First off, I just want to say that I'm extremely disappointed to even write this review and this is in NO way a personal attack on Claudia. Scheduling my piercing with her was quick and easy via text ... Read More
First off, I just want to say that I'm extremely disappointed to even write this review and this is in NO way a personal attack on Claudia. Scheduling my piercing with her was quick and easy via text message, and she was very nice throughout my appointment and after. She really is a sweet woman! All of that aside, I'm really unhappy with the outcome of the nostril piercing I received from her. I told Claudia before my appointment that I wanted my nostril pierced with a hoop rather than a stud. So, after I arrived and finished the necessary paperwork she asked me what color hoop I wanted. She said she only had two choices: gold and rose gold. I made my choice (without ever actually seeing the jewelry or asking what she was going to use, which was a really bad call on my part) and we went on with the piercing. She finished and told me to check it out. The only mirror in the room was mounted flat on a wall, and I had to lean over a countertop to get my face even somewhat close to it to get a decent look. I couldn't see that well because of the distance between my face and the mirror and because my nose was so red, but I could see the curve of the hoop on my nose and it appeared to be in the correct place, so I was happy. I paid, tipped 20%, and left.I excitedly showed my husband as soon as I got home and his immediate response was, "why is the hoop open like that?" I was confused about what he meant, so I grabbed a handheld mirror and looked for myself, up close this time. Sure enough, there was a big and noticeable gap between the hoop and my nose - like the letter "C". It looked funny and definitely wasn't what I thought I was getting. After about an hour, I decided to text Claudia and ask about it for two reasons. 1) I didn't like the aesthetic of it - I wanted an actual hoop on my nose, not a "C" and 2) I was concerned about the open gap and potentially snagging it on something. It seemed like an accident waiting to happen. I text Claudia and asked if she could tighten it more to a circle. She said, "I tried tightening but it wouldn't get tighter. I'm sorry. Give it a few weeks and if you really can't stand it, buy a 14k gold hoop and I'll change it out for you." I told her that I was really worried about snagging it on something in the meantime and she said, "everyone has been good with these so far...this is usually the hoop that is used with first piercing." The following night, I just barely snagged my piercing on a makeup remover wipe despite being extremely careful not to. It hurt and pulled halfway out of my nose. That confirmed it; there was NO way I was waiting two weeks to get it fixed.I called a popular and reputable piercing studio in Morgan Hill and asked them to take a look. I went in and literally the first thing the piercer said to me was, "oh, honey...why did they let you leave like this?" Basically, it was exactly as I thought - my jewelry wasn't installed correctly. Claudia used what is called a "nostril nail" which is bent to give the appearance of a hoop, because the "nail head" and small gap is usually inside the nose where it can't be seen. However, she put the nail in "backwards", where the gap and the flat disk of the nail was on the outside of the nose. Apparently, nostril nails can be worn this way if you want a less "hoop-like" look; if I would have known and she would have asked me beforehand, I would have told her I didn't want that. I wanted the look of a plain, continuous hoop. Again, it is my fault for not being more inquisitive about the jewelry she was using and for assuming we were on the same page about what a "hoop" was. Regardless, the piercer in Morgan Hill agreed that the nostril nail should have been tightened much more, and the gap was a huge issue for potential of ripping it out and higher risk of infection. In the end, I had to buy a second piece of jewelry from this other studio and pay them to change it out for me, only 4 days after my initial piercing. Ouch!All in all, it was just a bad experience. I've since looked at Claudia's Instagram page, and it looks like every hoop nostril piercing she does is with a nostril nail and they are all "backwards". Which isn't a bad look and I could have lived with it, if she was able to tighten it more or offer more of a solution than "sorry, buy some more jewelry and come back in 2 weeks." I shouldn't have had to do that in the first place. She let me leave the shop knowing the piercing looked goofy and knowing it should be tighter. Having another experienced piercer say, "Wow, what in the hell?" when they saw my piercing confirmed that I wasn't being picky or unreasonable - it was just flat out bad. :( Read Less