After making the decision to stretch my ears, I read and read and read some more about what to do and how to do it and finally decided tapers were the way to go.  I wanted to save some cash and wear something cute in the mean time and not those big metal spikes in my ears that you see some people wearing.  These are fun colors and you get a variety.  I have to say that I have heard that wearing anything but stainless steel to stretch isn't good but I've had no problems with these and I'm on the 10g now.  When I started with the 14g; I had to try with all my might and even wear the tapers half pushed in for hours before I could finally push those suckers through.  I was pierced with a gun back in 1990 so I'm sure my ear holes were a 20g at best.  Then when I stretched to the 12g it was a little easier but not much, and unfortunately I lost one in a pool when I was swimming and had to prematurely stretch to the 10g faster than I would have liked, but now they are in and look cute and feel comfortable, I probably won't stretch past the kit - I like the 0 gauge so it was a one stop shop for me.  I like the kit, I like the colors, the price was a huge plus for me, they shipped quick and they even came with a little instruction sheet.  You will need to buy some goo (which ever you choose) to lube these babies up for ease of insertion.  I would recommend buying this set if you want to stretch your ears on a budget and still look cute in the process.