Thinking of getting a piercing? It's vital to go to a dedicated piercing shop where body and facial adornments are the sole focus of the business. This will ensure the highest level of hygiene and professionalism, avoiding infection, itching and soreness. Once pierced, do all you can to keep the skin around your new jewellery clean with the best possible aftercare products.
A saline solution will keep freshly-pierced skin healthy, but for something even more professional, take a look at our ranking of the best value aftercare products to buy online from Amazon and eBay this year. From sprays and wipes by brands like EasyPiercing and H2Ocean to antibacterial essential oils, we're sure there's something for every ear, tongue, nose or cartilage piercing on our comprehensive list.
There are a few different ways to take care of a new piercing and each has its benefits and drawbacks, depending on your routine and the type of protection you're looking for. Use our guide to help you select the right form of aftercare and the appropriate ingredients.
How do you want to care for your piercing once you've got it? Quickly and efficiently? Thoroughly with a slower process? Look at our guide to the types of aftercare product on the market so you can select which method best suits the type of piercing and your personal lifestyle.
Pick a cleaning spray for your new piercing if you want a simple, easy-to-apply product that involves minimal touching of what is essentially a fresh wound.
The key benefit of a spray is its efficiency, but it will also last longer and particularly suits piercings in hard-to-reach places such as those inside the mouth and cheeks, or surface piercings at the back of the neck.
That crusty layer that builds up around your piercing the first few days after you get it done? It's totally normal. It's simply made up of dead cells which helped the skin around the new puncture to heal. Wipes are ideal for cleaning this away sharpish.
Pick sterile and/or antibacterial wipes to gently sweep this scabby layer away from your new jewellery, all whilst killing any bacteria that may be lurking around the piercing – the likes of which could cause an infection if not thoroughly cleansed.
Perfectly acceptable to use alongside other piercing aftercare products is a specially-formulated gel soap, which allows you to clean your newly-pierced skin in the bath or shower safe in the knowledge that its ingredients are specifically designed to prevent infections and help skin heal.
Liquid soaps for piercings usually contain antibacterial ingredients and work well to keep fresh tattoos nice and clean too, should you happened to have gone all out at the studio!
If you're worried about pouring lots of chemicals on to your skin, you may favour a blend of antiseptic essential oils. They'll help your skin to heal naturally, and tend to contain far fewer ingredients so you can be fairly certain they're kinder to your body and the environment overall.
The downside of oil drops is they aren't as time-saving to use as sprays or wipes, but they may work out significantly cheaper on average as they are much more concentrated.
For piercings in or near the mouth, make sure you invest in a good quality saline mouthwash to cleanse the healing skin thoroughly.
Salt-based solutions are particularly effective as they flush through the piercing, washing away buildup and discharge from the fresh wound.
It's particularly important to go for aftercare products described as antibacterial, because they are best placed to prevent what is essentially a healing wound from becoming unclean and infected. Any cleansing product listed as antibacterial fights the germs that, if allowed to breed near your open wound, could cause an unpleasant infection.
Antiseptic products work in a similar way, stopping disease-causing microorganisms from growing on your skin. The best natural antiseptic ingredients to keep an eye out for are tea tree oil and almond oil.
You may also spot the word 'sterile', which simply means completely clean and free of microorganisms and bacteria. Look out for saline solutions (containing sodium chloride, i.e. salt) as these will be effective cleansers that won't irritate broken skin. Any combination of the above properties gives a piercing the best chance of healing smoothly.
One thing many piercing experts recommend is to avoid not only ingesting alcohol for at least 2 days after you've had your piercing, but also to avoid putting it on your skin.
Consuming alcohol causes dehydration which can lead to uncomfortable swelling and inflammation, and there's probably enough of that already! Alcohol also has a drying effect when used topically, so don't apply it to the piercing as you'll risk drying out fresh new cells forming around the pierced area.
Now it's time to show you the best piercing aftercare we've found online this year, rated according to their value for money and suitability to the task of cleansing skin and helping it heal easily, without infection.
£19.95
Volume | 120 ml |
---|---|
Application Method | Spray |
Properties | Sterile |
Alcohol-Free | Yes |
£8.49
Volume | 100 wipes |
---|---|
Application Method | Wipes |
Properties | Sterile |
Alcohol-Free | Yes |
£6.39
Volume | 10 ml |
---|---|
Application Method | Oil |
Properties | Antibacterial |
Alcohol-Free | Yes |
£14.99
Volume | 90 ml |
---|---|
Application Method | Spray |
Properties | Sterile |
Alcohol-Free | Yes |
£6.79
Volume | 125 ml |
---|---|
Application Method | Mouthwash |
Properties | Antiseptic, antibacterial |
Alcohol-Free | Yes |
£5.74
Volume | 10 ml |
---|---|
Application Method | Liquid drops |
Properties | Antiseptic |
Alcohol-Free | Yes |
£6.99
Volume | 50 ml |
---|---|
Application Method | Spray |
Properties | Antibacterial |
Alcohol-Free | Yes |
£7.00
Volume | 100 ml |
---|---|
Application Method | Spray |
Properties | Antiseptic, antibacterial |
Alcohol-Free | Yes |
£5.85
Volume | 59 ml |
---|---|
Application Method | Liquid soap |
Properties | Antibacterial |
Alcohol-Free | Yes |
£7.99
Volume | 75 ml |
---|---|
Application Method | Spray |
Properties | Antiseptic, antibacterial |
Alcohol-Free | Yes |
Image | 1 ![]() Prontolind | 2 ![]() Tatoo Goo | 3 ![]() NatraSan | 4 ![]() EasyPiercing | 5 ![]() The Aftercare Company | 6 ![]() EasyPiercing | 7 ![]() NeilMed | 8 ![]() Blue Banana | 9 ![]() St John Ambulance | 10 ![]() H2Ocean |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Antibacterial Spray for Piercings, Tunnels and Body Mods | Deep Cleansing Soap for Tattoos and Piercings | Antiseptic Travel Buddy Spray | Antibacterial Body Piercing Aftercare Spray | BPA Piercing Aftercare Solution | Oral Aftercare Mouth Rinse | Neilcleanse Piercing Aftercare, Fine Mist | ProPierce Antibacterial Tea Tree and Almond Oil | Alcohol-Free Sterile Cleansing Wipes | Body Piercing Aftercare Spray |
Features | A Brilliant Product for Care Without Compromise | The Best Cleanser for Hitch-Free Healing | A Versatile Antiseptic Spray to Banish Germs | Quick Healing From an Expert Brand | Natural, Soothing and Gentle Drops for On the Go | Ideal for Lip, Cheek and Tongue Piercings | The Best Saline Solution for Hard-to-Reach Piercings | Soothe Infections and Bumps the Natural Way | Simple, Controlled Cleaning From a Trusted Medical Brand | The Best-Selling Spray With the Power of the Ocean |
Price | £7.99 | £5.85 | £7.00 | £6.99 | £5.74 | £6.79 | £14.99 | £6.39 | £8.49 | £19.95 |
Volume | 75 ml | 59 ml | 100 ml | 50 ml | 10 ml | 125 ml | 90 ml | 10 ml | 100 wipes | 120 ml |
Application Method | Spray | Liquid soap | Spray | Spray | Liquid drops | Mouthwash | Spray | Oil | Wipes | Spray |
Properties | Antiseptic, antibacterial | Antibacterial | Antiseptic, antibacterial | Antibacterial | Antiseptic | Antiseptic, antibacterial | Sterile | Antibacterial | Sterile | Sterile |
Alcohol-Free | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
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Piercings and tattoos go hand in hand, so if you've got fresh ink (or plan on getting some!), you'll want to make sure you have the appropriate aftercare for that, too. Check out the article below for shopping tips and our carefully-chosen recommendations.
Thus concludes our guide to the best piercing aftercare products available online this year. Whether you've got a brand-new belly button ring or a novel nose stud, we're sure you'll spy something on our list that will aid healthy healing and protect it from the dust and dirt of daily life. Show off your piercing in style this year!
Author: Annie Hopkins
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