Having just pearly white teeth are out of season now, when you can get a bedazzled smile instead. The ever gleaming tooth gem trend of the 2000s era is back in session again to conquer the latest Y2K micro trend of 2022 now. Many tooth gem artists are surfacing on social media, showing off their skills and designs on their customer’s bedazzled smiles, and the urge to get one is real too. Luckily, we have our very own tooth gem studio in the North East.
You wouldn’t notice it at first glance but tucked away in a little passageway out just on 10-12 Akenside Hill in Newcastle, is a welcoming gothic-themed studio that offers piercings, manicures, tattoos but most of all, tooth gems. Nicole Guiterrez-Lock, 40, is the owner of Skullen Collective Ltd.
(Source: Skullen Collective)
“As everyone is bringing back the Y2K and 90s fashion look, I lived it the first time around especially when it comes to tooth gems. I used to go to a nail studio and stuck gems on my teeth using nail glue, which is not the best way to do it. However, I started noticing more celebrities getting tooth gems and ordinary people. So I decided to look for tooth gem professionals in order to be trained and broadened the trend in the North East” says Nicole.
During the lockdown when most shops were closed, Nicole had done her intensive training in her studio via Zoom by a tooth professional in Essex. She’s done three types of activity which are the normal tooth gem applications, gold applications and full tooth covering. “As a studio, we offer anything from single crystals, double crystals, crystal shapes such as cherries, butterflies, stars and any type of designs that you have in mind”.
(Source: Skullen)
Also, if you’re having questionable thoughts if the crystals are genuine or not, Nicole supplies authentic diamonds, which she gets from America and Europe. “We take our diamonds seriously, we only buy them from trusted sellers. Never Amazon because they have to be of good quality, especially for our gold gems, they have to be 18 karats. We don’t use silver and metal or do tooth gems for anyone who is under 18 because it can damage the mouth.”
With tooth gems getting popular every day, Nicole expresses tooth gems are not mainly for the alternative crowd anymore and that a larger 18 and early 20s mainstream community have branched out to tooth gems to break the ice into decorating their body for the first time.
(Source: Makeup.com)
“We keep an eye out on the latest trends in America and England, and celebrities like Willow Smith, Dua Lipa, and FKA twigs are one of the few people who are pushing the fashion movement for the younger generation when it comes to clothes and tooth gems too, so our biggest influx of crowds is towards younger people who are into 90s fashion and want to either try out something completely new but non-permanent to their body or who are looking on to add more body modifications if they are already in the alternative crowd.”
As the market for applying tooth gems grows, so does the counterfeit and unsafe market. To get a tooth gem, it’s always safer to get yours applied by someone trained and professional even if the fees are much more costly. There’s been a surge of fake tooth gem sets being sold on Amazon, AliExpress and Wish, all using fake diamonds and nail glue which are both items that are damaging to our teeth.
Source: Amazon
“Never ever do your tooth gem application alone if you’re not trained or if you’re using non-genuine items. This will only damage your teeth further. If you want your tooth gems removed, the only way to do that is by getting a dentist’s help. The process is painless too,” she says.
Nicole was also quick to give some tips about tooth gem aftercare and how it’s also a bit of maintenance. Here are some of the steps to keep in mind:
- Avoid eating for two hours after the tooth gem application
- Do not consume anything hard, crunchy or acidic for 24 hours
- Do not brush on your gemmed tooth for 24hrs or 48 hrs
- Keep the teeth clean to avoid plaque build up around the gem
- Do not use bleach or blue light whitening procedures on teeth, this might affect the bonding agent used to apply the tooth gems
- Do not touch or pick the gem on your teeth
(Source:Skullen)
Skullen Collective is Newcastle’s very own first tooth gem studio. Nicole continued: “I’m the kind of person who likes to do things first and although Newcastle might not have been quite ready for it at first, now, we’re getting busier. The idea of being the first North East studio was also exciting to make.”
“I am a big believer that the tooth gem trend is definitely here to stay for a long time and I am sure that more studios will be popping up real soon around the North East.”
What do you think about the tooth gem trend? Let us know @Fashion_North
