My experience probably wasn't as thought through as it should have been, but nonetheless it was completely worth it and awesome.
At A Glance Author xdontscreamx Contact miss.katie.loo@gmail.com When It just happened Artist Amy Studio European Body Jewels Location Rockford, Illinois So, it was a few days before my birthday and my older brother asked me what I wanted. Well, knowing that it had to be relatively non-expensive, and something I wouldn't just stop using in two weeks, I decided upon updating my piercings. At the time, I had my lobes pierced once each ear, and my cartilage pierced twice in my left ear. I told him that I wanted an industrial and my lobes done again. I wanted my lobes done again for gauging purposes, and I wanted the industrial because I always thought it looked really cool, and the industrial wasn't something that you see everyone around you with around my town. Showed a picture of the industrial to a few people and got some diverse reactions.
The day of the piercing came about differently than I expected. I thought that my brother was going to pick me up around 6 o'clock, because that was what was agreed upon. Well, my he ended up picking me up early from school and taking me out, a early birthday celebration, which was really awesome. Went out to eat and such before the piercing, because I hadn't eaten all day and he said he didn't want me passing out. Had some Old Chicago, mmm.
Anyways, got to the shop around 3 o'clock-ish. We went in, and my brother knew the lady who was going to pierce me, her name was Amy. She seemed pretty nice. I starting filling out the paper work and such and she asked for my I.D. Well, considering I'm a minor that was kind of an issue. Ended up, my brother wasn't allowed to consent for me like he thought. So, we had to call my mom. My mom consented over the phone, and we were off. Amy asked where exactly I wanted the piercing; what angle, which ear. I showed her a picture that I had gotten offline and she said that it was completely doable. Then, she asked which gauge I wanted my piercings at. I explained to her that I was planning on gauging my lobes, so she decided that it would just be best to pierce the second hole at 14 gauge. She just did the industrial at 14, too.
After she explained the aftercare (clean and rotate three times a day, make sure it's healed before I change it, etc etc), and then we went into the piercing room. I sat down on the table, that looked incredibly like a doctor's table. The room was a lot different than i thought, just smaller or something. It was really clean, though, so I didn't have to go running. Next, she took out all the tools and set them on a desk type thing in the corner. She made a remark something like, "Looks like a lot, doesn't it?" Probably because I was kind of sitting there with my mouth gaping. After the shock of just everything used, she dotted my ears and had me check them. At this point, i was pretty much just really nervous. She asked me if I cared which she pierced first, my lobes or the industrial. I told her that it didn't really matter, and so she did my lobes first. That wasn't too bad, could have been a lot worse. Next, she did my industrial. WOW. It hurt a lot more than I expected. My brother said I made a bunch of funny faces, which i don't doubt, because after the first hole I was just in shock. Then, she did the next hole and that hurt even worse. The clamps hurt so bad after the first piercing, just because my ears were already sensitive. But, hey! I got what I had wanted and it looked great, so I was happy. Amy went over aftercare again, made sure I knew i could call the shop any time if needed, and I left the shop.
My mom wasn't too happy, said something about how if I get into a fight it's going to kill. Just disapproving mom type stuff. Overall, the experience was great. Got to leave school early, got my ears done how I wanted. Lobes don't hurt at all, and industrial only hurts it I touch it, or it gets knocked.. Which has happened a few times already. I'm suppose to clean it with soap like dial, but considering I don't have any I've just been using the Antiseptic i got when I pierced my ears at Claire's last year, hope that turns out well. End price was seventy-five dollars, not bad. I'd recommend European Body Jewels to any of my friends, along with an industrial piercing.