"Ooh, nice nose ring. When'd ya get that done?!"
At A Glance Author Nerdette Contact Nerdette69@yahoo.com When Six months ago Artist Will Studio Classix Location York, UK "Thanks! I got it done in April, when I was in York"
"You went to New York!? Cool!"
"Nooo i got it done in York...as in the original York."
"Ohhh... cool...!"
So that is the typical conversation I have about my nose ring basically every other day. I love the fact that I got it done in the UK. It's such a great reminder of my trip there. See, I live in and itty bitty town in Washington, outside of Seattle. Europe was awesome. Anyways, on to the piercing.
I had been planing on getting my nose done for a while, the only problem was that I wasn't 18. When it was settled that I was definitely going to Europe, I went online and researched the laws there. It was kind of hard to figure it all out, one site would say one thing, another would say something else, you know what I mean. Anyways, so I just decided to find out when I got there.
After arriving there, I discovered that not only was I not the only one who wanted to get a piercing, there were 3 others who wanted something done in our group... as well as our tour guide!
here's the break down
Myself - 17 - nose
Bets - 16 - nipple
Jess - 18 - nipple
Sean - 18 - ear lobes
OUR TOUR GUIDE! - mid twenties?! - nipple
(Our tour guide was awesome!)
So we searched all over Stratford, but the only places we found were closed for the weekend. When we got to York later that week we walked all over the place and asked a billion people directions... finally we found a Claire's. While Sean was getting his ears pierced, we got directions. After a little while longer, we found Classix, a little shop that had some awesome clothes and accessories. It also had a parlor in the back and after talking to Will, the piercer, we all signed up.
Once I was in the piercing room, and sat on the doctors bed thingy (errm...you know what i mean), I started to get nervous. Luckily, Will was really nice and he talked me through it. I tried to watch what he was doing but it made me too nervous, so I looked around for something to distract me. Heh, I ended up finding the models of the male and female mods. :D
Earlier he had asked me if I wanted it done with a piercing gun or with a hollow needle. Being the chicken that I am my first response was 'which ever hurts less'. He said that was the gun, so I said that was fine. Then my brain took back over and I asked him which would heal better. He told me that the needle would, so, I sucked it up and went for that.
So there I am sitting in the room, and there is a hollow needle in front of my face and I am staring at models of genitals. hehe.
He showed me the jewelry that would go in after the piercing. He explained how they used the same jewelry as they use for a labret piercing; a flat disk on one end and a ball on the other.
When he actually did the piercing, it was quick and it stung but it didn't really 'hurt'. My nose felt sore later but other than that it felt fine. What did happen was my eyes decided it was necessary to release a waterfall of tears. Arg. He told me it could happen ahead of time though, so I wasn't worried.
I don't remember there being any bleeding, but I do remember my nose turned a little pink around the piercing. He told us all to by some antiseptic and we were off! We started walking and with very little effort, we found a Boots (a pharmacy chain store) and we bought the antiseptic. We decided we only needed to buy one as we could just share.
I did end up taking out the piercing sooner than I should have, my work didn't allow them, but my boss was awesome and she used to have a nose piercing and told me that if I could get a smaller piece I could keep it in. so, I went out and bought a couple nosebone studs and put one in. I loved them because they were small and you didn't have to screw anything on to it, just stick it in and it stays!
Unfortunately, because the studs were smaller than the original jewelry, my nose started to try to heal around the smaller studs. When I would take them out to clean it or change them, it would rip up my nose a little, because of the tiny ball at the bottom of the post.
After a while my nose started to get really upset with me :P, so I went out and bought nose screws which are the same
thickness all of the way through. I have been using those for about a month and a half now, and my nose has healed nicely and i have not had anymore problems.
All in all, it was one of the best experiences I ever had. I will always remember my trip to Europe, and I have a great everlasting souvenir.
Next up... the tongue :D