I'm very happy with this purchase, this is a major steal price wise for a stretching kit. I clean my plugs and ears daily and I haven't been getting any smell or ear cheese because of that but with acrylic plugs you will definitely get the funk if you don't clean daily.I used to have only one ear pierced (the right one, yes I'm that gay guy) and I stretched that ear out to a half inch when I was a teenager but I ended up blowing out that ear because I wore a steel tunnel for 2 weeks and I'm super allergic to steel jewelry so my ear got swollen and split. I let it heal completely without any jewelry in it and in the meantime I pierced my other ear and it's been maybe 6 years since then. My right ear shrunk down to a 4g and my left had a 14g piercing, so far after a week with this kit I'm up to a 2g in my right ear and 12g in my left, I have abnormally stretchy skin though and I know from experience what my ears can take. I'll probably use this kit up to 0g for both ears and then switch from tapers to taping to keep things gentle.Important notes for those who are new to ear stretching:1. Your piercing should be atleast 6 months to a year old and absolutely 100% healed before you start stretching.2. Tapers should never /ever/ be worn as jewelry, the uneven weight will morph the shape of your earlobes, tapers are only for helping you get the next size of plugs or tunnels into your ears. If it hurts too much to get the whole taper through your ear then you aren't ready to size up, you need to either let your ears heal longer or switch to taping (which I will explain in the final step).3. You need to wait atleast 2 weeks inbetween each size up. If your ears have been stretched previously or you have extremely stretchy skin and the last size up you did didn't hurt or swell or turn red /at all/ you might be able to get away with only waiting 1 week but otherwise 2 weeks is the bare minimum for your skin to heal. After 2 weeks you should only size up if your ears are not remotely red, irritated or tender. You should be able to comfortably tug on your plugs, take them out and put them back in without using a taper or oil before you size up, if this is not the case, wait another week or 2.4. You will need to remove and clean your plugs with alcohol or sterile saline wash every single day. This is massively important if you are wearing acrylic plugs because acrylic is a porous material that can harbor bacteria if not properly cleaned. If you don't clean your acrylic plugs every day, it will make your ears smell awful and will most likely lead to infection and blow-outs (busted ears). Some people will say that acrylic shouldn't be used to make plugs or tunnels at all because of this but for those of us with steel allergies it is necessary since you can't wear wood plug while your ears are still healing and you should never stretch with silicone.5. You are going to need to condition and moisturize your ears every day in order to promote healing. I recommend using a mix of Jojoba oil (which is naturally mildly antibacterial, excellent for moisturizing and conditioning and naturally contains vitamin E to promote healing) and tea tree oil (naturally antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory which soothes swelling and pain but it can be drying if used alone). This will help aid the healing process, it will prevent you from getting gross crusty ears and most importantly it keeps your skin soft, supple and stretchable.6. The best time to size up is right after a shower so that your skin is pre-softened, you'll need to lubricate your ears, tapers and plugs with either the same oil that you use daily or a pre-made stretching balm (remember kids, without lube, things can break!) and if it hurts as bad as getting a new piercing or worse, stop trying to force in the taper and let your ears heal for another week or two or switch to taping if you know your ears are fully healed.7. You will eventually hit a wall where you can no longer size up with tapers without forcing things and risking blowing out your ears. This wall is usually right around 0g-00g but it can be as low as 4g-2g for some people. This is because the bigger you size up, the bigger the gap between sizes gets. At this point it is time to switch stretching methods from tappers to taping. Taping is very simple and it is much more gentle on your ears, all you need to do in invest in some better quality plus or tunnels in a material that you can wear continuously (wood, stone, steel, or glass, no silicone or acrylic. there's no need to go for anything too pricey if you know you're going to keep sizing up but you wont be able to clean you jewelry daily anymore so you should get something that is truly skin safe long-term) and a roll of PTFE/Teflon tape (it'll be $5 on amazon but you can get the exact same stuff at the hardware store for $0.50) and every day or every other day wrap one layer of the tape around your plug/tunnel, until you can comfortably pop the next plug size...
