Bal Harbour Piercing Studio Open Until 9 Daily: Maria Tash

Maria Tash in Bal Harbour Shops opens every day from 11 am to 9 pm, and walk-ins are always welcome. The store is at 9700 Collins Ave, Suite D-205, Bal Harbour, FL 33154, on Level 2 of the open-air shopping center, and parking is complimentary with a purchase. A standard earlobe piercing costs $20 in service, a helix $25, and the jewelry is chosen and paid for separately, starting at $45 in titanium. Anyone under 18 needs a notarized parental consent form, so sort the paperwork out before you leave home.

The store listing gives 2021 as the year this location opened, making it the brand's base in South Florida. It is described as a flagship with three private piercing rooms, where the team handles styling, piercing, checkups on old piercings and consultations for new ones. Unlike a mall kiosk, it offers a wide range of body piercings, from navels to dermals, alongside the ear work that made the name famous.

Maria Tash herself started in Manhattan's East Village, where her first studio opened in 1993 and drew a following for unusual placements and custom pieces. The signature idea she developed, the Curated Ear, treats one ear as a composition of studs and rings chosen together. In Bal Harbour that idea plays out among shoppers who are already in the mood to spend, so the styling conversation can run long.

This is the single most important thing to know before bringing a teenager. The State of Florida requires a notarized parental consent form before any piercing on a minor. The store page links the form, and it must be completed by the parent or guardian in front of a notary and notarized before the appointment. On the day, bring the form plus valid ID for both the minor and the guardian. If the two have different surnames, the store asks for more proof, such as a birth certificate.

The age table here is slightly different from the brand's other stores. With a guardian, lobes start at 5, the TASH Lobe, TASH Rook, helix and nostril at 13, a septum or navel at 15, and cartilage and industrial piercings at 16. Without a guardian, 16-year-olds can get lobes, helixes, cartilage, nostril, navel and industrial piercings. A septum, eyebrow, lip or tongue piercing without a guardian needs the client to be 18. Surface, dermal, nipple and genital piercings are 18 and over in every case.

The Bal Harbour page lists the full service menu. An earlobe is $20, and the TASH Lobe and helix are $25 each. The TASH Helix is $40 and the TASH Hidden Rook is $55. Cartilage, nostril, septum, navel and nipple piercings are $35. Eyebrow, lip and tongue cost $30, an industrial is $50, dermal and surface work is $75, genital piercings are $80, and installing jewelry in a healed hole is $15.

Those fees exclude jewelry, and the store charges for your chosen piece separately. Titanium piercing jewelry starts at $45. The gold, diamond and opal pieces are where a visit becomes an investment, and the brand runs collections such as The Pink Diamond Collection and Invisible Set Diamonds. Our view: if this is a first cartilage piercing, start with titanium. You can move to gold at the six-week checkup, once you know the placement suits you.

Because the store keeps the same 11 am to 9 pm hours every day, weekday mornings just after opening are the easiest time to walk in. Bookings are preferred for piercings, according to the brand FAQ, while fittings and jewelry installs need no appointment at all. If you are coming with a group or planning several placements, book ahead so you are not waiting on a weekend afternoon.

Leave more time than you think. Stylists map placements, hold different metals against your skin and talk through how new holes fit around what you already wear before a needle comes out. A single lobe can be quick, but a full ear plan takes much longer, so do not squeeze it in before a dinner reservation. Keep the receipt from your purchase, since it is what earns the complimentary parking.

The brand FAQ recommends coming back six weeks after a new piercing for a complimentary checkup. If you were pierced with a stud, that visit is when the piercer decides whether you can downsize to a shorter post. Aftercare is a saline compress for five minutes in the morning and evening, followed by careful drying with sterile gauze or the cold setting on a hair dryer.

In Miami the hard part is the water. Bal Harbour beach is right across Collins Avenue, and a fresh piercing should stay out of the ocean and pools for the first weeks. If your trip is built around swimming, pierce at the end of your stay rather than the start, and plan the checkup for your next visit.

Bal Harbour Shops is an open-air center, and its walkways are shaded by palms and dotted with koi ponds and fountains. It is pleasant to wander between levels while a new piercing settles, and the center has cafes and restaurants for a sit-down break.

Cross Collins Avenue and you reach the Bal Harbour beach path, a paved walkway that runs along the dunes behind the oceanfront hotels and condos. Walk north and the path brings you toward Haulover Park and its inlet, a good spot to watch boats heading out to sea at sunset.

Maria Tash Miami is at 9700 Collins Ave, Suite D-205, Bal Harbour, FL 33154, on Level 2 of Bal Harbour Shops. It opens Monday to Sunday, 11 am to 9 pm. Walk-ins are welcome and appointments can be booked online. Service fees include $20 for an earlobe, $25 for a helix and $15 for an install, with jewelry extra and titanium from $45.

Minors need a notarized Florida parental consent form plus ID for the minor and the guardian. Parking is complimentary with a purchase. Ask the Karpo APP for a lunch table inside Bal Harbour Shops or a quiet stretch of the beach path for after your appointment.