My Septum Piercing at NY Adored with J. Colby Smith


A little more than a month ago, after months of going back and forth, I got my septum pierced at NY Adorned in LES (Lower East Side) Manhattan with J. Colby Smith. Long story short, I’m in love with my piercing thanks to my superb experience.

If you haven’t heard of J. Colby Smith already, he’s somewhat of a guru for piercings amongst the fashion crowd. Some fashion editors refuse to get pierced by anyone other than him, and now I certainly see why. He pierces at NY Adorned a few days a week (see his scheduler here).



The septum piercing came into the mainstream spotlight a few years ago, and arguably some say it’s going out of style now, but I hadn’t really known about them until last year. To be honest, at first I thought they were too steampunk and grotesque. Then I came across J. Colby Smith’s work (and his self-designed septum jewelry) and fell in love. I had only seen really large and in-your-face designs before, so I wasn’t aware that such dainty, gorgeous pieces existed.

The studio itself is very clean and has a beautiful storefront. They don’t have that many pieces of jewelry available, but I preferred their highly curated collection of quality, tasteful jewels. I chose the rosegold ball chain with a surgical steel retainer. To explain: the retainer is a staple-shaped piece that the open chain (has two circular loops on each end) hook onto; the jewelry is two pieces.

Needles for me induce panic attacks. I was sweating bullets before J. Colby Smith walked into the room. He has a very soft voice and light attitude, which helped put me at ease as he explained each step. Not only was a he a professional, but he was clearly very experienced at doing septum piercings specifically. It was over in a minute and did not hurt at all, which was both relieving and made me cry from all the anticipation. I highly recommend him for your piercing needs in NYC.

I love how my piercing looks still, and it’s nice that I got the retainer since I can hide it by removing the chain and flipping the retainer up. Bonus: NY Adorned was extremely helpful in answering all my questions by phone after I came home and realized I had questions about cleaning my piercing.

What are your thoughts on the septum piercing? Have you heard of NY Adorned or J. Colby Smith?

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