“I do truly love what I do, it’s cheesy to say, but it doesn’t feel like work.”
Embellish Piercing Salon owner Carmela Hall made that comment as she opened her new business with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday at the shop, located at the Hayes Shopping Center.
The luxury body piercing and jewelry studio opened in the space formerly occupied by Blown Away Salon. Hall has been a piercer for 13 years and a tattoo artist for 10, recently traveling all over the U.S. to tattoo conventions and networking within the industry.
“Piercing has always been my first love because it’s what brought me into the industry to begin with, so I knew I wanted to come home and open this vision that I had for the community,” Hall said.
Originally, she had been looking at locations in Hampton Roads, but felt like something was calling her back to Gloucester, where she grew up. After Blown Away Salon relocated last year, the hair salon’s owner Michelle Green reached out to Hall about purchasing the space.
“I really kind of owe her some thanks because she opened that door for me to have a space,” said Hall. “So that’s kind of how we ended up with this location. It just kind of all fell into place.”
Though the shop has a dedicated room for Hall to tattoo her regular clients, Embellish will be a space catering to body piercing. “There’s a lot of people who come in and only get a piercing and might not be interested in getting a tattoo,” she said. “I just wanted to kind of cater to that community and make everyone feel welcome and comfortable.”
Every piece of jewelry clients can choose from was hand selected by Hall, who went through thousands of pieces of jewelry. “What we have out right now is only about 30 percent of what I want to carry. This was just the push to get us started,” she explained.
A goal for the shop is to also carry jewelry that is not necessarily for body piercing, like necklaces, bracelets and anklets.
All of the jewelry offered at Embellish is either implant grade titanium or solid gold. “Our solid gold pieces are more of our high-end line and then our titanium is more affordable for everyone,” Hall said.
“We offer 24 karat gold titanium, but it’s not solid gold, it’s still PVD [Physical Vapor Deposition] over titanium, so it goes through a heating process and it adheres the gold to the metal. So, there’s no chipping or tarnishing; no wear on the color over time. It’s built for long-term wear.”
In-house anodizing is also offered for a variety of color options. “We have a machine that heats up the metal of the titanium and it changes it to different colors, so you can actually have blue or purple or green,” she explained.
For her clients, Hall wants every experience to be welcoming and informational. “When I have someone come in for a piercing, of course you’re greeted at the door and you fill out a release form, and then you start your shopping process,” she said.
“Once you’re in the piercing room, I explain everything to you that I’m doing and I make sure that you’re very comfortable with your after-care instructions.”
She is always ready to answer any questions a client may have and juice boxes and water are available for anyone feeling lightheaded or anxious, as well as lollipops for the children.
Last year, before the studio had opened, Embellish sponsored the Gloucester High School marching band for its season, and plans to be a part of even more community events in the future. “We plan on also sponsoring the Gloucester youth baseball for the upcoming season. We want to do a lot of things in our community and different events,” she said. “More than just being a piercing studio, I want it to be a welcoming place for people to just stop in and say hi to us.”
Hall will have two apprentices training under her—Harley Johnson and Zoe Mourredes. “They’re going to be trained in the way that I would like to represent myself to the community, so that’s really important to me,” she explained.
“I want people to understand that if they come in and get a piercing by me now and they come in nine months from now and they get a piercing from one of my other employees, they’re getting the same experience they got with me.”
For now, it is only Hall piercing clients while her apprentices observe.
Laura Smith, salon director, runs the front desk, does inventory, and helps to manage things behind the scenes.
Walk-ins for piercings at the salon are Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 8 p.m. and tattoos, by appointment only, will be available Sundays and Mondays.