Tooth gems adding bling to bites in Tinley Park, and ‘a little extra joy when you look at yourself’

Libby Kerfman enjoys helping people look and feel better about themselves as part of her job as a cosmetologist, and now she’s added a new way for people to add to their self-esteem by adding some sparkle to their bite with tooth gems.

“I think it’s a great confidence booster,” Kerfman said. “A little bling, a little extra joy when you look at yourself. It’s so fun to see the light reflect off your teeth!”

In addition to tooth gems, Kerman offers hair services, teeth whitening, lashes and permanent makeup. “So I’m constantly doing something new and weird,” she joked.

The Joliet resident, who rents space at Michael Michelle’s Beauty Bar in Tinley Park, said she became interested in the procedure while renting a different salon suite and “decided there was a niche to fill.”

Since then, Kerfman’s had more than 50 clients request the service at the salon and pop-up events. “It’s lots of word-of-mouth, which is nice, especially in front-facing positions,” she said.

She also gets many clients via social media, thanks to her Instagram page, looks.by.libby_. “I have a pretty big following,” Kerfman said.

To become certified, she took a course through the Australian company Sparkle by Maya. “It was self-paced because it was online,” she said.

The course included background knowledge about where gems originated and basic information about teeth, such as the importance of enamel. In addition, she had to create a model before certification was granted.

“It’s really big in Australia. It’s gotten huge over there” as well as in the United Kingdom, she explained.

The fashion trend has a historical precedent as well.

“Egyptians used to drill gems into their teeth,” she said. “That’s one thing I learned when I took the course.”

Kerfman mostly uses Swarovski crystals, which come in “every color of the rainbow, including neon,” she said. “I have hearts and diamonds, little stars. Gold can be more creative.”

An 18-carat gold piece in the form of a little scorpion was selected by client Michelle Sanchez of Midlothian. It was made by someone in Kansas, who creates most of the gold pieces Kerfman uses.

“It’s a curated set. We were sending ideas about things — things that go with my jewelry,” Sanchez said, adding that it took her only about a week to decide to get tooth gems after seeing what Kerfman was doing and knowing a friend who got some. “I just thought they looked cool and I wanted some,” she said.

She learned about the service because Kerfman has been styling her hair. “I found her on Instagram and saw she was doing tooth gems, which is big in the piercing world. It was interesting,” she said.

“It looks exactly how I wanted,” Sanchez said with a smile. “I look like the most extra person on the planet, and that was exactly what I wanted. I wanted everything to match my jewelry — the accents, the gold. It’s perfect. … I can’t wait to show my co-workers.”

She said the procedure was not what she expected. “It was super fun. I thought it was going to be boring, but I had fun even though I was just sitting there.”

Sanchez said her family and friends weren’t surprised by her decision to get tooth gems. “My dad was the one who took me here today. My dad was just like, ‘It’s another thing Michelle is doing,’” she said with a laugh.

Sanchez, who works as a body piercer, said she posts photos with clients all day “so I’ll definitely be getting a lot of questions about this. Most of my clients aren’t as eccentric as me, so lots of photos are taken.”

Her design is Kerman’s “most elaborate” thus far, with most clients getting just one or a few gems.

One such client is Briana Neurohr of Tinley Park, an independent living coach at a nonprofit organization for people with disabilities.

“I got my first tooth gem around Halloween and wanted something that would match my costume — I was a spider/vampire thing,” she said. “I ended up getting a gold spiderweb. Then, a month or two later, I decided to get a cute little pink heart and I fell in love!”

She, too, was a hair client of Kerfman’s. “She informed me that she would start offering tooth gems. I also saw them on a lot of celebrities so I thought it was cool,” Neurohr explained. “Honestly, at first it was just for Halloween, but then I realized I really liked them and it made me feel more confident in my smile.”

Neurohr said both of her gems are still fine. “There’s absolutely nothing hard about taking care of them, and sometimes I forget they’re even there, to be honest.”

She likes them so much, in fact, that she had already set up her next appointment.

“Just do it!” she advised. “They’re super cute, they don’t hurt, and you can get super creative with them. Libby is absolutely amazing at what she does, and once you see your stylish new smile, you won’t regret it.”

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The gems cost $55 for one base crystal and $100 for a single piece made in gold, but how long they last can vary. “They say the base is two months and a few might pop off, but it could be a lot longer,” Kerfman said.

She admitted to being “really aggressive” with brushing her teeth and said her gems have stayed on.

Kerfman won’t put gems on molars. “I keep it to the six front teeth and bottom six,” she said. “Most people do incisors and canines, or if they really want to hide it, they can just do the bottom teeth.”

She provides a one-month guarantee. “If anything falls off (in that time), I’ll replace it for free,” she said. Most often, gems come off while someone is sleeping, but that’s not a problem, given their size and the materials used. “If you swallow one, it’s not a big deal because they’re lead-free,” she said.

Although Kerfman’s clients are mostly “young women, alternative people and heavily tattooed people,” there’s one person she really wants to get as a tooth gem client.

“I’m trying to convince my mom, and she doesn’t let me do it,” she said with a laugh.

Melinda Moore is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.

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