At A Glance
Author	Vicky
When	It just happened
Artist	Chris
Studio	Been Pierced
Location	Paringa/ South Australia

Well I have always admired nostril piercings, but being scared of needles I never thought I could go through with getting my nose pierced. I've heard so many stories of the pain of getting it done and the infections. But in the end I thought who cares.

So two months ago I asked my mum if I could get my nose pierced, and after what seemed a year of thinking three days later she said okay. Well that was my mum down, just my dad left to go, now let me point out that I'm from a Greek background, and my dad thinks nose piercing are well.. Lets just say he doesn't like them.

So anyway after a couple of months of tears and begging, my mum spoke to my dad and he finally agreed to letting me get my nose pierced. Well once my dad had agreed I became a little scared to get my nose pierced.

So after school on the 4/4/2005 my mum took me to a piercing salon in Paringa. Upon arrival I saw the shop was shut, and immediately thought 'YES now I don't have to go through with it!!' let me tell you I am scared to death of needles, I nearly faint every time I go to get a blood test and the thought of booster injections at school scares the living daylights out of me.

My mum saw a phone number on the window, and rang up the owner who said she would be there in 15 minutes, so we went next door to the local bakery to get a drink. While sitting there my younger sister started making drilling noises, and said they'd have to hammer the nose ring in, and me being scared as I was I burst into tears and ran outside to the car.

I popped my head into the piercing shop and saw the lady was there already. By now I was freaking out, my heart was pumping so hard that I felt like I had just run a marathon.

I went inside and asked the price for a nose piercing; she replied $55 (AU) including the ring. No sooner had I found out the price my mum came into the shop closely followed by my sister.

Chris was really nice, she took me to where the jewelry was kept and asked me to pick out a stud. I had my heart set on a clear stone, but they had run out, and I thought to myself if I don't get it done now I never will. So I chose a small light blue stud.


I was then asked what side I would like my piercing on, and I immediately replied my left, Chris asked my why my left nostril, and I replied because I have a mole on the right side of my face about a centimeter above my lip.

Chris wasn't satisfied, she showed me to a mirror and told me to look at my face, to look at my facial features, what eyebrow is higher, to smile, which eye is bigger. I never noticed these things about my face before.

I asked Chris why I was doing this and she replied 'When you get your nose pierced peoples eyes are drawn to it, they will notice that side of your face first'.

Well I ended up deciding my left nostril anyway. Chris showed me to the chair I would be sitting in (It looked like a chair at the dentist). At this stage Chris sterilized the nose ring, took the equipment out (which I made sure was sealed) washed her hands and put on a pair of latex gloves.

I lay back in the chair and shut my eyes; I didn't really want to see a needle sticking out of my nose. My nose was sterilized and a metal tube was placed in my nose, which felt odd. Like someone's finger was up there.

I was holding a teddy bear that Chris had given me, I braced myself and in went the needle, I wont lie it hurt, my eyes started watering, but nothing hurt as much as when the needle was taken out and the ring placed in the small hole. I'll tell you I nearly tore the teddy bear I was holding to shreds.

I opened my eyes and there was Chris with a satisfied look on her face. She held a mirror up so I could see the piercing, I was in shock, I loved it and the pain was worth it. I was in a hurry to stand up but Chris told me to stay lying down. She showed me how to clean the piercing. With a salt solution on the inside and outside if I wanted to. And I was given an antibacterial gel. I had to use the salt solution and the gel for the first 10 days.

It's been 2 weeks now and I love my piercing, I will admit that it felt weird at first but I adjusted to it. The whole way home my sister was staring at my nose as though I was an animal in the zoo. My mum couldn't believe I had gone through with it, to tell you the truth neither could I.

Back at school no one noticed the tiny blue stud at first, but I haven't had a bad comment yet, most people think it suits me, although they think a clear stud would look better.

Only six weeks to go and I can change my stud I can't wait. To anyone reading this and thinking of getting their nostril pierced I say go for it, I highly recommend nostril piercing. And I would do it again. I wont lie it did hurt, but only for the first day or so, now I have no trouble at all. And I love the way it looks like glitter on my nose.