




Nostril, navel, nipple and tongue are just some of the piercings offered at Red Room Adorned in downtown Chico.
“Modify the skin suit,” said resident piercer Evan Hilsee. “Why not add your own accoutrement?”
Since 2021, Red Room Adorned has provided the community a place to put metal in their bodies. Adorned is a sister shop to Red Room Tattoo, located on Nord Avenue, both being owned and operated by Dylan and Krista Lapp. While the couple’s tattoo shop also offers piercings, Krista Lapp opened Adorned to provide a more intimate setting dedicated solely to jewelry and gems.
“It’s kind of my little endeavor,” Lapp shared with a smile.
The couple is also partnered with Love Hurts Tattoo, the shop located next-door to Adorned. While Lapp herself doesn’t tattoo, she’s a licensed piercer and, as she puts it, jewelry specialist. Today, much of her work is managing the shop while piercings are done by Hilsee and fellow piercer Luna Jade Lorence.
At Adorned, the team of three welcomes customers from all walks of life.
“I’ve done a pair of nipples on a 67-year-old,” Hilsee said. “You’re never too old to get that piercing. If it makes you happy, it does not matter what anyone else thinks.”
Lapp echoed Hilsee’s comments, sharing that she once pierced the nostril of a 90-year-old woman. Both noted that there have been times when three generations — typically a grandmother, mother and daughter — have come in together to get piercings.
For younger customers, the shop abides by laws and county codes requiring anyone under the age of 18 to bring their birth certificate and a photo ID, and to be accompanied by their parent who also needs to bring a photo ID.
The piercers will then use personal discretion on what piercings they are comfortable administering. If it is their first time with an underage customer, they may be less likely to do oral piercings or piercings that take extra care and responsibility to heal. For earlobe piercings, the youngest age the shop will pierce is 6 years old.
Exotic piercings offered at the shop — such as nipples, clitoral hoods and penis piercings — are strictly for those over 18 years old.
Process
Red Room Adorned uses single-use, hollow needles for all piercings. The industry generally frowns on using piercing guns, commonly seen at mall shops; Lapp explained that shops using piercing guns are often less regulated and don’t require the same licensing as certified piercing shops.
Additionally, because piercing guns are dull, the jewelry they insert actually tears through the skin rather than piercing it, causing more damage, Lapp said. Hollow needles, she said, are much safer.
Because piercing needles are hollow, Hilsee added, customers often think small chunk of skin is removed to make way for the piercing. However, this isn’t the case.
“You’re actually creating a small crescent-like incision, and then you’re displacing the tissue there to keep the jewelry in,” Hilsee said. “So that’s why, when you remove jewelry too early, or remove it for long enough, that tissue goes back to where it was before, because it’s just been displaced.”
Healing a piercing starts by buying quality jewelry, said Lapp. The shop exclusively uses implant grade titanium and solid 14- and 18-karat gold jewelry. The shop’s American-made titanium jewelry uses the same quality of metal used in bone screws, Hilsee said.
For aftercare, the shop sells sterile saline wound wash that is safe to use on skin and won’t erode metal. Beyond using this wash, Hilsee and Lapp recommend simply leaving the piercing alone.
“Don’t touch it, don’t twist it,” Lapp said.
Basic piercings start at $40, with jewelry costing around $30. Advanced and exotic piercings range from $50 to $90, with jewelry starting at $35. An extensive list of piercings is available on the shop’s website, redroomadorned.com. Appointments can be made online or by calling, but walk-ins are welcome.
In addition to classic styles such as barbells, the shop also offers a variety of colorful jewelry with ornate gems. Certain pieces are flower or cross shaped.
“It doesn’t have to be some hardcore, cool thing,” Hilsee said. “There’s like a very delicate, beautiful, graceful side to it.”
Red Room Adorned is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday noon to 6 p.m. The storefront is located at 101 Salem St.
Reach Molly Myers at mmyers@chicoer.com