After finally healing my nostril piercing after literally months and months of "will it or won't it" (it did!!), one saturday a week or so ago it was decided by me and a friend to go spend some of our fast-disappearing student loan in Camden. Laura wanted some new boots - to the point of giving up smoking to finance them - and i was after another piercing. I really want my nipple and VCH done at some point, but with my bank account looking the way it does right now this particular trip would have to end with a slightly cheaper new adornment. I like to be reasonably symmetrical with my piercings and as i have three holes in my right lobe and only two in my left, I did at least know which side it'd be going. That was as far as I'd got by the time we got to Cold Steel (after a boring and crowded train ride from uni) so we climbed the millions of stairs and I asked how busy they were that day. As it was quite early I was able to get an appointment for a few hours later, which would give us time to have a wander and get some lunch, but when I was asked what piercing I was after I only got as far as "something in the left ear please". Cringe. Now I knew it would be a cartilage piercing since I hadn't been brave enough up to this point but wasn't sure what would suit me and also what my (weirdly small) ear would be able to take.
At A Glance Author lexi Contact lexi@bme.anon When A week ago Artist Julie Studio Cold Steel Location Camden Town, London Luckily this was where Julie came in, and after producing a model ear which showed all the various piercings available, we agreed a rook would look good and suit the shape of my ear. That decided, I handed over a £5 deposit and me and Laura left to get cash and some food. At 2pm we trudged back up to the shop, I filled out the form and after promising to come back and show the other guys behind the counter once I was done, I followed Julie to the piercing room. I was really worried by this point and did need a bit of calming down! Laura settled on the sofa and I lay down to be cleaned and marked up. I heard the usual "ok, breathe in and I'll pierce on the breath out", took a deep breath and as I exhaled felt the needle pass through. It was a little uncomfortable but not at all painful, more of a sting, and there was no crunch! The noise of the tools used to close the cbr was abit of a shock though.
Once it was done I sat up and admired my shiny new jewellery, then listened while Julie went through the aftercare - which I've heard before but it's always useful to hear it again - and warned me my ear was going to be bright red for a hour or two! We went downstairs and I paid the remaining £19, showed the guys in the shop and waited while Laura chose a new nostril screw and labret stud, then we went shopping. Sigh, more money I don't have... By this time my ear had started to throb but wasn't too red and returned to normal ear-coloured very quickly.
The first clean that night didn't go quite as smooth as I'd hoped (picture the scene - I'm lying on the floor with my ear in a takeaway container full of hot salt water while my boyfriend laughs so hard he almost falls off the bed. Yeah I felt sexy!) but it seemed to work and I've been continuing with the salt soaks two or three times a day since. The only problems I've had happened the first night when I met a friend in the pub and he greeted me - drunkenly - by grabbing the sides of my head. Ouch. Then while in bed that night I woke myself (and my boyfriend - serves him right for laughing at my takeaway container cleaning method!) up after I scratched my ear in my sleep then yelled in pain as a result. Probably not the best way I could have treated a new piercing but I cannot be held responsible for what I decide to do while unconscious! Also the bead on the cbr is slowly twisting round towards the top hole and looks a little weird but that's not really causing any problems. All in all I'm really pleased with how easy the piercing was, how quickly the (minimal) pain went away and how good it looks! Even my extremely anti-piercing mum quite likes it. Now all I have to do is save the money for my nipple piercing...
Lexi
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