Alright, so I went to a tattoo place called Hard Rock Ink in Absecon, NJ and got my cartilage pierced. It's my first piercing ever and two of my friends have gotten piercings there. One got her nose done and the other got a Monroe. I bought my earrings at Piercing Pagoda at the Hamilton Mall nearby for $10; I don't remember if they were on sale or not, I know some things were going for like 40% off.
What worries me is that I don't know what they were made of. Piercing Pagoda said that they couldn't pierce my ear with those because they were gauged so I just brought them to Hard Rock Ink.
It was a nice, clean looking place. I asked what material the rings were, he took them back into the shop and he said they were either surgical steel or sterling silver. The ring is a tiny greyish silver C shaped claw/talon. I don't even know the size of it; all I wanted was that put into my ear really. He called me back to the room and he already had gloves on and cleaned up the earring which was sitting in a tiny plastic cup in some clear solution. I got it put in like a helix piercing but a little further into my ear. I saw him open the sealed bag with the needle in it and bend it in the bag a little. He pierced my ear then shook my hand and told me I could pay up front. I went and paid and left. I don't know if he was coming to tell me how to care for it or anything and I left too soon, but nobody explained anything to me about how to clean it and take care of it. It cost $43. I'm cleaning it 2-3x a day with a q-tip in salt water.
I'm just worried if I used a cheap metal, and if so what's the negatives? It's about two days old now. I might just be overreacting but it's worrying me a little.. Thanks for the help!
