The Cool New Piercing Trends Everyone Will Be Trying This Year

One of the biggest trends hitting the new year, according to Lopez, will be vertical lobe piercings — or, put more simply, jewellery that is stacked on top of one other in a vertical position on the earlobe, as opposed to horizontally. This, she says, is a great example of using a piercing you already have and making the design even cooler. "Vertical lobes can generally be placed above or below holes that already exist."

Another huge piercing trend of the moment isn't on the earlobe at all, or even the cartilage, but rather on the inside of people's ears. "It almost feels as if people want stuff that is more subtle but can be shown when they want to," said Ben Tauber, piercer at Maria Tash in NYC, adding that the rook piercing — the area on the inner ridge of the ear cartilage, parallel to the outer rim — is a forerunner in that space. "These tend to be hidden by hair with ease, yet can be pulled out whenever you want it to be shown. People have been putting more and more centre pieces in the rook area, which I think is awesome. Making that the a central point of an entire ear is a fresh and awesome take on the constellation trend."

An orbital piercing is exactly what it sounds like: a combination of two ear piercings connected by one piece of jewellery that creates an orbital shape in the ear. The 2.0 (or, in this case, 2019) version of that features a little more flare — like when they are "accented with a simple diamond or something more elaborate," said Lopez.

Think of this piercing trend like you would your outfit — not every piece has to match exactly, but there are tiny elements of similarity that bring it all together. A good example of this: "When there's a row of studs or rings going up the ear that have a similar shape or colour," said Lopez. "They're all different pieces of jewellery, but they still flow together.