 July 2011 |
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Celebrate your freedoms
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The Dog Days of summer are upon us and things are really heating up around here as we get ready to celebrate our nation's independence. What do you do for the 4th of July? Barbeque? Fireworks? As always, we prefer to spend the holiday with friends and family! July 4th is an especially important holiday for Anatometal since we take such pride in making all of your jewelry right here in the USA.
Speaking of your jewelry... the temperature isn't the only thing warming around us, we are staying hot pushing quite a few new items into production. With all of the amazing reactions we received when we shared pictures of some of our concept jewelry on Facebook, how could we not make these items available to everyone? In case you missed them... You can see the Bullets and the Nouveau Eyelets by following these links. 
Stay tuned all summer long to see what else we are working on here at Anatolabs. Hope you are all out there having fun in the sun (but don't forget that sunscreen)!
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These are a few of our favorite things...
|  - Gemmed Eyelets - Often imitated but never duplicated, our Gemmed Eyelets are available in ASTM F-138 stainless steel, ASTM F-136 titanium, and solid 18k gold: 10ga to 6". Choose from any of our round faceted and cabochon gems: genuine stones available upon request. See our Gems/Metals section of main website for full selection.
- Captive Bead Rings - Made in ASTM F-138 stainless steel, ASTM  F-136 titanium, solid 18k gold, or Niobium: 20ga to 0ga. Captive Bead Rings are annealed for easy opening and can be paired with our Captive Beads, Captive Gem Beads, or Captive Gem Bezels for unique customization. Our Captive Bead Rings are versatile enough to be worn in a wide variety of piercings: navel piercings, lobes, septum piercings, etc.
- Straight Barbells - Available in ASTM F-138 stainless steel, ASTM F-136 titanium, solid 18k gold, or Niobium: 18ga to 00ga. Our Straight barbells are made of three parts; one solid metal shaft and two internally threaded ends. The shaft can be combined with all of our Threaded Ends, making them easily customizable.
 - Navel Clusters - A variant on our Bezel-set Navel Curves, Navel Clusters are perfect for when you want just a little extra bling. Available in ASTM F-138 stainless steel, ASTM F-136 titanium, or solid 18k gold: 14ga and 12ga. Any of our round faceted or cabochon stones can be set in this piece; see our Gems/Metals section on our main site for full selection.
- Floating Stone Eyelets - Available in ASTM F-138 stainless steel, ASTM F-136 titanium, or solid 18k gold: 2ga to 3/4" with faceted sto nes and 2ga to 1" with cabochon stones. Our Floating stone eyelets can be made with single or double flare. Faceted or cabochon gems can be set in this style; see our Gems/Metals section of our main website for full selection.
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Meet Anatometal
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 We know how much you love your Anatometal and what it stands for: handcrafted right here in the USA, made with only the highest quality materials. There is so much that goes into each piece as it moves from our machine shop, to the polishing room, to the gold room, through quality assurance, packaging, and to our shipping department. We thought you would like to get to know the people who make that Gemmed Eyelet, Heart Navel Curve, and Nostril Screw possible! In the coming months, we will be invading all the departments here at Anatometal Headquarters and bringing our hard workers right to you!
This month we bring you...
Meet our Asian Distributor : Mikele!
Anatometal: What do you do here at Anatometal?
Mikele: I am the Asian Distributor so I am just visiting the actual Anatometal headquarters.
Anatometal: How long have you worked for Anatometal?
Mikele: Officially 4 years, well around 5 years, but officially 4 years.
Anatometal: What is your favorite piece that Anatometal makes?
Mikele: Our Teardrop Eyelets. I actually was not wearing jewelry for about 3 years until we started making these, then I re-stretched my ears so I could wear them! I also really like the Tama Threaded Ends, one of our newest designs.
Anatometal: Tell us 3 things about yourself.
Mikele: About myself... I am hyperactive, I like doing sports all the time: riding my bike, snowboarding, ice skating. It doesn't matter, I just like doing it. I am extremely curious, meaning I am always studying or learning something new. I also really like to make things with my hands.
Anatometal: Ninjas or Pirates?
Mikele: Oh... *puts hand on chin in deep thought* Pirates, because I am already a ninja myself and I want to reach the next level.
Thanks for letting us get to know you a bit Mikele! Who will be featured next month? Be sure to check back to find out!
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Safe Stretching
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Stretching: The deliberate expansion of a healed fistula (hole in the skin) for the purpose of wearing body jewelry.
The stretching of ones piercings is a trend that has gained huge popularity over the recent years as it has made it's way into the mainstream pop culture scene. All piercings can be stretched to some degree: ear lobes are certainly the most common, but stretched septum, labret, and nostril piercings are also on the rise. With so much interest being generated around this hot topic, more and more often you see or hear about horror stories regarding someones experience with stretching their piercings. What many people don't realize, is that most of these unpleasant situations can be avoided if the proper steps and care are taken throughout the entire stretching process.
Stretching, especially getting to larger sizes, can be a lot more extreme than you may think. As a procedure, it is far more time consuming than anything else in piercing and really requires a large commitment from the person stretching their piercing. One of the most important things to remember while stretching a piercing is that it is not a race. When done in small increments, you minimize the potential for damage. Moving up one size at a time certainly takes longer then skipping a gauge or two, but if you experience a tear, a rip, or even blow out due to hasty stretching, you have set yourself back even further. Everyone's skin elasticity is different, but stretching a piercing should not cause a wound. After a new stretch, a slight pain may occur but bleeding or the presence of puss is unnatural.
The jewelry you wear while stretching plays a key role in keeping your piercing and tissue healthy. Implant grade materials such as ASTM F-138 stainless steel and ASTM F-136 titanium are ideal as they are smooth, nonporous, and have proven to be suitable for initial piercings. Glass and stone are also acceptable options because they share the same smooth, nonporous surfaces as the aforementioned metals. Although often used for body jewelry, acrylic should never be worn when stretching. One reason acrylic is not recommended is its inability to be properly sterilized (yuck). There can also be huge inconsistencies from one plastic to another and believe it or not your body's natural fluids can begin to break down the acrylic. A good rule of thumb is to avoid any porous material (these can harbor bacteria). We know there are some beautiful pieces of body jewelry out there made from materials such as wood, bone, horn, silver and gold plating, and we are not saying that these pieces are never OK to wear! Once your stretched lobes are fully healed, jewelry mad e from these materials is acceptable for most people.
It is important to realize that improper stretching methods or even the jewelry worn during the process can cause serious and sometimes permanent harm to your body. Blow outs happen when a piercing is stretched too quickly. This is when the skin from inside the skin tunnel is forced out the back of the piercing via pressure. The result is a "lip" around the edge, and if stretching continues, that lip can grow quite a bit! Tearing is another issue you need to watch out for. This occurs when stretching is done too quickly. Creating long tears around the fistula is much easier than you might think! It is also possible to thin out the skin too much; when overstretched, the tissue around the piercing can grown unevenly. The skin stops expanding to meet the stretching and starts thinning out.
There are many different techniques out there for stretching your ears and while we won't advocate one over another, what we always support is safety and education. It is important to consider the permanence of a modification such a stretching; the more you know before diving in, the less likely you are to experience unpleasantries once you start. Your favorite local professional piercer can be a great resource for you! They have seen it all before! They probably even have great tips for keeping your piercings healthy for years to come: warm massages, oils, salts soaks, it's all good stuff! The take away? Be safe, take your time (you'll get to that goal size!), and take care of yourself!
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Ask a Piercer
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The Question: What is Migration?
The Answer: - Simply stated, migration is when a piercing begins to move from its original placement (common areas of migration include eyebrow or navel piercings). Migration can be caused by several things, examples include piercing an area of insufficient size (such as a very thin eyebrow or not placing a navel piercing properly). Migration can also be caused by trauma to a piercing, such as getting a piercing caught and tearing the fistula. - Signs of migration can include scarring behind, or increased space seen around the jewelry. As an example, let's say you had a healed eyebrow piercing with proper placement and jewelry. Generally, the barbell would fit comfortably top to bottom in the piercing. If the jewelry was caught on something and the jewelry was pulled hard enough to tear the skin, there's a chance as the body begins to heal, it will replace the healthy healed tissue with scar tissue, pushing the jewelry forward. Over time, more and more of the bar could be seen as less tissue covers it. If the migration progresses, at some point there would be very little tissue holding in a very long piece of jewelry by comparison. - The same problem can develop from the outset by piercing an area of insufficient size or anatomy, or if jewelry of inappropriate size is used. As an example, if an earlobe was pierced with a very thin gauge and there was a good deal of weight put on it, the piercing may begin to split, turning the ear piercing into more of a slit than a hole. Over time, the tissue at the bottom of the piercing can become thin, dry out and eventually die, leaving a split earlobe. The modern practice of tongue splitting actually began employing the use of controlled migration. By having a tongue piercing performed and having the piercing tied off with increased pressure over time, the resulting migration would produce a bifurcated tongue. (Don't try this at home!!) - If you're worried that you may have a piercing that has since moved from its original placement, visit your trusted piercer and have them take a look. Simple steps such as downsizing existing jewelry or reducing weight can prevent problems later. *To have your questions answer by one of our resident piercers just send in email form to heather.anatometal@gmail.com
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Thank you guys for spreading the word about Anatometal and participating in all the fun we have here with the newsletter, on Facebook, Tumblr, and all over the web! We really do love you guys!
Keep those "Ask a Piercer" questions coming, and as always feedback is welcomed with open arms! See you next month!
Sincerely,
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Your friends at Anatometal
Questions? Comments? Please send them to heather.anatometal@gmail.com. If you know someone who will enjoy this publication as much as you do, don't hesitate to pass it along.
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