Studs Earrings Review: The Claire’s of Generation Z

A replacement of the mall piercing shop, Studs brings a new experience for the next generation of teenagers and young adults looking to decorate their ears. Studs offers stress-free Earscapes to their customers with professional needle piercing and quality earrings.

Studs was founded by Anna Harmand and Lisa Bubbers after they saw a gap between piercing shops and tattoo parlors where the jewelry was either cheaply made, limited in options, or both. Studs’ brand thrives on a fun experience with over 200 pieces that last, and can be mixed and matched or curated for you.

What sets Studs apart from other brands? 
Let’s find out. 

Studs was founded in 2019 by Anna Harman and Lisa Bubbers. It’s headquartered in New York City, and has other brick and mortar locations including Los Angeles, Miami, and Austin. They wanted to branch out from the antiquated ear piercing experience at a mall with a piercing gun or needles at a tattoo parlor with limited options.

They saw a blank space in the market and capitalized on it, thus Studs was born. With their wide selection, professional piercers and Apprenticeship Program, Studs brings modern touches to the piercing experience.

Surprisingly, Studs keep a pretty low profile online. Their Instagram has a big following and has received the stamp of approval from celebrities like Kaia Gerber. In an interesting move, Studs has no “About” or “Learn More” page on their website, making it a bit of a mission to dive into the history of the company. This could be because they are straightforward as a brand, preferring to focus on what they do rather than who they are.

I love jewelry, but I’m allergic to nickel. Basically, I’m allergic to cheap jewelry so a lot of the time I’ll have to decide if I want to look cute and suffer later, or skip my hoop earrings entirely.

Even jewelry that’s sold as nickel free can have backers, finders (the stem that goes through your ear), or clasps with nickel. It’s everywhere–in the buttons of pants, bra hooks, watches, rings–so you can imagine my frustration when I try to shop for jewelry.

Thankfully, everything in the Gold Best Seller Set felt great and didn’t bother me at all. Whenever I sweat, the sodium reacts negatively with the nickel which is what causes the allergic reaction. Even when I had them in and worked out, my ears didn’t itch. This alone was enough to sell me on the products.

There are several factors that led to my positive experience with the Gold Best Seller Set including:

• Beautiful pieces
• How easy it was to mix and match according to my mood
• The high quality, nickel free materials that didn’t irritate my sensitive ears

One of the main draws to Studs is the quality of the jewelry. An easy way to find out whether your jewelry will last or not is  observing how it reacts to being worn constantly, including exposure to sweat and water.

I’m an athlete and a regular at the gym, and don’t like to remove small earrings before working out because I don’t want to lose them. Because of my nickel allergy most earrings itch sometime during my workout, but I forgot my Studs were there. The backers are strong enough to keep them in place and my skin didn’t break out.

Studs’ pieces are made out of external 14k or rhodium plated with internal sterling silver, or external 18K rhodium plated with internal brass, making them perfect for everyone. They’re easy to take care of as well, which can sometimes be a pain with jewelry.

As a whole, Studs’ jewelry is a good value. Shopping for studs and Huggies a la carte can get pricey, but one of the great things about Studs is that if you don’t like one of their pre-curated sets, you can mix and match whatever you want yourself.

Studs creates jewelry that is fun, dainty, and just vibrant enough to make you stand out. It’s a young brand that devotes itself to the young crowd: Gen Z and Millennials love them. With their wide line of products, it’s hard to get tired of the combinations you can create.

Their website has several categories for their jewelry, and is easy to navigate: 

• Earrings
• Collections
• Earscape Sets
• Sale

Caring for your Studs is pretty easy! You can keep them in day or night but it’s best to let them breathe and take the night off. Store them in a cool, dry place either in a jewelry box or in the baggies that come with your purchase. The worst place to keep them is in a humid place, like your bathroom.

To clean them, use mild soap and non-abrasive polishing cloths to keep your jewelry looking like new. Although you can use them while swimming, it’s best to keep them away from sweat, hair products, sunscreen, perfume, and lotions. These can lead to tarnishing quicker than expected, but with proper care your Studs will last. 

Interested in becoming a Stud yourself? Studs offers their own Apprenticeship Program with educational training to future Studs piercers. It’s a great program featuring hands-on training, classroom style learning and observation all under the instruction and supervision of a qualified piercing educator.

Apprentices learn several skills they will need once they are a full blown piercer, including sterilization, bedside manner, piercing techniques, and more. They are trained and certified by the Red Cross and are required to pass a Bloodborne Pathogens course.

While in training, apprentices do take on appointments. These appointments are free and last about twenty minutes. An experienced piercing operations educator will be there to supervise, and the appointment also includes 20% off piercing earrings–excluding the 14K and 18K styles. This results in an average savings of $60 off your total piercing price.

Studs is the new kid on the block in the jewelry business, and they are here to stay. With their dainty yet vibrant pieces of jewelry, there’s something for every stud aficionado that is looking for another piece to add to their collection.