OP, I think you should listen to the know-it-alls.
You don't have to agree but don't dismiss...
Almost Everything the know-it-alls have said so far is what all the other professional know-it-alls will tell you.
Here's what I know.
For your question and any others that might be lurking around inside the thread lurkers.
I've known Many piercers, out of shops and on the road.
I've gauged my own ears and the ears of others.
Hell! I've even worked at multiple piercing shops.
I'd pierce myself if I weren't already swamped with other expensive hobbies.
It's best to do it by sizes, honestly.
The quickest way to get gnarly scar tissue or a blowout, is to stretch: all day, every day,
for months on end - or jump multiple sizes at once, too often.
Your skin needs to heal and any scar tissue needs to dissipate between jumps.
And if you don't let it health between jumps, you can turn all of the bottom into scar tissue and when you keep stretching, it'll turn into this lovely situation some day!
View attachment 51987
Yaaaay!
The safest by far is to use surgical steel taper pins to gauge up -
which you can buy online for fairly cheap.
If you Must use tape, use tape specified for use with the human body...
I.E.? Bondage tape or PTFE tape.
Cause you know... You're gauging your ear, not a chunk of plastic.
View attachment 51988
Mmmmm tasty. Chilli cheese blowout.
Use Emu oil, A&E, or mineral/ essential oils.
They'll will not only lube up yer top-most side-holes,
but will help it heal correctly by putting nutrients back into the stressed skin.
Never use neo-sporin - it'll heal it too quickly and could cause drying and shrinkage.
Never gauge with wood or plastic - Little germies and fungis are Everywhere, kids!
Also... Vaseline, btw, is basically just grease. It does very little, if anything, for the health of your cranky ear flesh...
Infections are no joke, either. Salt soak that shit for the few days after a jump and keep clean. Being homeless is no excuse, kids!
When you use a bathroom, wash your god damn hands and wash your fresh piercings.
If you don't limit yourself to the subscribed labels of "bathroom users" or "domestic human", you can always buy some goram baby wipes or pour hydro perox on that shit.
You're right about one thing though! Everyones body Is different and heals differently...
However, on average, it tends to be true that if you don't listen to the know-it-alls,
your shit is Much more likely to dun "gonna get super fucked up".
It's always better to listen to people who know what they're talking about when it comes to delicate, permanent shit. Like tearing your furry skin nubs, cell by cell, into fuzzy little holes, in which someday, you'll keep tiny pieces of trees or animals.
But, hey! Then again, I'm just another Know-it-All...
Don't listen to me.