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Hi friends, Y’all, the last two weeks have been so surreal. I’m constantly floored by the support. Thank you so much for helping me get this studio off the ground! Updates: Gift Card Sale Ending Soon: 10% off gift card purchases of $150 or more for only a few more days! October 31st is the last day to snag a little treat for your future self. Picture Day: In September, I really focused on learning how to take Picture of Jewelry On Table. Please help me figure out how to take Picture of Jewelry On Skin. If you have 2+ healed piercings from me (i.e. not actively swollen or crusty), book a Picture Day! Timeslot and get a $25 gift card at the appointment. (May be subject to rescheduling depending on the weather—I’d ideally like to use natural light if possible). Google Reviews: If I’ve pierced you before, a Google review would be immensely helpful! I’m in a situation where I don’t think a lot of folks in the neighborhood realize I’m here (I’m in a relatively quiet residential corner—hence the free parking!) so I’d love to get the studio on the map. Thank you so, so much to everyone who has left a review already. As an aside, I think the way Siri pronounces Rosefinch is kind of funny. University of Chicago Talk: I’m giving a talk at UChicago On Wednesday, November 6 at 7:30pm. If you’re a current UChicago student, you can sign up here. I hear there will be snacks. Instagram DMs: I am wholly unimpressed by the way that Instagram handles messages; it’s become way less reliable over the past few years. I am often not getting notifications about message requests for several days, or I have to really hunt for messages which shouldn’t be how that works. For time-sensitive inquiries, just shoot me an email! Webstore: More broken technology things: I’ve been experiencing a lot of weird syncing issues between my Point-of-Sale (POS) system and the webstore. I am considering turning off orders and having people just email if they are really set on purchasing something online. I actually kind of discourage ordering body jewelry online because it’s so easy to order the wrong size. (In what other context does 1 millimeter make or break your ability to wear something??) The intention behind the webstore was always to simply have a place for clients to get a sense of general pricing/offerings before coming in, never to run a full online shop! It’s always best to purchase things in person so I can help you with placement and sizing.
Ok, so I’ve been thinking long and hard about how to handle the re-processing worn jewelry policy. This is a little bit of a novel, so strap in. Don’t worry, there’s a TL;DR at the very end. First off, let’s establish some information: re-processing = the process of decontaminating and sterilizing worn jewelry, which typically involves running the jewelry through a disposable ultrasonic setup, soaking in enzymatic fluid, inspecting the finish, and running through a wrapped sterilization cycle. This is a much more involved and time-consuming process than sterilizing brand new jewelry, because with the latter, we’re not worried about eradicating biomatter. For a fresh piercing, one major school of thought is that it is okay to re-process a decorative endpiece only (the shiny fun part outside the body), but you still want to use a brand-new wearing surface (e.g. barbell shaft, flatback post, etc.), as that is what is actually living inside the brand-new wound. That way, you can ensure that there are no microscopic surface imperfections on your worn posts (caused from jewelry removals with tools, scratching against other pieces jewelry if bunched up in a bag, etc.). Imperfections on the wearing surface could potentially cause irritation in a brand-new piercing. Note that many studios will not re-process worn jewelry for new piercings or even insertion; they use fresh jewelry for everything only. Every studio has a different policy, so what I’m describing at Rosefinch/Luxe isn’t supposed to be a blanket description! Make sure to always check a studio’s policies first.
And in general, there is no re-processing jewelry worn by one client for another client; no sharing jewelry.
When I worked at Luxe Piercing Boutique, the main points of the policy were as follows: Fee: $20 reprocessing fee; applied to either jewelry re-processed for insertion or for a new piercing. Jewelry Insertions: We could re-process and insert worn jewelry if it was previously purchased at Luxe only. New Piercings: We could re-process and pierce with worn jewelry if it was previously purchased at Luxe only. (And we would need to use a new wearing surface/flatback post/barbell shaft for a new piercing, as mentioned before.) Outside Jewelry: No outside jewelry insertions at all. Which is a super fair blanket policy – it can be weird purposefully installing potentially harmful jewelry (e.g. externally threaded, mystery metals, etc.). You also don’t know if the piece can run through your autoclave without damage to the piece or your equipment. In the case of recognizable, high-quality jewelry from an outside studio: if the piece breaks and it’s from a company you don’t have an account with, then the client needs to go find their original piercers to initiate repairs. And even if it’s from a company you do have an account with, you assume the responsibility and costs of getting it repaired, even if the piece did not originate with you.
Here’s the policy I’m proposing at Rosefinch: Fee: There is a $20 fee to cover the re-processing/re-sterilization of outside/worn jewelry. Insertions: We can only assist with inserting outside jewelry if it can be identified as a piece from a jewelry company that we have a wholesale account with. Some designs are very distinctive; we may also ask to verify by receipt. If the jewelry is from a wholesale company we have an account with, that means we can: Verify the exact metal composition of your jewelry (and therefore confirm that the material is biocompatible/safe to use) Knowingly sterilize the piece in our autoclave without damage to either the jewelry or our equipment Cover the piece under manufacturer's warranty and assist with repair should the piece break Please see our FAQ for the list of companies we have wholesale accounts with.
New Piercings: Out of an abundance of caution, we are a little stricter with jewelry used in fresh piercings. For fresh piercings, we will re-process decorative endpieces previously purchased at Rosefinch only. No re-processing endpieces from outside studios for fresh piercings (even if from a wholesale company we have an account with), with one exception: To provide a sense of continuity for our clients from Luxe Piercing Boutique, we will make an exception for decorative endpieces purchased at Luxe. However, the re-processing fee will be $30 so that Rosefinch can continue to offset the cost of free downsizes (i.e. a new shorter wearing surface once the inflammation period ends) on piercings performed at the studio. Barbell shafts and labret posts are normally $20 - $25/ea. Offering free downsizes is actually not the norm (truthfully, Luxe is the only other studio I know of that still offers this), but it’s really important to us that we do this for the health of your piercing. The exception for pieces purchased at Luxe Piercing Boutique specifically is because myself and Elaine worked at Luxe, so we were there when you got the piece and know the history of your pieces.
No sharing jewelry between clients; that is, we cannot re-process one client’s worn jewelry for another client’s use. Please note that we will want to use a brand new wearing surface (e.g. flatback post, barbell shaft, etc.) for each new piercing, as the wearing surface is what actually makes full contact with the wound! But again, this will be downsized free of charge once your inflammation subsides. As a note: A more cost-effective option is actually to just buy a brand new titanium endpiece. The cost of a titanium ball or disc would be the same as the re-processing fee for pieces purchased at Rosefinch ($20), and actually less than the re-processing fee for endpieces purchased at Luxe. This also saves time during the appointment; re-processing a worn endpiece takes about 10 additional minutes of active jewelry processing + a 15-20-minute autoclave cycle whereas running a brand-new piece of jewelry takes about a 7-minute autoclave cycle that can overlap with cleaning, marking, etc. for time efficiency. Because the appointment time needs to be longer, that means that we can take fewer clients per day when we have re-processing appointments. Especially because the piercing staff at Rosefinch is quite small (it’s me! And occasionally Elaine!), there’s no one else who can re-process jewelry in the background of our appointment to make things go faster.
I’m always open to feedback, so please let me know if this seems wildly off-base. I want to prioritize offering free downsizes as they’re crucial for the health of your piercings. However, it is quite truthfully a costly offering to maintain, which is why it’s an uncommon practice and is an especially challenging thing to make happen right off-the-bat as a brand-new studio. I totally want to support the reuse of your jewelry, but it gets tricky when it’s from another studio. (To be clear—and I’ve gotten asked about this a lot—I was only ever an hourly employee at Luxe, never an owner/manager. So while I am still friends with the folks who work there, I am not affiliated with them from an employment standpoint anymore. Rosefinch and Luxe have always been two completely separate entities.) PHEW. Thanks for making it this far. Here’s the TL;DR of that new policy: Re-Processing Fee: $20 fee for re-processing worn jewelry from brands we have wholesale accounts with. Insertions: We only re-process and insert worn jewelry from brands we have wholesale accounts with. It’s ok if was not purchased at Rosefinch. New Piercings: We can re-process endpieces purchased at Rosefinch for use in new piercings; we can also re-process endpieces purchased at Luxe for a $30 re-processing fee. No other outside jewelry, even if it’s from a brand we have a wholesale account with. A new wearing surface is always required. No Jewelry Sharing: We cannot re-process jewelry worn by one client for use by other clients. Cost-Effective Tip: New titanium endpieces are often a faster and less expensive option than re-processing worn jewelry.
So…just trying to juggle a fair way to distribute costs so that we can provide free downsizes, maintain continuity for clients from our previous studio, and still sustain the business! Lastly, on the topic of downsizes: just want to clarify that downsizes are free of charge for piercings performed at Rosefinch. For piercings performed at other studios (including Luxe), it’s the cost of the post ($20) with a $5 downsize discount (so $15/ea). If you were pierced at Luxe and have yet to get your downsize, you should totally just redeem that free post from them. Thanks for reading this far, thank you endlessly for keeping in touch. Please, don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions! Talk soon, Nia
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