Everything You Need To Know About Conch Piercings

The same way we hunt down the season's latest haircut du jour, we're constantly in search of the one piercing trend that inspires the cool girls to flock to their local piercing studio for an appointment. But unlike hair trends, piercing placements tend to stick around for a while. It was just last year that the piercers at New York City's Maria Tash revealed to Refinery29 that the conch was one of the trendiest cartilage piercings on the east coast. And that popularity is still going strong.

So, where exactly is the conch? It's the center-most part of the ear that, well, looks like a conch shell. It's what Cassi Lopez, head piercer at New York Adorned, calls the bowl, or cup, of the ear — a placement she says is such a classic these days, it'll never go out of style.

Just like any other piercing, there's plenty of research to be done ahead of your conch appointment — like figuring out the exact positioning, picking out rad jewelry, and prepping your after-care routine. Lucky for you, we've got all of that covered, ahead.