I've always wanted to get "in" with a piercer. Getting pierced for nearly nothing, but still having the quality of a professional piercing is something I think anyone would enjoy. I'm very proud to announce that my friend Jesse is now an apprentice at my favorite piercing shop in the state. I was talking to Jesse online one time, and he said that he was able to start piercing people he knew for free, and we'd only have to pay for the price of jewelry and needles. The first thought through my mind: "SCORE!" Now it was time to decide what to get. Previously, I thought Septum piercings only looked good on a select few. I went through the image gallery on bmezine, and fell in love with small gauge septums. For a while actually, I wanted to punch it at 6g, but when I consulted my regular piercer on the matter he said it would change the shape of my nose, because of how small my nose is. I decided against that, and went for the 16g.
At A Glance Author Allison Contact Allison@bme.anon IAM xglamxgirlx When A week ago Artist Jesse, the apprentice under Derek Studio Blue Buddha Location Burlington, Vermont My boyfriend, who is also good friends with Jesse, decided that he wanted to get his septum done also. I believe he was going to get a larger gauge, incase he wanted to stretch, but I wasn't paying attention.
I told a bunch of my friends that I was "in" with an apprentice and that they could probably get piercings also. I talked to Jesse about it and he said he could only pierce friends and that Derek would have to pierce my friends, at full price. Bummer. Nonetheless one of my friends still wanted her navel pierced, and the others still tagged along on the day of the piercing. Also, Jesse told me that this would be his first septum he's ever pierced. That made me a little more nervous, but I was still glad I could be a guinea pig for him.
Our appointment was on a Friday, and I was surprised they didn't have a packed schedule. When we arrived at the Blue Buddha, I introduced my friends to Jesse and Derek, and told them who wanted what. I was in for a 16g septum with a retainer, my boyfriend wanted a 14g or 12g (I can't remember) septum with a retainer, and my friend Alyssa wanted a 14g navel. Derek took Alyssa into the studio to size her up, and get the jewelry. Next everything was to be autoclaved, so we had around 45 minutes to kill.
After our little hour on the town, we went back to Blue Buddha and had to wait a tad bit longer for everything to be done, and for Derek to help some other customers who came in while we were out. Since Derek is the "head piercer" he was going to pierce Alyssa's navel first. Of course, I was the one to hold her hand...
After she was all said and done it was my turn. I wasn't very nervous because I've seen the procedure a million times, and have friends with this piercing, and I've only heard good things about it. I was afraid that he might accidentally go through the cartilage, since this was his first ever septum piercing. I was also informed that my nose and nostrils are very small, and it was evident when Jesse tried to shove his fingers up there, to position the piercing. Jesse cleaned my nose with Technicare, which smells like a hospital, and I think burned all my nose hairs out. After I was so fresh and so clean clean, it was time to mark up my nose. The size of my nose contributed to the amount of time it took him to successfully mark up my nose, which took about 15 minutes. He was going to pierce it free hand with the help of a receiving tube.
Once all marked up, and all the supplies were out, it was time for the piercing. He had me sit up on the piercing table/bench thing, so I was at eyelevel. The whole time Derek, was giving him tips on how to deal with the size of my nose, and how to pierce it etc. Once he was all lined up, and ready to pierce, he asked if I wanted to know exactly when he was going to pierce. I said yes, do to the error I made of saying NO while having my nipples done. Surprises and Pain are NOT good to mix.
On the 3rd deep breath exhale Jesse pushed the needle through. I squished up my face, which probably didn't help much, and my eyes watered A LOT! It didn't hurt as much as I expected it to. He asked if everything was ok, and I said I felt great. I took another deep breath in and out for the jewelry insertion, which I didn't even feel.
With the retainer in, we could see that it was obviously crooked. I didn't care one bit, because it was going to be flipped up a majority of the time. Jesse flipped it up for me, and gave me some tips on doing so, since I've never had a septum piercing. I hopped off the table/bench thing, and thanked him. I looked in the mirror and I was surprised that you definitely cannot see the retainer at all.
My boyfriend was going to wait until the following weekend to get his pierced, so Alyssa and I paid, her at full price and me $10 :] (20 with tip)
Jesse ran me through the aftercare instructions, which I am WAY to familiar with by now, and we were out the door.
As for my septum being crooked, I don't care at all. Derek said that if I wear it flipped up while it's healing there is a good chance it'll straighten out a bit. Nevertheless, I love my new piercing, and I had intended for it to be a secret piercing, hence the reason I got a retainer instead of a curved barbell. I'd advise anyone to take advantage of apprentices, because they do need a lot of piercing time before they can get their license.