Atlanta woman gets $20 nose piercing. Then it burns to breathe—and realizes the piercer bamboozled her: ‘Welcome to Atlanta.. home of the scammers’
A face piercing is a common way for people to express their personal style, identity, and in many cases, their culture or traditions.
It’s important to remember, however, that unsafe piercing techniques can have serious consequences.
People who receive an improperly done piercing can experience serious health complications such as allergic reactions, embedded jewelry, airway compromise, jewelry migration, and more.
That’s why most experts recommend going to a reputable piercer who cares about technique, hygiene, and proper equipment. One woman recently shared exactly why it’s important to follow that advice.
What Can Happen if You Get a Shoddy Nose Piercing?
TikTok creator Jada (@jada.idaylss) shared a storytime video detailing her piercing-gone-wrong experience. The clip has since garnered over 120,500 views.
“Y’all, we cannot do nothing in Atlanta,” she begins. “It’s always [expletive] going on.”
Jada says she and her best friend decided to try out a “$10 piercing special” at a local piercing shop, noticing issues immediately after.
“My nose piercing is, like, sinking through my nose,” she describes. “Literally sinking through my skin, so I’m constantly having to push it up.”
Jada says she began experiencing concerning symptoms such as pain, burning, and bleeding in the piercing site. “Like, it hurts for me to breathe,” she adds.
She says she decided to look up the symptoms on TikTok, and most of the advice she found told her to remove the piercings. “Take it out your nose, it’s happened to me, i‘t’s gonna seep through your skin,” she recalls reading.
So, She Takes Them Out
“I go in the bathroom to take the [expletive] out,” she says. “Y’all, why this man done got a straight piercing and bent it?”
She then stitches a photo of the piercing she removed: it’s a straight, bolt-style piercing that appears to have been bent into an L shape.
Jada says she had asked the piercer whether they had an L-shape piercing, and he assured her that he did.
“This [expletive] done got regular piercing, straight piercings, and got Scissors or pliers and twirled them up and then put it in my nose,” Jada says, laughing about the situation.
She adds that she received two of the same nose piercings and had to use a flashlight to remove the second one.
Jada says she contacted the piercer to demand a refund for her two nose piercings, warning she would “take it to the net” and reveal which shop it happened at if she didn’t hear back.
From now on, she says she plans to take her business outside of Atlanta. “I don’t want nothing from here,” she concludes. “I will just travel to go get me tattoos, go get me piercings and just call it a day. Because y’all are getting unprofessional and it makes no sense.”
In the caption, she added that the piercer has stopped responding to her and her friend about a possible refund. She hasn’t shared any updates about the situation as of the time of writing.
What Are Some Piercer Red Flags to Pay Attention To?
According to Fame Tattoos, a Florida tattoo studio, there are several ways to tell whether you’ve walked into a professional, trustworthy studio.
Among other things, they recommend paying attention to material grade documents, a portfolio of previous work, sterilization protocol, and more.
In general, you shouldn’t necessarily have to ask to see these things; rather, they should be clearly communicated to you by the studio.
Another good way to be able to tell a good studio from a questionable one is the main tool they use for piercing. Professional studios usually use single-use needles, not piercing guns.
Commenters Were Horrified
“Bent the piercing up !!!!!????!!!!!” exclaimed one user. “THE GREEEEED.”
“$10?!?!?!?!” asked one perplexed user. Jada responded, “Yes chile idk what we were thinking.”
For context, a nose piercing in Atlanta may cost from $25 to $50, depending on the type and material used.
“And that’s why I will forever pay $50 for a piercing I don’t even play with my face like that,” wrote a third.
@jada.idaylss The man who did them won’t respond to me about my refund but he’s texting my friend & stopped responding to her ! ???? I’m completing my 2026 bucket list in another state ??♀️ #atl #piercings #nosepiecercing #atlpiercer #atltattooartist ♬ original sound – Idaylss ?
The Mary Sue has reached out to Jada via TikTok and Instagram messages for comment.
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