Straight to the Point — Attraction in Tucson

This is an update to my last review which was made in store at the request of the manager and before any piercing or purchases were made. The day of my last review, I went in with my friend to get a second belly button piercing. We walked in and were greeted by Gina, whom we later learned is the manager (not a piercer). Gina told us that, if we wrote a good review that day they would give us a small discount off our purchase. As I had always had good experiences up to that point, I didn’t hesitate to write a positive review. During the visit, Gina, clearly a saleswoman with little to no piercing experience, encouraged my friend and I to get more jewelry and piercings than we intended. I walked out with my intended, second (lower) belly button piercing , and a lower helix piercing (unplanned). Along with a new piece ($$$$) for my upper belly button. My friend and I left feeling a little off given the very “sales” attitude that came from Gina and her initial greeting of “let’s have a piercing party” when it was like 30 mins to closing. Later, I looked at my belly button piercing and it looked crooked. It didn’t seem crooked at the studio so I thought maybe it was from swelling and that I’d give it some time. After a couple months, I could tell that the piercing was, in fact, crooked. I called and set up and appointment to have them look at my piercing. They brought me back to one of the piercing rooms and removed the piercing. After removing the piercing I was told that, after 30 day healing, they would (“generously”) not charge me for the re-piercing but since they don’t like re-piercing with already used jewelry they would “only” charge me for the new jewelry which was “only” $30.00. They also informed me that they wouldn’t charge me for taking out my crooked piercing. Mind you, I was never informed that there COULD be a charge for taking out a piercing (that they had messed up). I was simply sat down, and the jewelry removed. The idea of being charged for a new piece of jewelry because they pierced it wrong in the first place really bothered me. I followed up later on insta messaging with the same person and addressed this issue. Below is what I was told: “As per our conversation in the piercing room, I wanted to waive the new piercing fee for you and pierce with the lowest cost standard $30 titanium jewelry, but that will still need to be paid for when you come in. Our policy covers repierces completely for the first 30 days, but after that you’re typically charged a whole new piercing fee in addition to the new jewelry - I just made the personal call to waive your new piercing fee. Please let me know if you have any more questions!” — Ok, fair enough, I waited longer than 30 days to go back in in order to ensure that maybe the piercing was just still healing. But ok, 30 day policy sure, except the piercing was CROOKED. Moreover, when I went in and I got it, between piercings and jewelry, I had spent about $500 dollars total. I brought this to their attention and after that, they agreed to also waive the fee for the new jewelry. I wasn’t seeking new jewelry just a piercing done correctly. — I’m very disenchanted & don’t want to go back. I appreciated the professionalism of the piercer and that’s why I’m giving two stars. However, the overall vibe now if STTP feels like they are just there to sell sell sell. Before it felt like a place where the piercing was an art and they cared about it. It’s sad but I’ll be finding...

tl;dr This is the best piercing studio you will ever visit, ever.

Alright folks, grab your sippin’ whiskey, it’s story time. I was having an issue with a piercing I got in Feb at a different shop and called to get some advice. This piercing is known to have a LONG heal time but I was a little afraid I had accidentally caused some damage. My call was answered by Lisa, the owner. She spoke to me on the phone for about 15 minutes and explained (in great detail) what she would recommend doing to get things back on track and told me to swing by when I got off work. When I arrived, I was extremely impressed with the décor of the studio and the instant greeting I received entering the door. The shop is beautiful with one of kind custom welded artwork, it looks so clean I would eat a meal off of the employees, and it smells like a botanical garden while simultaneously smelling more sanitary than a hospital… I know I can’t explain it either. Valerie greeted me and listened intently as I explained my phone conversation with Lisa. Valerie let spill my whole spiel and then informed me she had already spoken with Lisa and was expecting me. Two of the apprentice piercers got the room ready while Valerie went over the process with me again. Valerie then asked if her apprentices could observe since it’s a relatively uncommon piercing, which I was fine with. (Even though it meant I would be in the room with three women. I will let you just read into that whatever you want) Valerie was very careful and steady-handed when she removed the jewelry and started taking care of the procedure all while giving excellent instruction to the apprentice piercers in a fashion I suspect was also intended to keep my nerves down. Right about this time, Lisa walks in (now 4 women in the room) and starts checking on everything and making sure I’m good and the apprentices are following along. Once she completed her initial evaluation, she let Valerie do her thing and Lisa took a stab (pardon the pun) at putting my mind at ease (remember, 4 women in the room) by being hilarious. To be clear, hilarious (and perfectly timed situational inappropriateness), are actions to which Lisa excels. During this, the comment was made that my jewelry was the wrong length size and Lisa recommended I change to the correct size. After some searching she found a barbell that was the correct length, however it was a slightly larger gauge. Admittedly, I put up very little fight before not-so-begrudgingly agreeing she was right and signed off on letting them perform the stretch. Again, Valerie, the consummate professional, gathered all the required tools and asked if I was ready. XO!!! And it was done like that. I barely even noticed the aching pain slip away as the entire team of gorgeous women kept my mind distracted (with excellent conversation you perv! What were you thinking?). Now it’s about 30 minutes after they were supposed to have closed and I am finally leaving the shop (of my own accord, they still weren’t kicking me out) with a completely changed perspective of what customer service actually looks like, a new barbell, a fresh bottle of cleaner, a remarkably fair price for the exceptional quality of service I received, and no doubts about where I will recommend EVERYONE go for their...

My son and I are long-time clients at STTP. My son got his ears pierced by Lisa when he was 9 and she was just finished with her apprenticeship. Now he's 17 and has had snakebites, septum, and other ear piercings and gauging done over the years. I have had gauging, septum, Medusa, and nostril piercings done. Lisa and her staff (especially Gina!) are always so kind and caring. There are always piercing apprentices learning the craft, and you may be the person Lisa asks permission to allow one of them to hone their skills on! As a former massage therapist instructor, I understand the need for the apprentices to have hands-on practice (otherwise how else would they learn?) and it is always an honor to help someone toward their goals. Lisa is always there to watch, guide, and talk her apprentices through the process, and she will only let them pierce clients when they are ready after practicing on Lisa and her staff.

Looking at some older reviews, if your piercing swells more than anticipated after being pierced, it is important to communicate immediately with Lisa and staff. Even with the best of intentions, sometimes jewelry lengths chosen for the pierced area just aren't prepared for the amount of swelling. When my son had his snakebites pierced, we went back and forth about 4 times in 2 weeks' time because his lips just couldn't decide how much they wanted to swell. When he downsized a few months later, we had to return the following day to have the longer ones put back in until they healed a bit longer. This also happened with my Medusa...I downsized a few months after getting pierced, and a few days later realized the jewelry was too short. We swapped it out for the longer one and I was gradually able to make it down to the perfect length.

Sometimes, especially in the mouth area, your body can fluctuate depending on the time of the month, hydration, water retention, etc. It is more than normal to have to make multiple adjustments until you are able to shorten to the size you need. I also got a conch ear piercing that would heal and then get aggravated at times over the year that I had it, through no fault of the shop or piercers. My ear just wasn't happy with the piercing, and the best choice for me was to let that one close up. If a piercing gets infected and you choose not to come back to have Lisa and staff help, then there isn't anything they can do about it. It's not fair to blame them if the first time they hear about it is through a poor review after the fact. I have had a few piercings over the years that just didn't heal properly, and I realized my body was telling me I had to let them go. And that's okay!

Lisa Bezzina is truly one of Tucson's gems, and so is...