I got my tongue pierced at Coldsteel, Camden (London, England) about a year and a half ago (story about that *still* to come) and I was impressed by how clean and professional everyone was there. Some of my friends think that they are a bit pricey, but I'd rather pay a bit more and know that the needle being stuck through my tongue and/or nose is clean and that it is being done by someone who is trained and therefore knows what they are doing. I think it cost £27.50 (random amount, I know!).
At A Glance Author Diamond When N/A Artist J Studio ColdSteel Location London, England Once I got my tongue done, I was bitten by the piercing bug (warning: this happens to lots of people!) and really really wanted to get my nostril done. But, being black, I was worried about keloid formation as I'm naturally more prone to getting them. So, I put the idea to the back of my head and focused on my law finals.
Anyway, fast forward a year and a half and I'm still thinking about getting my nostril done and, yes, I'm still worried about keloids; however, by this point I had researched the internet thoroughly about keloids, and felt ready to tackle 'it' and do all of the preventative measures that I could/needed to. In fact, I think that I've read every page that Google has on keloids—even the really rubbish ones that didn't really tell you anything and have 13 year olds talking about the piercings they want when they get older!
One day I woke up really early in the morning (for no reason) and thought _____ it, I'm going to get my nostril done! So I rung up Coldsteel and booked an appointment for a few hours later; which was quite lucky as they get pretty busy there, especially on a Sunday.
I went by myself and my piercer went through all of their extensive procedures for making sure that things were as sterile as possible—I'm always amused by how many times they change their gloves! And I still don't quite understand why it needs to be done after simply marking a dot on me...but who am I to complain?!
My piercer asked me to lie down on my left side as I was getting my right nostril pierced, and to stop myself from freaking out (believe it or not I'm petrified of needles) I closed my eyes. But, to be fair, I doubt anyone particularly likes seeing a gigantic needle heading towards their face...or, more astutely, their eyes!
The piercing itself didn't really hurt that much (seriously!), there was a lot of pressure though. It was the putting in of the actual stud which caused me more pain than I've experienced in my whole entire life; It beat my tongue, upper ear (cartilage), needle through my big toe nail to drain the blood out so the nail could fall off...
Apparently I have a really thick nostril (Now I'm obsessed with nostril piercings I've been stopping pretty much everyone I see who has once, and have since found out that most black people have slightly thicker nostrils...so I'm not just a *freak*!), so the nose screw wasn't long enough for my nose. After trying (and failing) to get it in J (my piercer) had to take it out, and bend it to size. In order to do that, she had to put the needle back in my nostril so that the hole wouldn't close up. Stupidly I opened my eyes (curiosity killed the cat! I wanted to know what was going on), and by that point my right eye was crying involuntarily (apparently that usually /always happens with a nostril piercing).
J put the newly bent nose screw in and both my eyes cried because it absolutely KILLED. But, the Gods weren't looking down at me, and she was still having difficulty getting it in because of my extra thick nostril (by the way, if you saw me, you wouldn't thick that my nostrils were particularly big!). So, she took it back out of my nostril (not that it was properly in to begin with) and bent it out even further until it was practically straight, then put that in. It really really hurt, and I actually found myself wondering what the hell I was doing and kind of wishing that I hadn't bothered.
My piercer said that she's been piercing for 10 years, and my nose was THE most difficult piercing she had ever done! What an achievement (!)
Have a look on YouTube, and you'll see people getting their nostrils done, and it is so quick. I was a bit unlucky because of my 'special nose' but most people say that it doesn't hurt too much. After everything was sorted with my nostril, I said to my piercer that I was surprised by how much it hurt, considering I didn't think that my tongue did at all, and she said that for most people a nostril piercing hurts more than a tongue piercing for most people.
Healing has been fine. I usually do warm salt soaks twice a day (if I've been out clubbing, then three times because it's hot an dirty in those clubs!). I do manage to (accidentally) give myself a mini shower every time I clean it though. You should fill a pint glass with sea salt (apparently not table salt...but I have done so sometimes) and warm water. Then put your nose into the glass and blow bubbles out so that the water can get around the piercing and irrigate it of any nasty bits and excess fluids).
Sometimes if I can't be bothered with the palava of trying to fit my nose into a glass of salty water without drenching myself, I'll soak a cotton bud in saltwater solution, and gently clean around the stud both inside and out. I've occasionally used some lavender oil on the piercing because it promotes healing and reduces the chances of scarring/keloids (it's much better than tea tree oil, and I think it smells a thousand times nicer too!), try and get some of it into the piercing too, because that's where the healing is needed, not on the surrounding skin! You shouldn't use lavender oil too soon though, because it might cause the outside of the healing to heal really quickly, while the inside will remain completely unhealed. You'll know best with your nose because you should be able to 'feel' when it's healing and notice the change in the way the stud feels in your nose. I think I waited about 2-3 weeks before using any lavender.
It looks great (I popped into Coldsteel today to check things were okay with the piercer, and she thought so to!), and my stud it really really small (2.5mm I think). I wanted a really small stud because I think it looks more feminine. Also, I'm not trying to make a statement, I just like how nostril piercings look, so there's no reason for me to have a massive fake gold lump at the side of my face. Initially I thought that I wanted a pink stud, but changed to a clear-ish one at the last minute at the recommendation of my piercer. The stud is reflective, so it changes colour depending on what I'm wearing. This is good because you need to have the stud in for a few months for full healing, and you can be sure that it'll match the colour of the clothes that you are wearing!
I'm now thinking of getting my tragus or centre lip pierced.