HOW TO: HIDE PIERCINGS FOR WORK/SCHOOL

Body piercing is quickly becoming a popular trend. However, it still remains generally unacceptable in the workplace. That is not to say that you cannot have both piercings and a job. You must simply be a little more clever. In this guide, I will teach you how to hide (or at least disguise to some degree) your piercings.

SEPTUM PIERCING:

This is actually one of the easiest piercings to hide. If you are wearing a horseshoe or a staple (any U shaped rings), simply flip the ring upside down so that it sits inside the tip of your nose. Most people will not see it this way. However, I have had people point it out when wearing it like this, so if you really don't want it to be seen, try wearing a tiny black barbell with black beads. This is much harder to see. You want black because of the shadows inside your nose. Black will blend right in. If anyone can see that, they are far too close to you and have bigger problems than whether or not you have a nose ring.

LIP PIERCING:

Lip piercings can tend to be a bit more difficult to hide convincingly. If your piercing is fully healed, I recommend just leaving your jewelry out for your shift. If that is not an option, invest in some clear plastic or flesh colored snap in retainers. The snap in retainers are like a hollow T shaped post with a little cap that fits into the end. You can find them easily online. Do not waste your time with the retainers that look like a clear post with a little rubber circle that fits over the end. These are much easier to see and those little rubber bumpers get lost extremely easily. I do not recommend them.

SIDE NOSE PIERCING:

Simply, they make clear nose studs that make your nose piercing pretty much invisible.

TONGUE PIERCING:

You can buy clear tongue bars with pink (tongue colored) or clear beads. The pink ones are much less noticeable, but if someone sees it, they are likely to think you have some kind of tumor on your tongue (because the colors blend so that it looks like part of your tongue, not a piercing). They also make rubber tongue retainers with the little rubber bumpers, which are the most effective at hiding the piercing, but you will almost definitely swallow the bumper. If you can, you should just leave the jewelry out for your shift or keep your mouth closed when you talk.

BRIDGE PIERCING:

This piercing is deceptively easy to hide. Buy a clear tongue bar with clear beads. Get the smallest beads you can find. Put in the clear bar and then get yourself a pair of fake glasses. Make sure they have plastic lenses and not just an empty frame. You want them to be convincing as your actual glasses. When you wear the fake glasses in front of a clear bar,  this piercing is almost invisible because the clear beads look like part of the glasses.

EYEBROW PIERCING:

They make tiny clear and flesh tone curved retainers specifically for eyebrow piercings.

MEDUSA/MONROE PIERCING:

There are other piercings that can be hidden with the same, ever so handy snap in retainers that I mentioned earlier.

GAUGED EARS: While technically not a body piercing, you may need to hide the fact that you have gauges for job interviews and such. Many places sell flesh colored plugs. I prefer the clear silicone tunnels. If you wish, you can also try pushing a regular post earring into one of the flesh colored plugs. Online (especially Etsy.com), you can find many, many styles of plugs that look like pretty, regular earrings.

DIMPLES/DAHLIA/MICRODERMAL PIERCING:

Some piercings are a bit more extreme and cannot be easily hidden. If you must hide piercings for work, I recommend thinking twice before a piercing like this.

A FEW POINTERS:

Clear retainers can tend to pick up light and actually draw attention to your piercing, so if you have the option to buy flesh colored retainers, I would do so.

In most cases, what people don't know won't hurt them. It is better to automatically hide your piercings and ask later what your job's policy on body piercing is. Don't advertise the fact that you have piercings. If people know you have them, they will look for them.

ALWAYS hide all of your piercings when going to a job interview. Employers will often not hire a person based solely on their looks, regardless of how qualified for the job they may be.

If your piercing is healed and you can leave the jewelry out for a few hours, do it. The best disguise is having nothing in your face at all.

Remember, before getting a piercing, always consider whether or not you may need to hide it someday. Plan ahead, be clever, and keep lots of retainers handy.