The Pierced Consumer

No, it’s not a new kind of Viagra.  It’s a body piercing aftercare wipe.

I’m pretty skeptical about piercing aftercare products.  I really haven’t come across anything better than sea salt soaks, a good skin-friendly oil, and good health.  Nevertheless, I’m always  looking out for us pierced consumers, so when I was looking for some pure sea salt to buy (and didn’t find it) I decided to try this stuff out.  It’s distributed by P2inc. at www.inkfixx.com.

They come in packages of 30 single-use wipes for $8.95 at Steel Navel, which isn’t too bad.

There’s not much info on the package, and the directions are a little odd.  They say to apply “as needed” and to contact your piercing professional, and to use only as directed.  Pretty vague. I suppose you really don’t need much direction for a wipe, but it doesn’t mention any rinsing.  I guess you’re just supposed to leave any salt residue behind on your skin.  It contains Water, Coral-Reef Sea Salt, Yucca Glauca Root Extract, and Cetyl Pyridinium Chloride.

As far as I can tell, the idea behind piercing aftercare sprays and applications is to remove crusties for cleanliness, which makes them a fine convenience product. I tried these on my nipple piercing which has been crusting a lot recently, and–they worked.  That is, they removed the crusties.

But then I noticed that my nipple was actually irritated.  These wipes wouldn’t do a thing for that.  So I got out my dwindling supply of pure sea salt and soaked.  Heat and immersion in the saline solution do a far better job  in caring for a piercing than any spray  or wipe could do.

I think these products, and there are others, the most heavily-advertised of which is H2Ocean, are mostly good for making their inventors money. Not that there’s anything wrong with that (smirk), but be a smart pierced consumer!

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