I can remember being eight years old and just staring at my cousins boyfriend, who was and still is heavily modified. It intrigued me beyond belief and as I grew he would tell me the stories behind each mod and I thought they were the best stories that I had ever heard. There was no doubt in my mind that I wanted modifications as well, but a ten year old going up to her conservative father saying "I want my lip pierced" doesn't always go over very well, and I was constantly being reminded that I was lucky to have my ears pierced.
At A Glance Author Brittney Contact Brittney@bme.anon When A year ago Artist John Studio Cliff's Location Long Island, New York A year ago last March, after six years of begging I was about to turn sixteen and my parents finally caved in and let me get my nose pierced, partially because my "sweet sixteen" was coming up and they wanted to be seen as the "Hip and Cool parents who let their daughter express herself". It was the only piercing my parents saw as vaguely attractive as well. My father, "Mr. Conservative", sat me down and lectured me for days, saying that it was to be the last piercing I would ever get...[snickers]...so I played the part and "promised" (with fingers crossed, yes it's juvenile, I know) that it would be the last piercing, although that did not last long, but that is a whole other story...
So, moving on, we decide to go to Cliff's in Patchogue, being since it was the most reputable place I had heard of, and of course I had one hell of a time finding an open notary at 5pm on a Sunday. So while me and my father ran around Patchogue trying to find a notary, my mother stayed at Cliff's because she was chatting with one of the artists and much to our surprise when we returned my mother had a diamond stud in her nose. Well I prepared for the worst, I braced myself and waited for my father to have a kitten, but shockingly the moment never came, he said "It looks nice" and told my mother that we could not find a place to get the stupid form notarized.
So, off me and my mother go to do another search, and low and behold we find a little insurance building who remarkably had a notary and after a few snide comments from the woman..."ew, now why would you mess up your face like that?" etc.... we were on our way back to Cliffs for the 3rd time that day.
The moment of truth was upon me, as John called me back behind the counter. He followed the normal procedure, telling me the needles were sterilized and marking my nose and I sat there and thought "wow he is one sexy man beast". Finally it was time for him to push the needle through, what an experience. It was such a rush and feeling of euphoria, one like I have never had before. The pain was basically non-existent, it felt like someone was squeezing my nostril really hard, and my eyes did water, but my eyes water at everything so this didn't come as a surprise. The stud was in, I was feeling quite giddy and pretty and my dad decides to utter the four words I never thought I would hear..."I want a tattoo."
So we figured what the heck, we've been here 2 hours already, why not spend some more time and that is what we did. My father got my name inked on his ankle and me and my mother laughed our butts off as he squirmed. His tattoo is gorgeous and the girl who did it, Valerie (I believe that was her name), was an amazing artist, I wish she was still at Cliff's because I would love for her to do my tattoo. We finally left Cliff's at 10pm after about five hours and what started out as me, just getting my nose pierced turned into an all day family affair of modification. I think it, in some deviant way, strangely bonded us a little closer as a family and it is definitely a day I will never forget.
Anymush, as far as getting your nostril pierced goes, I highly recommend it, it really is an amazing experience. The pain factor was minimal and cannot really be classified as pain, just heavy pressure. And you have to love the adrenaline rush and heightened sense of self that you get during and after the procedure. Aftercare was simple, I just followed John's directions and I've had no troubles with it what so ever. So, if you ever happen to find yourself on the east end of Long Island (it is a part of New York, just in case that needed clarification), check out Cliff's in Patchogue. It is a great studio, clean, very professional and it's definitely good people.