Blue Banana Cardiff

Had my tragus pierced at Blue Banana couple months ago and after three weeks the ball fell off the barbell. After many failed attempts to screw it back on, I went to another piercing studio (in London) to get it sorted. The problem was the bar they had given me was far too short, and as a result the ball was forced off from all the pressure against my ear and could not be screwed back on as the bar was barely protruding. The piercing itself was also far off the centre of my tragus, being too close to my cheek. My ear ended up getting infected and I have to wait at least a month before I get it re-​pierced. All in all a terrible experience and a worrying lack of professionalism from what seemed at first glance a reputable company.

alternative shop. has everything you need. accessories, clothes, shoes, piercings and tattoos. smoking memorablia and loads more. helpful staff. good music playing

I went into Blue Banana a few years after watching 50 Things to do Before You Die. One of the 50 was a legal high called salvia. I was sceptical as to its effects. I desperately wanted to rebel but wouldn’t do real drugs. I therefore assumed that Salvia would be a comfortable, legal middle ground.
The shop itself sells all manner of band t-​shirts and emo/​alternative/​rock clothes. The staff are really friendly and help you with anything. They sell various drug paraphernalia as well such as bongs and pipes if you are that way inclined. It’s not really my type of shop but I imagine if I was into the stuff they sold then due to the large selection and friendly staff it would be ideal.
Back to the Salvia then — I’d give it one star. It cost me a fiver and I felt nothing but shame and what my mother would think of me.

Now this is where I am completely out of my comfort zone so I ‘m not sure what to say about this. I will talk about what I observed. Reluctantly I was taken in here when some of my friends wanted to buy some kind of clothing that looks silly to me. But hey! It’s each to their own. Anyway when I entered I felt like I didn’t belong immediately because everything the sold was clearly not me.
However, some of my friends love this place for the emo and alternative clothing that they sell. That is the main thing the store sells but it also offers body piercing and equipment for drugs. I do sound like an old man but I must admit that I didn’t actually enjoy being in there at all and wanted to leave as soon as I could. Having said that the staff members there were very kind asking if we needed anything and they had a general relaxing feeling to them so they didn’t judge anybody who came in and I admired that.
Blue Banana is great if you are 14 – 16 years old and if you’re part of the emo/​alternative scene. By all means go there if you are that age but it’s definitely not a place for someone like me.

Oh boy! Don’t I wish I lived in Cardiff back when I was fourteen. I would have loved this haven of rockabilly chic and terrifying prints to prep you for Metros years before you’ll be allowed in. Functioning as a form of rock school for junior punks and emos, they even have a section devoted to school supplies.
Working as a magnet for all kinds of emo-​cool, this Queen Street store is always surrounded by groups of youngsters trying to work out if their pocket money will stretch to a pink and black chequered pair of fingerless gloves.
Blue Banana show us how to work the alternative look in Cardiff, and it can be great to marvel at the clothes and contemplate if you’d ever dare wear them… as a fashion choice or for fancy dress.
Look out for sales here, as the can be rather good. A top tip would also be to take every item and look at it away from the others. Sometimes I find that it’s all-​too-​easy to be swept away into a haze of tartan print, fake fur and gauzey lace.
The store also taps into the alternative lifestyle, offering a piercing service, selling essential festival supplies and blasting out some alright tunes. Got to stress, it’s not my scene, but isn’t it fun?!
URBAN CHALLENGE: Try on an item that your mummy would ground you for

After getting my belly button pierced three times (and on every occasion it wouldn’t heal properly), you’d think I’d have the good sense to accept fate and realise I’m just not meant to have metal embellishments in my navel.
But of course, I don’t have any sense, which is why I decided to get it pierced a fourth time. I normally wouldn’t go to Blue Banana for any other reason — let’s be honest, I’m nearing thirty and some of the clothes in there would look absurd on me — but someone had recommended their piercing services to me.
My piercing specialist was Soraya who, incidentally, was a Yank like myself. Thankfully, this girl knew how to wield a needle. My new navel ring was perfectly positioned, and, it was the first time my piercing failed to get infected (gross, I know, but I’m being honest), which may be down to the fact she advised me to clean it with tea tree oil instead of other methods that had been suggested to me by previous piercers.
A few years on, it’s grown out again, but hey, that’s not Soraya’s fault!

I’d just like to add that the quality of the piercings here is very high. They have some great people who are used to all sorts of weird places and angles, and everything is clean and proffessional.

For alternative /​emo teen clothes, Blue Banana takes things a step further than most of Cardiff’s other ‘alternative’ shops: everything shouts about how ‘different’ it is, whether it’s the neon coloured platforms that make you half a foot taller, or the lurid corset tops.
The quality of the clothes is a bit shoddy, yet the prices don’t reflect this — so I’d say it’s targeting those teens who are willing to over-​pay to buy themselves a bit of extra attention by wearing loud clothes and accessories.
When you’re wandering along Queen Street towards the castle and you hear rock and alternative music blaring out of a shop ahead of you, you know you’re approaching Blue Banana. Definitely aimed at a very young and niche market.

I really have to reiterate everything my fellow Unilocalers have said about Blue Banana. This store is actually rather pretentious, it’s full of people pretending they don’t really care about how they look or what people think of them when in truth it’s the exact opposite, they really DO care how they are perceived. Though you can have you’re belly button pierced here if that’s the sort of thing you like.

I’m far too old to review this place but as a man who loves his metal and spent most of my teenage hood in Camden, I feel I should.
so yes, it’s an alternative shop, selling clothes, drug equipment, shoes, accessories and piercings, It really wouldn’t look out of place in Camden at all.
The shops is stocked full of angst ridden logos and crap teen rock band gear. Staff are lovely here though and will talk to you if you look at anything for more than two seconds.
I’m sure this shop would’ve been alot better if I was a kid again (plus if I had bad taste in bands) it’s just generally where the trend has gone and the annoying kids that visit the place that really grates me. But as an alternative shop for the Da kidz it’s one of the very few you will find in Cardiff and serves the genre well.

Ah, I’m sorry Tanya P. I feel particularly bad as we have just become little Unilocal friends but I have to disagree a little bit (I say only a little bit because you actually only gave them three stars).
My sister likes this kind of clothing. Right, now, I don’t like this kind of clothing but I accept that some people do. However, even my sister says that this is just too much. It’s all a little bit trying too hard to be different.
The staff in this shop are pretty friendly but the prices are not acceptable for clothes that are not of that high a quality and which, frankly, aren’t very nice.
All round, a big old no from Ham here.

i love blue banana, its got a great range of things. clothes shoes and accessories.

Great place, quite expensive though. Loads band t-​shirts, and ither lush tops, and the shoes are awesome.

Blue Banana is quite a popular shop espicially for younger generation such as Emos or Goths Blue Banana sells a decent collection of emo/​goth fashion items, what you’d expect really– New Rock boots, Manic Panic hair dye a massive range of studded belts, etc. Also good for local alternative music CDs. They also do a body piercing service.

A small shop in cardiff city centre, which sells a range body jewellery, clothing & also do piercings at relatively good prices.

Great shop for biker stuff socks, clothes, jewellery loads of unusual things. Brilliant for piercings too. With a huge selection. They are very clean very proffesional and really friendly give after care advice and t tree oil.
Lovely staff. Just go and have a look its fasinating.

One of the main shops to go to if you’re into the alternative side of things, they’ve got all sorts inside. New rocks (which are awesome!) and various other types of very cool and interesting shoes. Style of clothes they stock is more indy than gothy, although they do have some attractive gothy skirts/​dresses.
Staff are helpful and friendly, and there’s a room in the back where you can try things on. Normally has lots of people in it, so quite a popular place, always with some quirky displays in the window and unknown music playing in the background.