“Rearscaping” Is Here to Give Your Ear Piercings New Life

Image Source: Getty/Edward Berthelot / Contributor

If you’re a big fan of cool piercings, you’ve likely tried your hand at some of the more popular ones, like the helix, conch, or tragus piercing. If you’re a true aficionado, you’ve maybe even tried the new earscape trend, where you place different styles of jewelry along the ear for a personalized, chic stack that’s unique to you. With that trend’s recent popularity, it’s no surprise that there’s a new twist on the look making the rounds called “rearscaping.”

Before you get too ahead of yourself, no, it has nothing to do with that rear end. “Rearscaping or back-of-ear styling is going to be the next big thing,” Jenn Lee, senior manager of content and community at Studs, tells POPSUGAR. “It’s the perfect way to continue playing around with your ear stack once the piercing is fully healed.”

It’s not often that you get to draw attention to the back of the ear, and there have been many instances over the years when you may not have wanted to. (We are trying to ignore the era of using pencil erasers to keep your earrings in place). But with time comes innovation, so ahead, Lee explains exactly what rearscaping is, as well as how you can achieve the look.

What Is Rearscaping?

Image Source: Courtesy of Studs

“Studs’ new collection of reversible flat backs are quickly climbing the ranks and has become our best-selling earrings,” Lee says. Essentially, instead of the traditional butterfly-shaped or flat back to hold your earrings in place, the brand’s new line of post-backs comes in fun shapes like hearts, squares, or stars, making behind your ear as much of a point of attention as the front. Additionally, these new backs make the jewelry reversible, meaning that you can wear them on the front of your ear like you would a normal earring, with the traditional decorative piece in the back.

Is Rearscaping Painful?

Traditionally, flat earringbacks have been used to help encourage the healing process. As such, rearscaping is not something that you want to do on freshly pierced ears due to how often you’ll likely be touching them. However, after the appropriate healing period has passed – typically anywhere from six months to a year for lobes – you can swap out your backs.

Additionally, since flat backs are constructed with a no-poke post, as opposed to the butterfly designs where you can see the pointy end of your piercing post, they’re more comfortable for wearing in advanced cartilage piercings, like the conch, tragus, and helix. “This also makes them great for sleeping in since they don’t poke behind or inside your ear,” Lee says. Rearscaping is a great way to continue personalizing your piercings in a way that is unexpected and fun. Whether you opt for one style or mix-and-match, your ears will be the center of attention, as if you just got new piercings all over again.