Blue Banana Piercing Guide: Prices, Process & Aftercare

Blue Banana Piercing: What to Expect — and Why the UK’s Biggest Chain Might Be the Easiest Route to a Safe, Stylish New Piercing

Walk through almost any city centre from Cardiff to Coventry and the black-and-blue signage of a Blue Banana store is hard to miss. Since opening its first shop in 1997, the company has grown into the UK’s largest high-street piercing chain, completing more than three million procedures to date and currently performing around 140,000 to 150,000 piercings every year With fifteen bricks-and-mortar stores dotted across England and Wales as well as a busy e-commerce arm, Blue Banana offers a one-stop mix of edgy fashion and on-site body modification. If you are weighing up whether to book a session, this guide walks you through every stage — from the paperwork and price list to aftercare and studio hygiene — so you can decide whether the chain’s streamlined service suits your style and your skin.

Why focus on Blue Banana rather than an independent studio?

Independent piercing studios remain the backbone of the UK scene, but Blue Banana has carved out a niche by standardising training, equipment and aftercare across all its branches. Each studio is registered with the local Environmental Health office and undergoes regular inspections, adhering to policies rooted in the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Because every piercer must follow the same protocols, you can walk into the Swansea branch or the Leeds branch and expect identical single-use needles, implant-grade titanium jewellery included in the base price, and a printed aftercare sheet tailored to your chosen placement.

A step-by-step look at the appointment

The visit starts at the counter with proof of age and a brief medical questionnaire. Blue Banana publishes clear minimum-age rules — lobes with parental consent from eight, cartilage from thirteen, septums from fourteen, and most other piercings from sixteen with photo ID — even though no UK law enforces national age limits. Once the paperwork is signed, the piercer escorts you to the clinical bay, washes up, gloves on, and swabs the area with an alcohol-free surgical prep. You check a mirror to confirm the dot of ink marking the entry (and, where relevant, exit) point, then a sterile hollow needle makes the channel in a single, swift motion. A piece of pre-autoclaved jewellery — titanium, PVC-gold or PVC-black as standard — is inserted immediately so the tract cannot close. The whole technical act rarely lasts more than thirty seconds, yet the team block fifteen-minute slots so you have time to breathe and ask questions.

Pain and healing: keeping it realistic

Pain is always subjective, but customers generally place a Blue Banana session on a par with any well-run studio: lobe or nostril piercings feel like a sharp pinch that fades within minutes, while cartilage or tongue work delivers a brief sting followed by a warm throb. After that initial shock, swelling and tenderness unfold exactly as biology dictates for the body part in question. Cartilage shapes such as daiths and rooks can take six to twelve months to mature; soft-tissue piercings such as lips or navels feel settled in two or three months, provided you downsize the post once the puffiness vanishes.

Chain-approved aftercare — and how it aligns with NHS guidance

Blue Banana issues printed leaflets and maintains an online library that echoes NHS advice: clean twice daily with warm saline, pat dry with a disposable paper towel, and resist twisting the jewellery. For ears, the chain suggests a pinch of natural sea salt dissolved in pre-boiled water or its own Pro Pierce Ultimate Aftercare Solution, used morning and night. For oral placements, the drill is identical but adds alcohol-free mouthwash after meals or cigarettes. These instructions tally neatly with the NHS page on preventing infected piercings, which also recommends twice-daily warm salt-water soaks and a hands-off approach. Should redness spread, heat rise or yellow pus appear, Blue Banana staff advise leaving the jewellery in (removal can trap bacteria) and seeing a GP for antibiotics — again mirroring NHS protocol.

Price points and what the fee covers

One of the chain’s biggest selling points is a transparent country-wide tariff. As of spring 2025, lobe piercings are £25 for a single or £30 for a pair; straightforward cartilage, nostril and lip work sits at £30; septums, navels, eyebrows and tongues cost £35; industrials are £40; nipple pairs are £50; and genital piercings are £85 These prices buy the needle service plus a basic but hypoallergenic piece of titanium. Decorative upgrades — opals, gold ends or anodised colours — are extra. If you return for a jewellery change later, the studio charges £10 for most sites, £20 for genital work, and £20 to remove a microdermal anchor

Hygiene, regulation and staff training

Every Blue Banana studio is kitted with single-use needles, ultrasonic cleaners for tools, type B vacuum autoclaves, and colour-coded sharps bins. Compliance audits are carried out internally and by local Environmental Health officers, and the company promotes its “text-back” feedback system so head-office quality teams can track customer satisfaction in real time Whether a piercer holds UKAPP membership varies, but the in-house curriculum covers blood-borne-pathogen control, anatomy, first-aid refreshers and EU nickel-release law. Because jewellery is implant-grade by default, nickel dermatitis is vanishingly rare.

Risks and how the chain mitigates them

The physiological hazards are the same wherever you get pierced. Infection can escalate quickly, especially in cartilage, but Blue Banana minimises the odds with sterile technique and by sending every client home with saline sachets or a bottle of aftercare spray. Rejection and migration are possible for surface piercings and microdermals; piercers talk through lifestyle factors and anatomy before approving these placements, stressing that a tight gym waistband or bike-helmet strap could shorten the life of the jewellery. Because Blue Banana never pierces infants under eight and refuses intimate sites for under-twenty-ones, the studio also sidesteps the thornier safeguarding concerns present in some jurisdictions.

Is a Blue Banana session right for you?

If you value predictable pricing, convenient high-street locations and the comfort of a big-brand guarantee, the chain is hard to fault. People who prefer a longer artist consultation, custom-bent jewellery or ultra-bespoke projects may still gravitate toward a boutique studio where time is billed differently. Smokers, athletes in contact sports and anyone with diabetes or immune compromise should take the same precautions they would anywhere else: maintain rigorous hygiene, plan downtime for swelling, and liaise with a GP if you take anticoagulants or immune suppressants.

Frequently asked questions and persistent myths

Do Blue Banana piercers use guns? No. All body parts (even lobes) are pierced with sterile, single-use needles to reduce trauma and cross-contamination.

Is jewellery really included in the price? Yes. A plain titanium bar or ring comes free; decorative upgrades cost more.

Can I bring my own jewellery? Only if it is brand-new, sealed implant-grade titanium or solid gold and passes the piercer’s visual inspection. Otherwise, expect to buy in store.

Do they offer numbing cream? Topical anaesthetics interfere with skin elasticity and increase risk; Blue Banana, like most professional studios, does not use them.

Will I be turned away if I have a cold sore? Yes for any lip or cheek work. Mucosal infections raise complication rates, so you will be asked to re-book once the lesion has healed.

The bottom line

Blue Banana’s value lies in its consistency: fifteen shops, one price structure, and a set of hygiene standards that mirror NHS best practice. For first-timers anxious about paperwork, or seasoned collectors who simply need a fast, fuss-free addition, the chain provides a straightforward path to a safe piercing and lifetime aftercare support. Do your homework, arrive with valid ID, follow the saline routine for those crucial first weeks, and chances are good you will join the millions who have left with a gleaming new stud — and an experience as painless administratively as it is physically.