While it's easy enough for me to get my hands on piercing equipment, I have learned from my past self-piercing experiences and decided that those I intend to keep should be done by someone other than myself. This meant that I was willing to wait until I became legal to obtain them, unlike most of the teenage girls I know who would do anything to get modified underage, if only to say they did it.
At A Glance Author tarte Contact tarte@bme.anon When N/A Said girls usually went to a local shop (which will remain nameless) where though everything was sterile and professional, the head piercer also happened to be a nice guy who was constantly being taken advantage of by teenagers who hung around the shop. This isn't to say that all of the underage people around him were out to hassle and coax a free piercing, but most were. The few who weren't were the only ones I knew of to begin with. They would go into the store to shop and chat it up, never to beg. This laid back attitude meant that if a piercing session were to come up, it was always his idea and not ours, as was the case when I got my septum done.
I didn't even know where we were going that day. My ride took two friends to the shop to get a new barbell for one of them, and I happened to be there. We were relaxing inside when some ideas came up between my two friends and the piercer, and they decided to get surface piercings. The people I was there with had spoken to me before about what piercings I would get when I became legal, and the only one I had "seemed excited about" was my septum. So as the piercer was drafting and measuring for their pieces, one of them casually asked if he would do my septum as well and he said "sure" and talked my into getting it that day.
It wasn't until my friend's surface piercings were done when I realized I was going to have a professional piercing by someone other than my ex-boyfriend (who was a piercer as well) . I decided I wanted a retainer until the piercing healed, so I wouldn't get caught and screw myself out of the only piercing I actually wanted, and my parents didn't know existed.
So I was finally called back into his studio area. Everything was clean and I felt comfortable. He put on his gloves and cleaned the inside of my nose, which stung a bit and made me giggle. He was finding my sweet spot and we made jokes about how me and the friends I had with me were probably the only young people from our school who actually knew what the equipment was and read BME. He opened up the needle and got out the receiving tube. He told me to look up, breathe in on one and out on three. As the needle went through I felt my body loosen up, which was the only sign that I had been tense. The one uncomfortable part of the whole procedure was putting the curved retainer through. When I walked out to go wash up, my friends said I looked like I had been punched in the face. Apparently I had tears and blood streaming down my face, but I was so happy and the tears were obviously from the nerves. I washed up, gave him a $20 tip (I hadn't been charged), and left.
I wore the retainer for the entire time I had the piercing, occasionally flipping it down to show the curious. Unfortunately I came into a bit of trouble and the piercing came out for a few reasons. About a month after I "retired" the piercing, I found myself back at the studio buying a tongue retainer for my friend. The piercer recognized me and asked what happened. I explained, and he took me back and gladly re-pierced it.
The procedure was the same, only this time, when the needle went through I felt a little pop from the scar tissue that had built on one side. I thanked him again, left a tip, and went home. Aftercare was simple both times and it healed up nicely within weeks.
Months later, I wear a horseshoe through the piercing (still flipping it up at home for now) and still go to the studio and chill sometimes when it's not crowded. Overall I'm very pleased with this piercing experience, but I'm not pushing my luck and getting any more mods until I'm legal, when I plan on going back to the same studio. Everyone I've met there is very relaxed and purely enjoys their work. So now when it comes to body modifications, I know I have a place I am comfortable in.