Six regions, thirty-odd placements, and healing times that run from six weeks to eighteen months depending entirely on what tissue the needle passes through. That range is the reason this page is organised by body region rather than alphabetically: a lobe and a helix sit a centimetre apart and behave nothing like each other, while a nostril and a navel are on opposite sides of the body and share more than you'd think.
Below you'll find the full menu grouped by region, a comparison of what each one asks of you, a walk-through of how a first appointment actually runs, and the real service fee for every placement with jewelry priced separately. Needle only, implant-grade titanium starters, at 2625 Main Street in Ocean Park. Bunny Vogt has been our senior piercer since 2019; Blue, who founded the shop in 2007, still picks up the needle.
Walk in any day 8am–8pm or call (310) 331-0603 to plan the placement first. Free street parking on Main, paid lot at Main + Marine two blocks south.
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5000+ clients
A navel and a helix have almost nothing in common. These are the parts that don't change.
Single-use, sterile, opened in front of you. No gun has ever been used here — a gun forces a blunt stud through by pressure, which fractures cartilage and tears soft tissue rather than making a clean channel.
Every starter is implant-grade titanium, ASTM F136. Solid-gold BVLA and threadless ends are for healed piercings. Mystery metal sitting in an open channel for a year is how most avoidable problems begin.
On purpose, everywhere. Swelling arrives after you've gone home, so the starter has room built in — and every placement then needs a shorter one fitted once that swelling drops.
A rook without a ridge, an industrial on an ear whose two points don't line up, a navel with no lip of skin to sit under. Those conversations happen at the counter, before money changes hands.
Nipple work, navels and anything in the genital category are done privately as standard. You don't have to ask for it or explain why.
Reusable tools go through a hospital-grade autoclave; surfaces get an EPA-registered disinfectant; staff are bloodborne-pathogen certified; the studio is licensed and inspected by LA County.
Apollo's Premium Jewelry Partner
Handmade in Los Angeles since 1996. Lifetime guarantee. Implant-grade gold, platinum, and titanium. Over 3,000 original designs in our case — ask your piercer for a tour.
See the BVLA story →Not a recommendation, just what actually comes through the door. Each links to the full guide.
Classic belly button piercings with premium titanium or gold jewelry. Expert placement for optimal aesthetics and healing.
Professional nipple piercings performed in a private room with implant-grade jewelry. Singles and pairs available.
Single-point surface piercings placed anywhere on the body. Expert technique for secure, long-lasting results.
Nostril, septum, bridge, and high nostril piercings. Precise placement for optimal healing and aesthetics.
Labret, Monroe, Medusa, snake bites, and tongue piercings. Expert technique for oral and lip placements.
Grouped by what the tissue does, not by alphabet. Everything in a region behaves broadly alike.
An alphabetical list of piercings is a useless object. It puts anti-eyebrow next to bridge and daith next to dermal, as if the only thing that mattered about a placement were its name. What actually determines how a piercing goes is the tissue it passes through and what your daily life does to that spot — and those two things cluster by region.
So: six groups. Everything in a group shares roughly the same healing behaviour, the same category of jewelry, and the same set of things that will annoy it. Read the group note first, then pick the placement. If two of them appeal and you can't choose, the comparison further down is built for exactly that.
One thing worth saying before the list. The regions are not equally difficult. The ear and the torso are where the long heals live; the nose and mouth are quicker but carry consequences that show up years later rather than weeks later; surface and dermal work is a different contract altogether, closer to a semi-permanent fitting than a piercing. None of that is a reason to avoid anything. It's a reason to know which conversation you're having.
Flexible booking paths
You can have a placement assessed and leave without being pierced — that happens here most days
Popular starting point
Reserve a body piercing appointment with jewelry, placement, and timing confirmed.
Every placement we do, on one scale — six weeks at one end, eighteen months at the other
| Piercing Type | Location | Initial Healing | Full Healing | Pain Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lobe (Classic) | Soft tissue, lower ear | 6-8 weeks | 3-6 months | 2/10 |
| Stacked Lobe | Multiple lobe piercings | 6-8 weeks | 4-6 months | 2/10 |
| Transverse Lobe | Horizontal through lobe | 2-3 months | 6-10 months | 4/10 |
| Upper Lobe | Above classic lobe | 6-8 weeks | 4-6 months | 2-3/10 |
| Helix | Upper outer rim cartilage | 3-4 months | 6-12 months | 4-5/10 |
| Forward Helix | Front upper cartilage near temple | 3-4 months | 6-12 months | 5-6/10 |
| Hidden Helix | Tucked under rim | 3-4 months | 6-12 months | 5/10 |
| Flat | Flat cartilage area (between rook & rim) | 3-4 months | 6-12 months | 6-7/10 |
| Tragus | Small flap over ear canal | 3-4 months | 6-12 months | 4-5/10 |
| Anti-Tragus | Above lobe, opposite tragus | 4-6 months | 9-12+ months | 6-7/10 |
| Conch (Inner) | Center bowl of ear | 3-4 months | 6-12 months | 5-6/10 |
| Conch (Outer) | Lower center, near anti-helix | 3-4 months | 6-12 months | 5-6/10 |
| Daith | Innermost fold above ear canal | 3-4 months | 9-12+ months | 5-6/10 |
| Rook | Upper inner fold above daith | 3-4 months | 9-12+ months | 6-8/10 |
| Snug | Inner ridge of anti-helix | 4-6 months | 9-12+ months | 7-8/10 |
| Industrial | Two holes connected by barbell | 4-6 months | 9-12+ months | 6-7/10 |
| Orbital | Two holes connected by ring | 4-6 months | 9-12+ months | 6-7/10 |
| Nostril | Side of the nose | 2-3 months | 6-9 months | 3-4/10 |
| Septum | Tissue between nostrils | 6-8 weeks | 3-6 months | 4-5/10 |
| Bridge | Skin across nose bridge | 2-3 months | 6-9 months | 5-6/10 |
| Eyebrow | Above the eye | 2-3 months | 6-9 months | 3-4/10 |
| Anti-Eyebrow | Cheekbone surface, below outer brow | 6-8 weeks | 6-12 months | 4-5/10 |
| Lip / Labret | Below lower lip | 6-8 weeks | 3-6 months | 3-4/10 |
| Monroe / Madonna | Upper lip (left or right) | 6-8 weeks | 3-6 months | 4/10 |
| Medusa (Philtrum) | Center upper lip | 6-8 weeks | 3-6 months | 4-5/10 |
| Tongue | Center of tongue | 4-6 weeks | 2-3 months | 4-5/10 |
| Snake Eyes | Horizontal tongue tip | 4-8 weeks | 4-6 months | 6-7/10 |
| Smiley | Upper lip frenulum | 4-8 weeks | 2-3 months | 3-4/10 |
| Navel (Belly Button) | Above or below navel | 3-6 months | 6-12 months | 4-5/10 |
| Nipple | Through nipple tissue | 3-6 months | 9-12 months | 6-7/10 |
| Dermal / Microdermal | Single-point surface anchor | 1-3 months | 3-6 months | 3-4/10 |
| Christina | Surface of pubic mound | 3-6 months | 6-12 months | 4-5/10 |
| VCH | Vertical clitoral hood | 4-6 weeks | 2-4 months | 4-5/10 |
| Prince Albert | Underside of glans | 4-6 weeks | 3-6 months | 5-6/10 |
| Frenum | Underside of shaft | 6-8 weeks | 3-4 months | 4-5/10 |
The tie-breaker is almost never aesthetics. It's what the next twelve months of your life look like.
People arrive with a shortlist of two more often than with a single answer. A conch or a helix. A septum or a nostril. One nipple or both. Navel now or wait until after summer. And the way they try to decide is usually by looking at more photos, which never settles anything, because both options look good in photographs — that's why they're on the shortlist.
The questions that actually break a tie are duller and more useful.
| Ask yourself | Why it decides things |
|---|---|
| Which side do you sleep on? | Rules out a fresh ear placement on that side for months. If both options are ear piercings, this often just picks the ear rather than the placement. |
| Do you live in earbuds? | Kills a tragus and complicates an inner conch. An outer conch or a helix clears them. |
| Do you wear glasses all day? | The arm sits along the rim, which is the helix's problem and not the conch's. |
| Waistbands, seatbelts, a desk? | The navel's whole story. If you sit at a desk in jeans for nine hours, that is the heal you're signing up for. |
| Any dental work coming up? | Lip and tongue placements sit against enamel and gum. Worth sequencing around an orthodontist rather than into one. |
| Does it need to be hideable? | Septum flips up. A nostril doesn't. A daith is half hidden by the ear; a helix is not. |
| How long can you actually be careful? | Six weeks and twelve months are different commitments. Be honest — the person who quits saline at week three is extremely common. |
| Is one of them anatomy-dependent? | If one option is a rook or an industrial and the other isn't, get the assessment before you agonise. Your ear may have already decided. |
Run a shortlist through that and the answer usually falls out on its own. Where it doesn't — where both options survive every question — the tiebreaker we'd offer is to take the shorter heal first. You learn how your own body handles a piercing, you get a result you can enjoy while you think, and the harder one is still there in six months. Nothing on this page expires.
The one thing we'd argue against is doing both simultaneously to avoid choosing. That's not a compromise, it's two difficult heals stacked on the same fortnight, and it's the decision people most often regret out loud in the chair.
5000+ clientsTwenty minutes, most of it conversation. The needle part is roughly one second of it.
The first few minutes are anatomy. A gloved finger on the ear, a look at the nostril crease, a pinch of the navel — whatever the placement needs. This is where a plan sometimes changes.
You pick the end. We pick the post length and gauge underneath it, because those are dictated by your tissue and by the swelling that's coming. Titanium for a fresh piercing, every time.
A dot goes on, you look at it, and nothing proceeds until you're happy. If it's asymmetric on a face that's asymmetric, this is where that gets discussed rather than discovered later.
Needle, jewelry, gloves. If you've ever been in a studio where that didn't happen in front of you, that's the memory to compare this against.
The piercing is over in about a second. What takes longer is the part afterwards: what to clean it with, what to keep off it, and the return date for the shorter post, which we book before you leave.
Two different jobs. The first piece is a medical fitting; the second is the one you actually chose it for.
Piercing service only, every row. Jewelry is chosen and priced separately, which is where the range lives.
| Placement | Service fee | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Lobe | $75 | Fastest heal on the list, 6-8 weeks |
| Helix or forward helix | $75 | Cartilage, 6-12 months |
| Conch, inner or outer | $85 | Densest ear cartilage, 9-12 months |
| Tragus | $85 | Earbuds out on that side for the heal |
| Rook or daith | $85 | Both anatomy-dependent — get assessed first |
| Industrial | $125 | Two holes, one bar, up to 18 months |
| Triple ear | $175 | Three placements in one sitting |
| Nostril | $75 | Quick to pierce, 4-6 months to heal |
| Septum | $85 | Through soft tissue, not cartilage |
| Eyebrow | $75 | Surface piercing; expect migration eventually |
| Bridge | $75 | Between the eyes, across the nose |
| Lip or labret | $75 | Flat back, watched for gum wear |
| Double lip | $125 | Snake bites and paired placements |
| Tongue | $100 | Bar length changes once swelling drops |
| Navel | $75 | 9-12 months; waistbands are the enemy |
| One nipple | $75 | Private room available |
| Both nipples | $125 | Private room available |
| Dermal, single | $200 | An anchor, not a piercing — removal is planned |
| Dermal, double | $400 | Two anchors in one sitting |
| Any two piercings, one visit | $75 | Service fee for the pair |
| Curated Ear, up to four | $99 | Four ear placements, one sitting |
Genital placements aren't on this table on purpose — those fees are confirmed at a private consultation, because what's possible varies far too much by anatomy to quote from a list. Look at the last two rows against the rest: doing several in one visit is markedly cheaper on the service side than doing them one at a time, which is the strongest practical argument for planning an ear rather than accumulating one. Call (310) 331-0603 if you'd like to talk a combination through first — no obligation, and nobody will push you into the chair.
Senior PiercerSenior Piercer
Bunny Vogt has been a Senior Piercer here since 2019. Ears, nostrils, septums, navels and dermals are her daily work, and she is the one most likely to talk you out of doing four placements in one afternoon when three would heal better.
FounderMaster Piercer
Blue Mason founded the studio and is a Fakir-certified Master Piercer. He covers the whole menu including the genital work, and takes most of the placements other studios turn away — the shallow folds, the awkward angles, the ears that don't obviously support what's been asked for.
Bring photo ID — it's checked for everyone, not just people who look young. If you're under 18 a parent or guardian has to be there with their own valid state or federal photo ID, your original birth certificate, and photo ID for you. Lobes from age five, simple cartilage from thirteen, complex cartilage and nostrils from fourteen, septum, eyebrow and navel from sixteen, and everything else at eighteen.
Otherwise: eat something first, don't arrive hungover, and skip the appointment entirely if you've been drinking. If you're on a blood thinner or have a condition that affects healing, say so at the counter rather than in the chair. And if you've got a photo of what you want, bring it — it's genuinely useful, even when the answer turns out to be that your anatomy will produce something adjacent to it rather than that exact result.
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Most don't. Some genuinely do, and it's worth knowing which side of the line yours falls on before you make the trip.
Verbatim reviews from Apollo's Google Business Profile
"Lost part of my piercing & needed to get it replaced. Looking for a place that had a variety of nice jewelry & a 4.5 or higher & 500+ Google reviews. The Apollo was it & I was surprised to see that they opened at 8am 7 days a week. Cool! I can get this knocked out early on a Friday. Got there & was quickly being helped by Blue. First thing Blue noticed was that my posts were too long. Which was absolutely true because after 18 months of having these piercings I had not gone back to where I had gotten them to get my new piercings adjusted. Blue said they can take care of that for me & they did. Though not before Blue deftly & patiently helped me find upgrades to my three piercings. After about 45 minutes of Blue mixing & matching jewelry combos for me we settled on what you see in the picture. Great experience, great place. Thanks Blue!"
"We had such a wonderful experience here! My daughter and my best friend both got their ears pierced, and every single person we interacted with was amazing. The entire process was seamless from start to finish — super organized, calm, and nothing ever felt rushed. Trinity was fantastic with booking our appointments and helping us pick out earrings that were perfect. Bunny did an incredible job with both piercings — professional, gentle, and made the girls feel totally comfortable. Huge shoutout to Blue as well for assisting Bunny during my daughter’s piercing. We couldn’t have asked for a better experience and highly recommend this place to anyone considering piercings!"
Reviews from Google · Read all 623 on Google
5000+ clients2625 Main Street, in Ocean Park. Free street parking on Main; there's a paid lot at Main and Marine two blocks south if the street is full.
Santa Monica, CA
Apollo was founded by Blue Mason in 2007. With 20+ years of body art experience, Blue brings master-level expertise to every piece. Read Blue's story →
The ones asked at the counter by people who haven't done this before. Placement-specific detail lives on the individual guides above.
Three questions, in this order. How long can you commit to aftercare — six weeks for a lobe, most of a year for cartilage, closer to a year for a navel? What do you do all day that touches the spot — earbuds, glasses, a waistband, contact sport, a mask? And is this somewhere your work or your family is going to have opinions about? Answer those honestly and half the menu falls away on its own. Whether the anatomy actually supports the placement you're left with is our job, not yours, and takes about five minutes at the counter.
Everyone reports this differently, so treat any number with suspicion. What's more reliable is the shape of it: the piercing itself lasts about a second and feels like heavy pressure rather than a cut. Soft-tissue placements — nostril, eyebrow, lip, septum, navel — are the mildest. Cartilage is a firmer pressure and a dull crunch. Nipples and surface work sit at the top of most people's scale. The bit people underestimate isn't the needle, it's day two, when cartilage swells and a navel decides it doesn't like your jeans.
Two or three is comfortable, and two piercings in a visit is $75 for the service. Four ear placements come under the Curated Ear special at $99. Beyond that, the limiting factor is usually practical rather than medical — every fresh piercing takes away a sleeping position, a set of headphones or a waistband, and doing five at once means losing all of it in the same week. We'll say so if the combination you've picked is going to make your life difficult.
Yes, with restrictions. A parent or guardian must present a valid state or federal photo ID along with the original birth certificate and a photo ID for the minor.
5+ years: Earlobes only
13+ years: Simple Cartilage (Helix only)
14+ years: Complex Cartilage, Nostril
16+ years: Septum, Eyebrow, Navel
18+ years: Bridge, Surface/Dermals, Lip, Tongue, Nipple, Genital
Because they're genuinely two different things and bundling them hides the interesting one. The service fee pays for the assessment, the needle pass and the follow-up. The jewelry is a physical object you're choosing, and the range runs from a plain implant-grade titanium end to a solid-gold BVLA piece that costs many times the piercing fee. Studios that quote one all-in number are almost always covering it with the cheapest possible starter, and cheap mystery metal sitting in an open wound for a year is the worst economy in this trade. We stock ASTM F136 titanium, and 14k/18k gold from BVLA, Industrial Strength and Anatometal. Nothing else.
Yes, and it happens most days. A rook needs a ridge some ears don't have. An industrial needs two points that line up. A navel needs a defined upper lip of skin to sit under. A smiley needs enough frenulum to be worth piercing. When the anatomy says no we'll show you why on your own body and suggest what will work instead. Anyone willing to pierce anything you ask for is telling you something about their standards rather than about your anatomy.
Later than you'd like, and the honest answer varies enormously by placement. Soft tissue is often ready in a couple of months; cartilage frequently isn't done at nine. Separately from that, most placements need a downsize long before they're healed — a shorter post fitted once the initial swelling drops, usually somewhere between weeks six and twelve. That visit isn't a jewelry change so much as a fitting adjustment, and skipping it causes more problems than any product you could buy.
Bring it in. A large share of what walks through the door is somebody else's piercing that's migrating, sitting at a bad angle, or wearing jewelry of the wrong length or the wrong material. Sometimes it's fixable with a different post; sometimes the honest answer is to take it out, let it close and start again in a better spot. Either way you'll get a straight read on it, and we'd rather do that than let you keep buying products for a problem that's mechanical.
Call (310) 331-0603 during opening hours, book online any time, or walk in — we're open 8am to 8pm, seven days. Cash, all major credit cards, Venmo and PayPal. If you'd rather ask a question before committing to anything, the inquiry form below reaches us too.
Apollo is a working studio on Main Street in Santa Monica's Ocean Park — Blue Mason, Raa, David DaVinci and Hannah Newman in the tattoo chairs; Bunny Vogt running the piercing room. Implant-grade titanium, solid 14k and 18k gold, and a portfolio you can browse in person before any needle starts.
Walk in or book ahead — we hold same-day slots most days. The sentence is the tattoo. The images are only how it looks.
Apollo sits at 2625 Main St in Santa Monica, a block from the beach and easy to reach from anywhere on the Westside. Here's roughly how long it takes to get to us for tattoos and piercings:
There's metered street parking on Main Street and Ocean Park Blvd, plus a public lot on 2nd Street a short walk away. We recommend giving yourself an extra 10 minutes to park on weekends — Main Street gets busy with the farmers market and beach traffic. If you're running late, text us at the studio and we'll hold your appointment.
Or turn up with two options and no decision — that's a five-minute conversation and it's free.
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