Our Ear-cyclopaedia - The what is and how-to guide to earrings

The era of the “curated ear” is upon us, with everyone from celebs to jewellery lovers now beginning to create their own personal collections of piercings & styled ear stacks.

But with so many looks to choose from, and new earring terms being thrown around, sometimes it's confusing to know where to start. So let’s just jump back to basics for a moment and brush up on the various types of earrings you can style your stack with, and the common earring terms jewellery brands are now using.

Knowing your ear cuffs from your climbers, your hoops from your huggies, is the first step towards uncovering your very own curated ear stacking style.

Let’s first just cover the two most obvious kind of earrings, studs and hoops. Both classic and timeless earrings for pierced ears.

Studs are a great way to start your stack if you’re going for an elegant understated look. They’re also a great way of adding cute accompaniments to a larger, more statement earring.

The same can be said for hoop earrings. Medium to large hoops can become the centre of your stack, whereas smaller simple hoops or charm hoops can be stacked alongside each other for a subtle yet edgy look.

Shop our Hoop Earrings range now!

Huggies are a style of little hoop earrings that ‘hug’ the earlobe. This means they sit close to your earlobe! They tend to be thicker than the standard hoop and have a lever back meaning the curved back of the earring simply clicks into place. Astrid & Miyu’s huggies come in a wide range of designs. Whether they’re simply silver, gold or rose gold plated huggies, or more intricately designed with stones, jewels, or dainty dangle charms, these earrings look beautiful worn alone, or as a part of your stack.

Because of the huggie’s small diameter, they tend to be used for lobe piercings, however can be used for other piercings such as the helix (cartilage at the top of the ear), forward helix (top, front of the ear) and the tragus (in front of the ear canal). Stack and style your huggies the way you want!

Check Out More Huggies

Barbell earrings are composed of a straight bar which goes through the piercing, and a ball or bead at either end which screws the earring into place.

This is one of the most traditional jewellery designs for body-piercings.Our barbell earring range is designed for healed piercings and is suitable for nearly all ear piercings. Available in Silver, Gold and Rose Gold and in a wide variety of designs, stack them up to your heart’s content.

View Barbell Earring Styles

Get ready to meet our new cartilage hoop earring range. Cartilage hoops or “clickers” are a small hoop style earring designed for healed piercings, and come in a range of colors and styles and designs. Slightly smaller than huggies, our cartilage hoops are safe for all kinds of ear piercings including lobes, tragus, rook, helix, forward helix and the auricle. Check out our easy "how to wear" guide here!

View Dreamy Cartilage Hoop Stacks

An ear cuff is a small thick ring that can be slipped onto the side of the ear and stays on by pressing tightly on the ear. Ear cuffs do not require a piercing and this is one of the many reasons they are so popular. All our ear cuffs are designed to fit onto either your left or right ear, so you are free to decide and change it up as you go. 

Check out Astrid & Miyu's Range of Ear Cuffs Now!

Wondering how to put on an ear cuff so they stay put?

1. Pull either side of the ear cuff to make the opening slightly wider.

2. Then, pull the thinnest part of your upper ear taught and slide the ear cuff over your cartilage.

3. Slide down and rotate towards your inner ear and place in your desired spot, squeezing the ear cuff slightly to make sure its tight, yet comfortable.

Stacking your ear is all about experimenting. Playing with different platings, colors, textures and sizes. Whether you have no piercings or ten, the stacking choices are endless. Start by choosing one earring to be the focal point of the ear, whether its a statement earring, ear cuff or a jewelled helix stud - this will be what people are drawn to immediately, and then build around that. Don’t be afraid of asymmetry, try a hoop on one side and a stud in the other or mix and match Silver and Gold. There are no rules in this game.

There are four different metals that are usually suggested for sensitive ears. Sterling Silver, 14k Gold, Titanium and Platinum. The most common candidate to cause an allergic reaction is nickel. By avoiding nickel, your sensitive ears should stay allergy free. Always check what earrings are made of before purchase. At Astrid and Miyu, we are dedicated to making sure all our jewelry is nickel free, therefore should cause no reaction.

Technically you can sleep in any earrings, though some of them won’t be comfortable. Plated earrings will also rub away the more you wear them, so we would suggest keeping them in an airtight bag or box that you received them in to keep them in the best possible condition.

Different shapes and sizes suit different face shapes, so it is best to experiment and find out what you like. Check out Astrid & Miyu’s face shape guide to help get you started!

It all comes down to personal preference and style! At Astrid and Miyu, we say the more the better, so stack away! Create earring combinations no one else has!

Yes, you can wear Sterling Silver earrings in the shower. However, water does cause silver to oxidize (darken) more quickly.

Constellation earrings are a cluster of earrings, either on your lobes or cartilage, that are placed around the same way stars and planets appear in the night sky. Style with our star and moon charm earrings from our mystic dreams collection for an out of the world look.

Pain is all dependant on the person and their pain threshold. Some people think that a rook piercing (anti helix of the ear) is the most painful, while others aren't phased by it at all. Speak with your local piercer about what you’re looking for and how you usually react to pain and they will be able to give you a better understanding of the ear piercing process.

For the helix piercing, which is located on the upper cartilage of your ear, both a stud and hoop can be used to pierce with. We would advise to pierce with a stud initially as this can cause less irritation than a hoop, as a hoop can catch on things and rotate. Top tip! Studs usually allow for a piercing to heal quicker!