Whether you’re an experienced piercer or someone just beginning to explore this beautiful form of art, you are sure to learn something from our need-to-know piercing terms from ENNUI's Piercing Professionals.

A 

Anti-tragus - A piercing placement that is located on the cartilage. The earring is placed through the skin on the small, curved area above your earlobe, adjacent to the tragus.

B

Baroque - A non-spherical, unique pearl that is used in accessorisation. Baroque pearls can be natural or cultured in fresh or saltwater. Pearl pendants can be attached to the end of your piercing piece for an extra detailed, elevated aesthetic. 

C 

Cuff - A piercing-free accessory that cuffs the ear similar to an earring. Cuffs are a great addition that can be used to curate alongside other pieces such as hoops, huggies, or labrets.  

Conch - The conch piercing gets its name from the ‘conch shell’. It's located in the inner part of your ear. When it comes to piercing placement, you can pierce your inner or outer conch!

D 

Daith - A piercing that passes through the ear's innermost cartilage fold, the elongated part of the helix. This placement takes about 6-9 months to fully heal but adds a unique side to your curation. 

Diamond - Diamonds are precious stones, composed of a clear crystalline form of pure carbon. They are the hardest naturally occurring substance. We use both black and white diamonds in our jewelry collection. 

E

Ear Pin - A larger, more obscure type of earring that is usually designed in a pin-shape. This design cannot be pierced with but they can be used for an already healed piercing. They curate very well with all other earring styles. Explore our selection of ENNUI ear pins here.

Emerald Cut - A rectangular (or square) cut gemstone that is placed in a square setting. 

F

Flat - A piercing that is located on the flat cartilage area below the ear's upper outer rim. They usually require a stud or flat-backed earring. 

Forward Helix - A piercing placement that is super similar to the helix piercing. The forward helix piercing is done at the top of the ear (on the front)/ or on the front side of the helix. 

G 

Gold - A soft metal that gets combined with alloys to create a basis for sturdy, pierceable jewelry. Our pieces are available in various shades of 14k gold– white gold, yellow gold and rose gold. Using authentic gold allows for a better healing process. 

H 

Helix - The helix piercing is a placement on the helix or upper ear cartilage. 

Hoop - The hoop is a circular or semi-circular shaped earring that can be opened to pass through an ear piercing. They vary in sizes and come with different details, gems and shades of gold. 

Huggie - Similar to a hoop, the huggie is also a circular shaped earring that passes through an ear piercing. It differs in that it physically ‘hugs’ the ear– hence the name ‘huggie’!

I

Industrial Piercing - A piercing placement that also goes by the name of ‘bar piercing’. It is typically pierced in the cartilage on the upper part of the ear. Two piercings are made and then connected by a piece of bar jewelry. 

J 

Jewelry - Ornaments typically made with precious metals or jewels. Hoops, huggies, labrets, studs and more are all types of jewelry specifically designed for earring ware. Our piercing studio in Stockholm has a large range of jewelry that you can pierce with or wear immediately for already healed piercings. 

K 

Karat - A karat is the measurement used to calculate the purity of gold. We carry different sized karats in our piercing studio. We have 14k gold pieces that you can get pierced with, to ensure higher quality jewelry and a better healing process for new piercings. 

L 

Labret - A labret stud is a flat-backed piece of jewelry that is comfortable to wear and great to pierce with. Similar to a stud, the labret is usually adorned with a detail on top such as a ball or gem. 

Lobe - The most popular placement to be pierced, located on the lower part of the ear. The lobe is the largest and softest part of the ear and is always a good choice for first time piercings. Because the lobe is a larger size, it is capable of having multiple piercings. We perform lobe piercings in our Stockholm studio. 

M

Mother-of-pearl - A type of gemstone used in earrings, originally derived from molluscs in the inner shell layer. The pearl has a shiny, iridescent gloss to it. You can add a pearl pendant to your already healed piercings such as a hoop.

N 

Nose Piercing - A piercing placement located on the lobe of the nose– either right or left side. It traditionally is pierced using a stud or a hoop.

O 

Organic Jewelry - A term used for jewelry that is constructed from natural, living elements or organisms– such as a pearl!

Oval Cut - The oval cut is a type of diamond cut, typically an elongated round shape. 

P 

Pave - A style of setting (most commonly seen with our diamond pieces) in which the stones are lined together as closely as possible to cover the entire surface of the setting for a ‘paved’ effect. Our piercing studio in Stockholm carries many pave set pieces.

Q 

Quartz - Quartz is the family name for natural crystals, they are composed of Silica or Silicon Dioxide. 

R 

Rhodium - When something is “rhodium-plated” it means that jewelry made from a base metal such as gold or silver, is then coated with a layer of rhodium. It is the whitest of all metals and is even rarer than gold and platinum. 

Rook - A rook piercing is placed through the inner edge of the uppermost part or curve in your ear. It is located just above the daith piercing, which is the smaller ridge above the ear canal. 

Rose Gold - Rose gold is an alloy made from a mix of pure gold and copper, giving it its pinkish tone. 

S 

Sapphires - ​​Precious gemstones derived from a mineral called corundum. Sapphires come in multiple vibrant colors. 

Second (Upper) Lobe - A piercing placement on the softest, largest part of the lower ear. Because of its size, the lobe can hold multiple piercings. It is located just above the first lobe piercing on the lowest part of the ear. 

Septum - Septum piercings are placed through the bottom part of your nose between your nostrils.

Stud - A stud is a type of earring that is constructed from a singular design attached to a rod that passes through the earlobe, connecting to a backing. It is traditionally adorned with a gemstone or other additive detail on the top.

T 

Topaz - Topaz is a gemstone used in jewelry and it comes in many amazing colors. You’ll find baby blue topaz in our collection.

Tragus - The tragus piercing placement is located beneath a daith piercing but just to the side of the ear canal on the cartilage formation. 

Tsavorite - A beautiful green gem cut from the garnet group of stones. Tsavorite gemstones are rarer than emeralds. 

U 

Upper Lobe - Also known as the ‘Second Lobe’ piercing. It is a piercing placement for the upper part of the ear lobe. 

V 

Vermeil - Vermeil is used for high-quality gold plating. It is silver which has then been plated, but it must be with up to 10k gold in order to be called vermeil. 

W

White Gold - An alloy combination of gold with nickel, zinc, palladium or platinum which produces a silver-white color to reflect the white, rare platinum tone. We have many piercing pieces that use white gold for optimal healing. 

Y 

Yellow Gold - An alloy of gold with silver and copper to develop a rich yellow tone, creating the most common color of gold. Some of our piercing pieces combine both yellow and white gold.

Z

Zinc - A metallic element, typically with a bluish-white tone, belonging to the Magnesium-Cadmium group.

Book your next Piercing at ENNUI Atelier.

Looking to up your ear game with a new (or maybe your first) piercing? At our piercing studio Stockholm we offer free 10-minute consultations. Click here to book an appointment, meet with our piercer, and get to curating.