Earstretching.net

I've read on here stainless steel tapers are the best, but in my original piercing I could only wear gold earrings as I'm allergic to loads of metals. Do you reckon its safer to stick to acrylic?

When most people refer to only being able to wear gold jewelelry, they generally mean in 'standard' mall-type earrings. Those are usually full of junk, mostly nickel which is what a lot of people are allergic to. Silver and gold are very soft metals, and are also mixed with other stuff to make them strong enough in such a small gauge.
Surgical steel has a low nickel content, lower than a lot of cheapish gold earrings you find. Titanium has no nickel, and is even stronger.

Anyways, you shouldn't be wearing tapers for more than a few minutes, not long enough to have allergy problems (unless its super serious). But steel is so much smoother and nicer to stretch with.

I'd suggest glass or titanium jewellery to follow

[Sorry if my rambling makes no sense. Sleepy]

^ Agreed. When I had "normal" ear piercings my ears were constantly irritated from the earrings. But I got my ears re-pierced at an actual studio and they used surgical steel and I never had any problems. I've also never had any problems with steel tapers or plugs.
I would definitely recommend glass or titanium but you will probably be fine if you just use high-quality steel. Definitely don't use acrylic long-term or in a fresh stretch, and don't wear the tapers.