Next Steps: Ear Stretch 14 gauge to 12 gauge

Hiiii!

So today my package came in with my materials for my next stretch. This time I decided to order from Minky Monky. On most websites, there are not a lot of cute ear plug options out there for anything smaller than 10 gauge. BodyArtforms has really cute 12 gauge plugs but I could not justify spending $15 on something I would only be wearing for a month until my next stretch so I searched around and found Minky Monky and got a simple Surgical Steel Single Flare Flesh tunnel (basically a hollow plug..you can actually see through the hole in my ear) and a CZ ear plug. Simple and cute and only a couple of bucks each.

12g Blue UV Glow in the dark Taper ($1.99)

12g 316L Surgical Steel Single Flare Flesh Tunnel (far left, $1.92)

12g Clear CZ Black Titanium Plated (over steel) Prong Set Plug ($5.40)

For this stretch I followed the same routine as I did in my stretch from 16 gauge to 14 gauge. I noticed there were two things different:

This time I didn't do my stretch after my shower so I just washed the area with Dial soap and did an ear massage for about 5 minutes (that's why my ear looks a little red in some photos). This may have made a difference.

Also, I chose to purchase an acrylic taper because it was cheap and I didn't think it would make a difference because once I use it for the stretch it doesn't stay in my ear at all. I know acrylic is not good for jewelery for a new stretch because the material is porous and can lead to infection but I thought it would be fine to use as a quick taper.

Boy was I wrong! This made ALL THE DIFFERENCE! First, it didn't slide as smooth as a steel taper. I thought it was just because it's a bigger jump of a stretch but no..it literally got stuck in my ear. When I first put it in, it was just fine..I felt the normal sting and it was good until about halfway there. This thing would NOT budge. I didn't want to force it so I was about to give up and go back to 14 gauge. I just let it sit in my ear for a bit and tried again and it still would not move. I took it out and wanted to see if my steel flesh tunnel would go in at all. I wanted to get a feel for how much I was able to stretch it at all with the acrylic taper. Wouldn't you know my steel flesh tunnel slid right in..no pain no nothing! Hmmmm? I can only chalk it up to this cheap ass taper. It may glow in the dark (who cares?) but it surely did not taper anything. Lesson learned!

Aint it cute? xoxo t.marie