My eyebrow turned purple!

At A Glance Author Laura Contact goddess262@yourmom.com Artist i think her name was christine Studio Area 51 Location 1295 second St. San Rafael, Ca

It took about two months to convince my parents to let me get this piercing. I was so excited when they said yes! I got it as a birthday present, so I didn't really care about the price, but I suggest shopping around. With the jewelry, it cost $50. My friends thought I was crazy to pay that much to have a hole put in my face. I just went to the same place that I had gotten my nose pierced, but then again, I live in a small hick town, so there weren't many options. To get the best opinions on where to go, just ask friends who have had piercings what they thought of the place they went to. Also, when you get to the studio, ask about sizing and location options and also whether or not you can start with your desired jewelry type (a hoop or a barbell). You should also be clear on where they stand legally. They made my father and I sign papers saying that he was my legal guardian and that they were not responsible for piercing minors who showed false identification or brought in someone who wasn't their guardian. They also had me sign a paper saying that they were not responsible for if it got infected and that I could not sue them if it did. These might have been the laws in my state (California) and there may be different legal issues in other states.

The studio was good. They were clean and did things right. I got it done with my friend and my eyebrow bled a lot, while my friend's didn't at all, both of which, she said was normal. What they did was they took a sterilized needle and clamp and brought it into the room. They asked me about where I wanted it and then drew some dots and gave me a mirror to make sure I liked where it was going to be. (If your piercist doesn't offer you a mirror, I suggest you ask to see one. It can't hurt and you should get your money's worth.) The lady put a clamp on and then counted to three before putting it through. It pretty much felt like a pinch. (The blood was scarier than the feeling.) After getting the piercing, make sure to actually listen to what they say about cleaning your piercing and so on. Also, what I found to be helpful was to take a business card and write down your size on the back. This way, not only do you have their phone number for further questions, but when your looking for a new piece of jewelry, you'll know exactly what size to buy.

The thing was, I could never really completely get used to it. I have a nose ring as well, and I got used to that within a month, but the eyebrow piercing was always just there. I could always feel it and could usually see it. Another thing that was hard to get used to was its relationship with my hair. I have long hair and it would get caught on it. Also, an ick factor is that some eyebrow hairs grew in the holes.

The cleaning procedure was kind of annoying for awhile. Every night I had to was it with non-scented soap and then put a solution of sea-salt and warm water on it for five minutes. After this, I had to swish the jewelry around to keep it from closing and clean it off with a Q-tip. It was fine for about three months, and then it got all pussy and infected. When it returned to normal, I put the piercing back in and cleaned it more often. Despite my attempts to keep the piercing, I got a big purple lump next to my eyebrow and I couldn't get the hoop out. My mom took me to the doctor and he was a real loser. He said I had infected scar tissue and that I must have hit it, because it was bruised. This basically meant that I had to take it out and if I wanted it repierced, I'd have to pick a new spot.

Despite my unfortunate experiences, I would recommend this piercing. While I had it, I thought it looked really cool and I got a lot of compliments. Its not to drastic if you're not sure you want to completely fill your face with metal, but there are fun variations like multiple eyebrow piercings. If I had any advice, I'd say, make sure to clean your eyebrow and also that I got a 16 gauge and I think it would have looked nicer if it was smaller. Also a note on it closing up: I asked the piercist if it would leave a noticeable scar when I let it close up and she said no. Well, people who didn't know me then can tell I had a piercing. It's not really noticeable in pictures or from far away, but it's kind of noticeable, so make sure to ask the person whether there are any procedures that you can take to make the scarring less apparent.