Since I was a young girl of thirteen I had wanted to have my tongue pierced. It was sort of an 'in' thing and was quite rare in those days and was something I felt i just had to have. But, being the child of fairly conservative parents, I felt as though it wouldn't happen at that age. I was right. Although it had crossed my mind to go behind their backs and get it done, I was afraid that it something went wrong of the consequences I would face. So I did the only thing I could do and waited until I was old enough.
At A Glance Author thaaatGurL When Three months ago Artist goes by the name of 'mel' Studio cosmetics plus Legal age of piercing in Australia is 16-18 depending on your location. Just my luck that the minimum age without consent is 18. After my 18th birthday, I was certain I wanted to have it done but I had my doubts. I held off until after my 19th birthday. I was sure then.
I was really low on cash, having just been fired from my job so I looked around for reasonable options. I didn't really want to go for some cheap, dirty shed-like studio in the bad part of town. I had heard from some friends, who were also on a budget, that there was a place called Cosmetics Plus that did piercings for $30. It was an amazing price, but I was doubting the place. Although my friends had been pierced there. I did some research but couldn't find anything on the place. I hadn't been there but I had seen some great piercings they had done there that had turned out fine, and just 3 weeks before, one of my best friends had gotten her lip pierced there. So, bravely I went straight ahead.
A friend and I went to Cosmetics Plus the very next day. We had planned to get pierced together. Because neither I or she had seen the place before we were surprised when, after walking past it about 5 times, we were directed to a shop front that displayed makeup, sunglasses and hair accessories. After all, I guess it is called 'Cosmetics' Plus. It was then that I seriously had my doubts. But, being the brave chick we are, we headed straight for the front counter. 1 tongue piercing and 1 madonna thanks..And then there was no backing out.
We entered the piercing room. It was spotless, the condition of the room was better than I had expected it to be. It made feel a little bit better. I chose to go first. The lady was nice and was chatting to me about how simple and easy it would be and was telling me not to worry. I only really remember two things she said to me; 'There are bleeders and people who swell. If, after I pierce it, it bleeds, it won't swell up as much. But,if it doesn't brace yourself for some swell-age girl!!' and 'Take it easy, it's nothing to worry about. In a month you'll be back to kissing boys and it will be awesome'. She was a rather nice lady. I rinsed with the anti-bacterial mouthwash and sat down on the bench. She told me to repeatedly stick out my tongue, pull it back in, out, in; you know how it goes. And then she marked the placement. By then my heart was pounding so fast I felt like it was going to beat right out of my chest. I was a sickly nervous and so excited at the same time. You can't even imagine how that felt. The she pulled a packet out of the autoclave, opened it up and told me to breathe in. I closed my eyes and felt her holding tongue. There was a slight pinch, I wasn't sure what I felt so I opened my eyes and there it was. My new tongue ring, this shiny piece of silver in my mouth that I had wanted since I was 13. It was unbelievable.
I got up right after that. I was looking at it from every angle in all the mirrors there. I was thrilled! My friend was catching it all on camera, so I flashed her my tongue. I was bleeding but It didn't hurt. I rinsed my mouth out and got ready to video my friend's piercing.
I took the camera from her stood where she had stood in the corner as they chatted about the placement of the piercing. I turned the camera on and as I was doing that I had a dizzy feeling coming over me. My vision eventually went blurry. I'm not quite sure what happened but then I woke up on the piercer's bench and they offered me a glass of lemonade. I felt genuinely sick,so I sat on the bench for a little while.
About 5 minutes later I felt better so we paid and left the shop. We bought icy drinks and walked around the mall. The people at Cosmetics Plus had been so kind to me. On the way home we discovered that I had a video of the entire event of my passing out. It was really strange to watch.
It has now been about three months since I had it done, the aftercare was a little bit annoying but all in all, it was a great experience and I now have a little piece of metal through my tongue to remind me of it every single day.