Cal State Crew

I came here on yesterday, Friday the 13^th to check out their piercing deals because I had heard a lot about them on social media. As expected Cal State Crew was jam packed with people coming in for $ 13 and $ 20 tattoos and the piercings. From my understanding, this time around they raised their prices and in the past they were also doing $ 13 piercings. The piercings started at $ 15 for lip, eyebrow, lobe, helix, conch, transverse lobe, tongue, and anti-​tragus piercings. The $ 20 piercings included navel, daith, vertical lip, web/​frenulum, surface piercing, and septum. For $ 25 you could get a forward helix, tragus, rook, or industrial. The following prices included standard jewelry, if you wanted their more premium jewelry or something cute then that would increase the value.
I went in looking to get a double helix and I came around 5PM. The line for piercings was not very long, especially when compared to the tattoo line which was around 5 or 6 hours long by that point. I was 11^th in the piercing line and my estimated waiting time was supposedly around 5 minutes per person according to the woman making the list (that would be around a 55 minute wait). In all actuality I waited 2 hours before getting pierced which I was totally fine with, I would just recommend taking your phone or something to keep yourself entertained in the meantime.
Once it was my time to get my piercings, I headed to the back to meet Alexa. She had a rough idea of what I wanted because of the consent form that was previously filled out, but once I met with her I told her I wanted to get a double helix. She proceeded to marking two dots on my right ear, they were first a little high so I asked her if she could lower them a little and she did. Once I was happy with the markings I laid down and turned my head to the side so she could do her work. My ear was first covered with a paper towel with a hole, that way none of my hair would intervene and any blood would just go on the paper towel instead of my clothing.
The actual free hand piercing took less than 2 minutes total and didn’t hurt much. Free hand piercing means that she doesn’t use forceps to hold the area in place, just her hands. She was very quick and her movements were very smooth. It was probably the smoothest piercing experience I’ve had so far.
The reason why I knocked down two stars is because 1.) No aftercare instructions were given whatsoever and 2.) I really didn’t observe any of the standard sterilization routine that I’m accustomed to seeing. The last time I got pierced was at Metropolis Tattoo & Piercing in North Park and Jen (the piercer there) was extremely cautious and took sterilization very seriously. She washed her hands and put on sterile gloves right in front of me. She also showed me all the sterilized tools so I could see that the piercing environment and tools were 100% sterile and safe. I’m sure Alexa had clean and sterile gloves on, but it would have been nice to have seen the routine taken a little more seriously.
Another issue I had was the amount of time she had been working. Alexa told me they actually opened the shop an hour earlier (9am) and since she’s the only piercer in the shop, that means she worked for a whopping 14 hours during Friday the 13^th. Maybe that’s why she didn’t really dedicate much time to piercing aftercare or the sterilization routine, so I’m going to have to visit the shop in the future when it’s not Friday the 13^th (even if I do have to pay just a little more for the piercing). Thankfully I’ve already been pierced a few times so I know how to clean and take care of a piercing, but the least that could have been done is pass out a little sheet with the information.
Last but not least, this shop is cash only! Make sure to stop by your bank or a nearby ATM to get cash before you come here, especially on Friday the 13^th. I was aware that it was cash only but while I was waiting the woman working the counter later announced that we needed to have the exact change to pay for the piercing. Thankfully there’s a lot of shops nearby so it’s not difficult to get change, but it would have been nice to know that exact change was needed before hand.
Overall I had a good piercing experience but I just wouldn’t go to the shop on Friday the 13^th again. I’d rather pay just a little more to get that one on one attention from Alexa without feeling rushed to pierce another customer.

Sneax is the best of the best! Clean work, clean shop & not intimidating — unlike other shops in SD. Two thumbs up.

I got both my nipples pierced by Alexa today. She was amazing, I’m just speechless. I definitely suggest her. She was gentle, fast, straight to the point and so chill. She knows what she’s doing and I love my piercings they look amazing. I can’t wait till they heal. She has done a couple of piercing on my sister and they look great.

Nope. Just don’t. Unprofessional and zero customer service. Employee laying on the couch when I walked in, couldn’t do my piercing even after I called to confirm, by just a general mess. Do yourself a favor and go somewhere else.

This place is dope. Me and my boyfriend come in here for all our tattoos. Jason does all our work & he is an amazing artist. Clean place very professional and all the artists are outstanding. Great service always, the piercer is mad cool too. The entire place is awesome if you are looking for an amazing tattoo or piercing this is the place to go. 5 star service!

Alexa is such a funny and outgoing piercer. All of my friends including myself love her and her service. The reputation of her being «rude» is extremely blown out of proportion. She always holds a smile and makes me laugh every time I see her. If you need a piercing or need a laugh come in and see her! Alexa is amazing and so is the rest of the staff.

Alexa thanks for being rude ! :) wasn’t planning on tipping but you can keep the 5 dollars to buy advil cuz you act like you got a baaad migrane. Thanks for nothing.

Got my double helix/​lobes done by Alexa just the other day. She charged both of them for $ 40 (since mine were not entirely cartilage, she treated them as if they were lobes). I went ahead and upgraded the jewelry to opal flat back labrets so all in all both piercings cost me $ 60 (+tip) including jewelry. Keep in mind it’s cash only as well.
Alexa was awesome during the whole process. I had her change the positioning of the piercings a few times and she was completely patient with me. When it came to actually piercing me, she directed me to take a deep breath in and then slowly out. Very helpful. She’s also very knowledgeable! After the piercings, I was bleeding a crap ton. I have multiple piercings on both of my ears and I already knew that I was susceptible to heavy bleeding in the ear area. This was surprising to Alexa but the entire time she was there to clean off the excessive bleeding until it stopped. I found that service to be very generous since I was probably there for 10 minutes for the cleaning of the blood alone.
The whole time she was cleaning off the blood, she noticed my other piercings (mainly my lobes) and commented on the type of backing I was wearing. She gave some very good advice and I will be taking it into consideration for future body jewelry purchases. Also we went back and forth on why I am unusually bleeding a lot and came to the conclusion that I may be anemic. She also gave me tips on putting more iron into my body (she herself was anemic at one point).
After the piercing she went ahead and gave me her business card along with $ 5 off my next piercing. Although she did give me aftercare instructions verbally, it would’ve been really nice if they handed out aftercare sheets. The size of the jewelry that was installed was also given to me verbally and that too would’ve been great if it were written down somewhere for me to remember — so I had to knock off a star for that.

I love this shop it’s amazing, awesome staff and environment. Every time I get tattooed it’s a great experience, this time I got a piecing by Alexa. She’s awesome! Clean, gentle and helped explain the sanitizing procedures. Always a great vibe ! If you’re looking for affordable and professional service contact Alexa (:

I’ve had 5 piercings done by Alexa. She’s fast and efficient and has awesome unique jewelry. I always recommend my friends and family to her. She also has loads of pictures of her work on her Instagram.

Alexa is a very knowledgeable piercer with a lot of experience, she knows her job and she does it well. I’ve had my frenulum done by her and it came out great. I’ve also been a loyal customer of hers since she started and she has progressed well. On top of that, she educates her clients; which I believe is a very important aspect of any job. Alexa is very professional and wouldn’t do anything that would tarnish her reputation. I would like to point out that the accusations in Elizabeth’s review are false. Alexa is a very customer oriented person, tends to her clients, and does not come high to work. And newsflash, piercings are painful. So if you’re going to complain about it hurting, don’t get pierced or don’t get a dermal.

I’ve been pierced by Alexa numerous times. I have 4 lobe piercings in both ears, tragus, helix, and a dermal above my naval piercing all done by her. She’s extremely professional and knows her stuff no doubt. I always go to Alexa because she’s creative and helped me come up with the idea for my upper naval dermal! I went into the shop and got the dermal done and expressed that I wanted to change the top (It was previously a silver disk), she told me about a website to order jewelry which I appreciated because I don’t know anything about sizes or threading and she made it really clear and showed me the site on her phone before I left! After my jewelry came in, I went back into the shop and she switched my dermal top quick and easy. Also, you can’t beat her prices bottom line. She also has spontaneous deals that she posts on her instagram, @alexaspiercings. She posts all her work there too!
I’ve also been to Cal State Crew for a tattoo on Friday the 13^th. It was extremely busy but the staff was very efficient and helpful! It came out great.
Overall, I would highly recommend this shop for their friendly, professional environment.

Pretty bummed. Wanted to get a spur of the moment piercing, three of them actually. I called at 7 to confirm we didn’t need an appointment & showed up at 8:20 & the lights were off with the door locked. So when the closing time says 9, don’t believe it.

I stopped by this morning to get a clear stud for my kid’s nose piercing — most of their competition doesn’t open until afternoon. The shop is nice and bright, clean like an old school barbershop. The staff was super helpful, dude wouldn’t even let me pay for the «retainer». We’ll be back.

After 6 years of having my dermal piercing in my face it was tragically ripped out by a piercer here named Alexa with absolutely no remorse. She made a horrible mistake and did nothing to make up for it.
I walked in and asked about getting a gem screwed in on my dermal because it fell off when I was doing my makeup. Alexa was standing up front and did not smile, gave me a bad look and was very rude. Look your in a business where you are dealing closely with people every day. If you don’t like someone based on their appearance or going to be judgemental you shouldn’t be in your field of work. She said there would be a $ 10 service charge and I said that’s fine. We proceeded to her section of the shop and I handed her my jewelry. She didn’t even clean or sanitize the area where my dermal was or the jewelry. I’m surprised she even put on gloves. She grabbed her tool to screw the dermal in and proceeded to screw in the gem.
Let me just tell you that at this moment in time I could smell the odor of marijuana coming through her gloves. I should have stopped her right there. She started twisting the gem in and kept twisting and twisting and then i started to feel pain! Then I started to feel the anchor move (You are NEVER supposed to feel pain when replacing the gem on dermals or something is going wrong) I said «Ouch this hurts!» And she didnt stop. No response from her whatsoever. She was hurting me and didn’t even care! Then she said «Oh your dermal anchor was loose and it fell out.»
What was she talking about? I told her I have had my dermal for years and this has NEVER happened. She brushed it off like nothing had just happened and told me «Well sometimes dermals can reject after years. It was like a crater.» What?
I could NOT believe what had just happened. This girl improperly screwed the gem on and twisted too many times so it TORE the skin which had healed over the anchor. She tore my piercing right out of my face! I couldnt believe it! Not only did she do that and cause me pain but she said my body «rejected» my piercing and that’s why it came out of my face. She lied to me and did not apologize or own up to what she had just done. She looked like a deer in headlights and said «so now what do you want to do?» No apologies, no reaction from her or anything!
I was distraught and upset and asked her if she was still going to charge me and she said no. There was no way i was going to pay if she did try to charge me. I proceeded to walk out of the store and she said nothing to me and immediately walked into the back room. No one said anything to me about what had just happened and I felt absolutely awful. My piercing is a part of me and it was just ripped out of my face by a negligent piercer.
This isn’t a personal attack but for the safety of future customers I will be taking further action and reporting this to the department of consumer affairs and health department due to smelling marijuana on her… no one who pierces anyone should ever be intoxicated, in fact I believe that is illegal. If your going to put sharp things near anyone you better not be high.

Went in this morning to get my nose pierced again, had it back when I was 16 and it was a waaaay better experience then the first time I’ve gotten it at some shop on lemon grove. I had to ask Alexa if it was already in cause I couldn’t tell haha thanks a lot girly!

If you I Cali and you need a place to get a piece done this is the spot. Not only a chill atmosphere but also the confidence in your artist is the most comforting. Sneax is the man to go to I can vouch for his work after our first piece I knew I picked the right spot.

Came here on Friday the 13^th and they had $ 13 piercings and tattoos. I got my Rook done and my Nipples done for $ 39. Easy, quick, and painless. Alexa did an amazing job and I will be back. She was professional and quick. If you get something pierced make sure it is with her.

I’ve been to Cal State Crew twice– once over the summer to get a tattoo and last weekend to get my nose pierced (and also ended up getting a helix piercing done too!). The staff here are really friendly, chill, and helpful. When I first came in to talk about getting a tattoo done, the guy in the front talked through the whole process with me and gave me some hypothetical costs depending on how elaborate I wanted the design to be in the end. I really liked how he mentioned that he’d work with me to stay in my budget. I eventually got my tattoo done by Jason and he took note of all the little details I asked for when I showed him what design I wanted. I REALLY liked how it turned out and I am very satisfied with my first tattoo experience.
Last weekend, I got my piercings done by Alexa (you can see her piercing work on her Instagram @alexaspiercings). She was really great about showing all the different nose jewelry and her recommendations. The nose piercing went so well that I decided to have my helix re-​pierced (went to a meh place when I was 17 and had to let it close up). I told her an issue I had with my last piercing and she took that into consideration when she was figuring out where the new piercing should go. When she was finished, she took a picture of the piercings to show that they were all flat and positioned correctly. Really great experience and I’d definitely go back if I wanted to get something else done.
Also, while there shouldn’t be an issue with when you decide to come in for any of their services, it doesn’t hurt to call in to make sure a tattoo artist or a piercer is available. Overall, very solid place and I’ve already recommended the place to some friends!

I went in to get my septum pierced on Friday June 13^th. They had a $ 20 piercing special and I was all about that. I was greeted, place was nice and clean and professional.
Cynthia, my piercer spent a lot of time examining my nose to choose the best spot for my septum, which I liked. She said my nostrils were pretty small so she couldn’t use a clamp, so she pierced me and it came out a little bit crooked.
That is the only reason this isn’t a 5 — star review. OTHER THAN THAT, I give this place 5 stars. Cynthia offered to re-​pierce my septum that Monday and she did (with a clamp this time) and it came out perfect :) I would absolutely recommend this place for piercings. I felt virtually NO PAIN (and everyone says this is the most painful piercing) and zero noticeable swelling.