At A Glance
Author	ienne
Contact	ienne@bme.anon
When	Six months ago
Artist	"Spanky"
Studio	Full Color Coverage
Location	Annapolis, MD

The decision to pierce my left nostril was both thought-out and spontaneous. I have been in love with the concept of the pierced nose ever since I first saw it, an elementary school babysitter of mine having one. The only real problem with this love of was my mother. If I even brought up the idea in front of her, she would moo loudly and question me as to why my ear piercings weren't enough.

Eventually, (or, about eight years later), I found myself in college, finally free to do with my body whatever I wanted. Pink hair soon abounded. I had shuffled the idea of a nose piercing to the back of my mind until one afternoon when a friend of mine mentioned the fact that she had been thinking about getting her bellybutton pierced. Soon, we were planning and plotting together, researching online and discussing our parents' (hers are both hardcore fundamentalist Christians) probable reactions.

A few weeks later, that same friend and I were at the mall, playing teeny bopper when one of us suddenly decided that it was the perfect time to get pierced. A frantic car ride later, we had located the one piercing place in town and, as it wasn't busy at the moment, were soon filling out forms and getting our IDs Xeroxed.

Although the lobby of the studio seemed a little grungy, the decor and loud music making it seem more like a Friday night hang-out than a professional studio, the room where the procedure was done was almost eerily sterile in contrast. Sarah, my friend, went first. She is deathly afraid of needles, so I came in with her, holding her hand throughout and keeping her up to date on the progression of her piercing as she closed her eyes. A few minutes and a glucose tablet later, she was done, although a little woozy.

It was then my turn. Our piercer washed his hands a lot, a fact that made me very happy. He washed them before retrieving both sets of our one-use sterilized needles and again before using them on us. After he had marked my nose to my liking, using a "pretty purple marker," as he put it, he had me choose my ring, and then we got down to business.

There was no count down as there had been for Sarah. I guess Spanky thought I was tough or something. He put the needle in place said, "Here we go!" and then ran it through. Sarah cowered in the corner, half hiding, half watching in fascination.

The piercing itself stung more than actually hurt, a quick little punch. It was more painful than my first set of ears, less than my cartilage piercing. My eyes watered a little as the needle went through, and I had to struggle not to laugh as Spanky put the ring in, mainly because of Sarah's giggly reaction to my watering eyes. Somehow, he prevailed against my shaking and tightened the CBR and set me free.

As soon as I saw myself in mirror, I fell in love with the nose ring all over again. Both of the other inhabitants in the room must've thought I was crazy, the way I giggled and stared. I absolutely loved it.

After the procedures were done, Sarah and I stepped out into the lobby where the waiting customers "ooh"ed and "ahh"ed over our new mods. Spanky retrieved us some anti-bacterial soap and gave us our aftercare instructions.

One of the guys on campus was holding an Everyone-is-Invited Birthday Party, so Sarah and I took the invite as the perfect chance to show off. We loved the attention, even the constant shocked grins accompanied by the fatal words: "Didn't it hurt???"

Telling my mom was the greatest obstacle I faced in getting my nose pierced. I waited a good week before telling her. I tried to work it in as casually as possible as we talked over IM, slipping it in between two questions about home. I was wringing my hands with nervousness as I awaited her response. And, amazingly enough, she was okay with it. Instead of freaking out, she was actually proud of me for doing something on my own. She then assumed the typical mom role, reminding me to keep it clean and warning about the horrors of infection. I was ecstatic.

Cleaning our piercings soon became a ritual for Sarah and me. Twice a day, we'd meet in the bathroom with our soap and sea salt, playing loud music on the radio and collecting amused looks from the other girls on our hall. The first few weeks of healing went really well. Unfortunately, regardless of my attempts at super sanitation and my mother's warnings, I soon had an infection.

I'm sort of a shy person, not keen on big groups and my nose ring soon became an outlet for my social anxiety. I would play with it during class, twirling the little ball around and around, getting my dirty fingers all over it. Eventually, I actually took the ball out to keep myself from absently playing with it. I got my friends to keep an eye on me, warning me when my hands started to move toward my nose and my infection went away.

Coming home for the holidays was another thing altogether.

As soon as my mother saw the ring, she hated it. Luckily, I was able to appease her with promises of a stud as soon as it had properly healed. My brother made fun of me a little at first, but I could tell he liked it when he started asking me a million questions and investigating (in a non-picking sort of way) his own nose.

I loved being at home (the low country of South Carolina, where everything's a little on the conservative side) with my new ring. I loved the looks on the faces of the people at my church went I stepped up to the pulpit for the daily reading with my nose ring shining. My preacher was the best of all, squinting at me and then pronouncing "Genesis 24:22!" with a little wink. (The verse, by the way, lists gifts given to Rebekah by Isaac, one of which being "a gold nose ring weighing a half shekel").

I've since bought myself a few little studs, much to the joy of my mother, and a purple ring to replace the steel one that accidentally found its way down the drain. I love this piercing and can't wait until this fall when Sarah and I embark on "Project: Holes 2.0," which will result in her very own nose ring and, for me a pierced eyebrow.

I urge anyone who wants a nasal piercing to go for it. Just be sure to keep it clean and to KEEP YOUR HANDS away from it. Hopefully, yours will bring you as much joy as mine did me. :)