Well, I've always been attracted to piercings. Ever since I was 10 I wanted my tongue pierced, but that would be a no-go with my parents. So I settled for my ears.
At A Glance Author Goober When A week ago Artist Marcelo Studio Built To Last Tattoo Studio Location Hayward, CA My parents are pretty laid back people. They have their moments of utter coolness, but they made it clear I was not allowed to get any facial piercings until I was 18, but my mom made a compromise. Her rule is this: "You can get as many piercings as you want but they must be on your ears. I don't care what you get done, but they're your ears and it'll be your money." And I was perfectly fine with that.
For the past year or so I've been in love with Industrials. To me, they look incredibly hot (if you have it done well and your ear is good for it). I decided I was going to get one over the Summer. My parents and I were visiting my sister and we started talking about gauges and things and about all the cool things you could do with ear piercings. I told my parents I wanted to do something new but I couldn't figure out what, and they werent totally thrilled about me stretching my ears. My sister suggested to me to get my industrial done, assuring me it'd look cool.
So, the only issue now was money. I was always broke and unless it was a present, there was no way in heaven or hell that I was going to get it done cause my parents wouldnt pay for it. When Christmas time came around, my parents said "make your list!" and i did. The first thing I put on there was "Industrial Piercing" then explained to them that there was this place in Berkeley that didn't require parental permission to do ear piercings and all i would need was money and I would go there with my boyfriend (thats where he got his tattoos done). So at Christmas my mom told me she would give me however much money i needed to get it done, as long as she didn't have to go with me: no problem.
I ended up not going to the place in Berkely because well, my boyfriend lives in the East Bay and would be a lot easier for me to go to his place and then to the piercing parlour. My mother gave me $50, which was perfect.
That day, my boyfriend picked me up and took me to Hayward. We hung out all day until about 5 or 6, then headed to the tattoo/piercing parlour.
I had never been pierced with a needle before, only those stupid guns (I know, I know: bad idea). When we got in there I signed some forms and nervously looked through the piercer's portfolio, he was a really good piercer.
The piercer, Marcelo, was the biggest teddy bear ever (a teddy bear with many many piercings and a shaved head). He wasn't the least bit intimidating.
He looked at my ear to make sure an Industrial would look good. He boosted my ego by telling me that I had the perfect ear for an Industrial and that he'd be able to make sure a lot of bar was visible.
I felt really safe getting my Industrial done there. He opened a new needle right infront of me and explained what he was doing as he went along. He cleaned the needle right in front of me, and cleaned the area he was going to pierce. I told him I had never been pierced with a needle before and that I was pretty bad with pain. He was really nice and gave me the option of having him surprise me when he did it or letting me know when, and he let my boyfriend come over so I could hold his hand. I told Marcelo I generally cuss a lot when in pain and he said I could cuss kick or scream, as long as i didnt move my head.
Before the needle went in the first time, I had already been clenching my boyfriends hand in anticipation of the pain, but to my surprise it didn't hurt as bad as I thought it would. It went pretty smoothly, Marcelo took a break in between each hole and after he was finished, he was damn proud of his work, and I really liked it too. There hadn't been any blood (which is nice) and it turned out looking really great. He was so proud of it that he took a picture for his portfolio. I felt really hip. I paid him $45($40, then a $5 for a tip) and thanked him once again.
I really like my industrial and brag about how sexy my ear is now.