Introduction

Ask & Embla is a body jewelry company which mainly sells jewelry for people who
stretch their ear lobes.

Here is a good introduction to ear stretching:

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-15771237
 Product Types
a. Plugs: These are jewelry pieces where the entire space created between the ear
lobe as a result of stretching is covered by the jewelry.

b.
c. Tunnels: These are jewelry pieces where the jewelry piece is inserted in the
space created between the ear lobe but the jewelry piece has a hole inside it.
1. Materials Used to Create Jewelry

The plugs, tunnels and tapers can be made in a variety of different materials. Each
material may have its own disadvantages:
a. Silicon: Silicone is a synthetic material which is primarily a polymer. The material
is fairly light and cheap.
b. Acryllic: Acryllic is yet another polymer which is fairly light weight and cheap.
c. Stainless Steel:
d. Stone:
e. Wood:

Out of all the materials, Silicone and Acryllic are considered the worst materials while
stretching the ears or if the ears are heaing from a stretch. These are synthetic
materials which get scratched easily. The scratches can harbor bacteria and can lead to
infection:
Acryllic Description: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRaMEt6j3zk
Silicone Description: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPFH_0Ae3gs

Here is a link to a video which describes materials used for stretching (please note that
the video might contain explicit and abusive language):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LAKVHVFo4Q

2. Different Types of Plugs

 There are 5 types of plugs/tunnels that can be found:
a. Non-Flared
b. Threaded Tunnels/Screw Tops
c. Single Flared
d. Saddle Double Flared/Double Flared/Concave
e. Eyelets

Here is a great article describing them:

http://bandaruorganics.com/ear-plugs-and-tunnels

3. Sizes
The plugs, tunnels and tapers are usually measured in a unit called gauges (g), with 16g
being the smallest and 00g being the largest size measured in gauges (Yes! The smaller
number is larger). A 00g is roughly equal to 10mm. For sizes above 10mm,
measurements can be taken in inches. Please find the sizing chart below:
https://www.plugyourholes.com/pages/sizing-charts

Here are a few important points worth noting:

a. Size Variation: Sometimes different manufacturers will have different ideas
about what a certain size is really like. For example, the size 1 ⅝’’ will be
produced as 41mm by one manufacturer and 42mm by another manufacturer.
Here is a video about it as well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVPHPd-MSOM

Here is a sample chat about size variation:

4. How to Stretch Ears

There are three ways people use to stretch their ears:
 a. Tapers: Please see the information above to see how they work. If someone
wants to stretch their ears beyond 00g, they should use one of the methods
below.
b. Tape: This is the recommended way to stretch your ears above 00g. Please
check the following video to see how it works:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpep-ILasWQ
The recommended tapes here are usually bondage tape or teflon tape.

c. Weights: This method involves hanging weights from ear holes and is not a
recommended method to stretch.

Important Points:
a. The best material to wear while stretching the ears or while the ears are still
healing is steel. Steel is non-porous and doesn’t harbor bacteria.
b. If the customer is allergic to stainless steel or cannot wear steel for some reason,
stone would be the next best option to go for.
c. It is not advised to skip sizes when you’re stretching ears. Sizing points are
demonstrated in the sizing chart given above. Stretching slowly and waiting at
least a month from one size to the next is recommended.

5. Ear Care
a. Ear Butter: Ear butter is used to moisturize and cleanse ear lobes before/after
putting on plugs/tunnels/tapers. Please see the following video for an explanation
on ear butter:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jlb-L9p6__0

Apr 24, 2017 9:33 PM

Visitor: Do you Carry anything to help with ear odor?

Apr 24, 2017 9:34 PM

Josh: Our ear butter! At least for the lobes. We recommend cleaning the plugs themselves with
anti-bacterial soap.

b. Plug/Tunnel Care: It is best to clean plugs/tunnels regularly to make sure proper

hygene is maintained. Please check out the following chat:

6. Product Search
Once you visit askandembla.com, you can filter the items in a variety of ways:
https://askandembla.net/collections/all-products-1
 a. By Size: Click on the by size’ option and simply select the size that the customer
is interested in. Then, you will get a list of plugs with the right size.
b. By Material: There are a variety of materials the Ask & Embla products are
available in, like Brass, acrylic, glass, stone, etc.
c. By Fit
d. By Color
e. Keyword search: On the left side of the screen, there is a search icon. After
clicking the search item, you will be able to type in search terms to find out the
items a customer is looking for. You can use a wide variety of search terms, for
example:
i. Stone
ii. Acrylic
iii. Wood 11/16 → This is used to refer to wooden plugs/tunnels which are
11/16’’ in size
iv. Wood reddish → This is used to refer to wooden plugs that are reddish in
color. Other color specific terms that you can use include ‘’blueish”,
“yellowish”

There are some other things that need to be taken into account, please check the
following chats for info:
a. Wearable Area: This number represents the size of the space that touches the
ear lobe when a plug/tunnel is worn. The wearable area is usually on the product
page in mm but may not be mentioned in some cases.