I guess this could be considered an interest of mine... Even if I'm not a piercer or ever planning to be :P However I do want to get more piercings on myself
the one's that I'm stretching/want to stretch will have their gauge right next to them.
I really like stretched ears. I think they look awesome... Though for me the bigger ones are just too much... 30mm is the max for me before I start thinking it looks weird... I respect them though, even if I don't like them, lobes that big take time, dedication and balls.
My goal for my lobes is 10mm. I know everyone says that but I'll try to keep my promise... Also I don't have the money for bigger ones, haha.
A common misconception about stretched lobes is that they will never shrink back up... Which is only partially true. Generally 10mm is concidered the point of no return, where your lobes won't be able to shrink back to 1mm or less. Generally lobes smaller than that will heal it'll just take time. Also how much you lobes will shrink, if they shrink at all, and the point of no return depend a lot on the individual. If you have stretchy skin you're more likely to be able to go back to smaller holes, and have a higher point of no return. If you took care of your lobes, didn't force new plugs in when it hurt and didn't damage your lobes again you'll have less of a problem if you'll ever want to go back to 1mm. However if you wore heavy, heavy jewelery and didn't care about your bodies signs and got blow-outs often, yeah, you might struggle more.
My skin is quite stretchy and I've seen some people who've had similar experiences stretching but usually it takes me a week or even less to go up a size (however keep in mind that my lobes are quite small so far so that could be a factor). The rule for most is if it doesn't hurt you can go up a size and youre not damaging or tearing your lobes.