I'm not that sure when I first got real into piercings. All I know is after I got my second lobes done when I was ten, I was ready for more. After some hard core begging, I finally got my "last one"... my right cartilage, at Claire's when I was fifteen, despite it allegedly being "tacky" or so my mom says. That was until 7 months later when out of summer boredom I gave myself a little DIY project of doing my left cartilage... hehehe. My mom hated it [after she realized, no, it's not fake!] but didn't make me take it out, surprisingly.
At A Glance Author kristin When A month ago Studio Third Eye Tattoo Location Georgia Even though I was sworn to get no more, I knew what I wanted next... my belly button. I did my research in hopes of convincing the hard headed parental... and that's when I came across BME. Oh the pictures! They were fascinating. The belly button was a big fat "NO!" no matter how much I begged. So I decided I'd still look at all the pictures to see the lucky people that happily got their piercings.
That's when I came across the industrial. I can't exactly say it was love at first sight. It was more like "umm... what the heck?". But it was intriguing nevertheless. I guess it grew on me the more I saw it, because soon enough, I decided I had to get one! Not to mention i only knew one other person that had one, yay it was something different! Sadly there was still one roadblock in the way. My mom gave me the whole "no!" thing, only about ten thousand times, along with "that is soo tacky!" and the big deal of when I'm out in the professional "real" world it won't look good to employers.
But I wanted it.
Time for more research. I don't know how many times I pleaded that I had looked up the procedure, aftercare, what could happen, etc. and mentioned that I hadn't let any of my piercings including my DIY ring get infected, and that I might as well do it now before I go out into the "real" world and might have to take it out.
I guess it worked eventually, because about a week after school let out for summer, we were off to Third Eye Tattoo. It was different, since I had never been in a real tattoo parlor. A small little gray building, but inside the brightly colored mostly-morbid tattoo sketches covering every inch of the wall could have blinded you. I gazed at them for a minute until a man came out to greet me. I asked how much an industrial was, and he said he wasn't sure and the piercer had to run a quick errand and to come back in an hour. Bummer. He gave me a card, and an hour later, I was back. This time there were some people waiting for tattoos or something, but the piercer was there. He told me it'd be $60 for a diagonal industrial. WHAT! I thought that was insane. I decided to leave and call around but he measured my ear before I could escape and told me that had some barbells that would fit me.
Well I left anyway and called around, and turns out other parlors around here run industrials at about $80. Perfect. So two days later I was back at Third Eye. This time my mom went in with me and I basically had to peel her away from gawking at the tattoo designs to sign the forms. I studied the belly button rings in the case [my next project! :)] while she finished up, then I handed over my $60, which was painful in itself ha, then the piercer [sorry never got his name] led me back to the room.
It was little with a big black dentist chair and lots of little bottles of neon ink on the wall. He put on his gloves and took out a package of needles. I was ancy by this time, remembering all the BME horror stories I had read about the excruciating pain you endure with industrials and the chance of passing out and all that. He wiped my ear off with a pad soaked in something. Then he told me to sit still and I jumped, come to find out he was only marking my ear. The next thing I know, he had a hold of my ear and said "ok on the count of three". One... oh my god... two... lord help me... three... GASP! A small pinch, but I'm surprised I didn't break my mom's fingers with the death grip I had. That must have just been his hand. And then another pinch! That was it. It was a stinging pain but nothing terrible. I was still alive and conscious, my ear was throbbing, I took a deep breath and then he put the barbell through. That definitely wasn't pleasant. I think that hurt more than the needle, especially when he had to screw the ball on, but still not half as bad as I was anticipating. I was just fixing to ask "doesn't the second hole hurt the worst?!?!" as I have heard it does, but then he said "Ok you're done! Want to check it out?". ...Did I miss something? I'm REALLY not sure when he did the bottom hole. It must have been the first small pinch I felt. I don't know. I was just glad it was over quick. He wiped my ear off as the bottom hole was bleeding quite a bit. I took a look in the mirror, and I loved it! My mom just rolled her eyes at it while he gave me a sheet with aftercare instructions and explained some things, and I was on my way with a tissue in my hand to try to stop the bleeding. I didn't really feel it at all for the first day or two, but then it started to be sore and crust up. It hurt just a little for about a week afterwards, mainly from me sleeping on it and things hitting me in the head, but otherwise I've had no trouble with it! I've been cleaning it 2-3 times a day, and now I'm just counting down the days till I can change the bar to a pretty neon purple one I bought =]. I definitely recommend Third Eye Tattoo for anyone in the area. I love the job they did on my ear, and hey, maybe I'll go back for my belly button one of these days =].