"I'm never piercing anything except my ears." Yup, that's what I've said my whole life. I live in Texas in a small town where even wearing all black can get you in trouble, so naturally any piercing other than ears are considered extremely "tacky". Let's not even mention the name you'll get called with a facial piercing. So what did I, the maverick-artsy-good girl-nerd get pierced? My nose.
At A Glance Author Sheridan Contact Sheridan@bme.anon When A month ago Artist John Studio Outer Limits Location Anaheim, California That's right. I got a facial piercing. And while you hard-core body modifiers might think that's kiddie pool stuff, for me it was a huge step forward. Naturally, I didn't get it done at home. I didn't even get it done in the state! I went all the way to California for it.
My college band was invited to play at the December 30th Disneyland Parade and I couldn't have been more excited. I've been to that part of California before and I loved it. I half toyed with the idea of getting a tattoo, a blue crescent moon on my left breast, but decided I wanted my fiancée with me when I got that done. One day a few of us decided that on the day we had off we wanted to go to LA for some shopping. Unfortunately, the rain killed that idea, so we shopped at the Citadel for a while. It cleared up and some of us wanted to find a piercing studio (I wasn't included in this group yet.) We found one, but they were out of jewelry due to Christmas sales. Go figure. So it was back to Anaheim. We had to go to a New Year's Eve dinner cruise/party that night.
On the way back, I remembered that three girls the day before had gone to this studio not too far away from our hotel. Phillip, our tour guide, started asking down the row who wanted to get pierced. He came to me and that's when I realized the true destructiveness of my spontaneity. "I'll get my nose pierced!" Huh? I was gonna do what?
John at Outer Limits, the studio we went to, was absolutely WONDERFUL! He was a white guy with long dreads, tattoos on his forearms, two piercings below his lips, ear plugs and white tattoos of Arabic letters under his eyes. I loved 'em! I picked out my jewelry, an emerald and silver stud, and waited my turn. It confused us that were waiting because John and the piercee would stay in the piercing room for so long, but when it came to me turn I learned why. If I say one thing about Outer Limits it's that they are VERY sterile. John was also very thorough with his instructions and responses to questions. He talked me through everything he did, from cleaning the area to putting the needle through. He also custom bent my jewelry. He was very calm and soothing and made my experience a positive one, even though it really hurt and I bled a lot.
At the cruise that night I never felt sexier than with my new piercing. It's amazing how a tiny piece of jewelry can change your whole perception of yourself. I received dozens of compliments on it and I'm still getting them.
The after care was so easy. John recommended sea salt soaks three times a day. I have to say that I didn't really follow that regimen after my piercing stopped hurting, but I didn't have any adverse affects. Still, if you're reading this and you're considering getting a piercing and you've never had one before, don't be stupid like me. I was lucky. STICK TO YOUR AFTERCARE! After all, a piercing is the same as any other wound. I personally think I got off great. The others who got pierced had a lot more swelling. Kim got a La Brete. It got infected. Stephen got one too. It was swollen and sore for quite some time. Paul got his tongue pierced. We all know how swollen that got. Not to mention, he spent all his money on the piercing, so he had nothing left for aftercare products. That's right, he NEVER practiced ANY aftercare. Yeah, I was horrified too. I offered him some of my salt to soak it in, but he never came for it. My nose was just red a swollen for a few days, and I only bled for the day that I got it. (When John pierced me, it took about ten minutes for me to stop bleeding like I just sustained a battle wound, but that wasn't his fault. I'm just a bleeder.)
It's been a month now and I love my piercing. It never got infected or even crusty (I was told that it was supposed to). I've also felt even better about myself. I feel sexier, more self-confident, and yes, even tougher. But hey, that's what happens when maverick-artsy-good girl-nerds get pierced!