Lists
THINGS TO LISTEN TO
Resources & Lists
CHILDREN'S READING LIST & RESOURCES
Books
Resource lists
Adult Reading List
Books
Resource lists
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322 McDaniel Street
Tallahassee, FL 32303 Appointment Only
Our usual availability is: Monday - Saturday 10 am - 6 pm |
The Association of Professional Piercers is a California-based, international non-profit organization dedicated to the dissemination of vital health and safety information about body piercing to piercers, health care professionals, legislators, and the general public. You can locate members of the APP by using their handy searchable database.
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