I am relatively new to the piercing world. I had had three lobe and two cartilage piercings done with a gun when I was young but had only had a nostril done recently at Puncture Inc. in Upland, Ca. My nostril had finished healing and I had my heart set on a snug piercing. I asked a friend if she knew of any places in the area that did piercings on a walk-in basis that came highly recommended. She suggested Zebra in Berkeley, Ca. on Telegraph Ave.
At A Glance Author Julie When It just happened Artist Unknown Studio Zebra Location Berkeley, Ca About a week later I called her up and she agreed to drive with me to Berkeley to check out Zebra. I was feeling shaky because I hadn't eaten and had only had coffee so before we went to Zebra I felt it was a good idea to grab some food. So we sat down at a small diner and chilled on Telegraph and ate. I felt much better once I had eaten and we headed for the studio. When I walked in it was relatively empty. There was two or three small groups of people. She said Zebra was usually very, very crowded. I was helped right away by a very friendly employee. I told her I was interested in a snug piercing and she asked if I knew what kind of jewelry I wanted. I knew right away that I wanted a barbell with spiky ends. She took the small curved barbells out of the glass case and held them up. I pointed at the one I wanted, hesitated for a moment and asked my friend what she thought, but then decided on the jewelry I had originally wanted.
The employee then briefly went over after care instructions with me and she asked me if I had questions. I told her I still had the Satin soap from my nostril piercing and had salt and H2Ocean at home and didn't need any new products. I asked questions about the products they offered but she didn't seem very knowledgeable which sort of worried me. When I was done drilling her I signed a consent form which the employee didn't even glance at. I had my 19th birthday the previous day and had even written down the wrong age, but I don't think she ever checked my age and I know she didn't check my identification and I am often told I look 16 or 17. Next, however, I was rang up. The piercing was only $20.00 and the jewelry was $24.00.
Then, I was given a number and was told to wait until my number was called. I was number 65 and 64 was called as I was finishing up paying. I thought about the number system and wondered how clean the shop was if they were sort of like a piercing assembly line. But I stared around at the many newspaper clippings and awards on the walls and calmed down again. My friend kept telling me how highly recommended Zebra was. I was more excited than nervous when my number was called and I followed my friend back to the piercing room. I glanced around the room which appeared clean and had a very relaxing sort of ambiance to it. I was told to sit in the chair. I did and the piercist started to make friendly conversation which kept me calm. She marked me and I loved the placement but then asked if there was enough room in case I wanted a double snug later. She was very patient and erased the mark and made two new ones. With two marks the piercings would have been more vertical and I wanted mine to be horizontal so I asked her once more to change it to the original placement. She was very patient and professional.
Once I approved of the marking she was ready to pierce. It wasn't bad at all. It took a second or two or push the needle through but then it was over. A small bit of pain, but not half as bad as what I had expected. She then put the barbell in and screwed on the spike and I was done. I looked at the final product in the mirror and instantly loved it! I was very proud. When I was done my friend and I left the piercing room and she bought some new jewelry and paid. They gave me a bumper sticker that read: "My honor student gets pierced and Zebra" that I gave to my mom later. The piercing was hot for about fifteen minutes, but not painful. The heat went away and I spent the rest of the day shopping. It hasn't hurt at all in the past three days since I was pierced. I am very happy with it, it's an adorable piercing that I am told matches my personality. All my friends say that it looks like it was really painful but still think it's cute. Two of my friends are already wanting to get snug piercings.