I decided to write my experience in after a couple months of getting my eyebrow done. It seems that before I got my eyebrow pierced, most of my questions concerned what happened in the distant future rather than the next day. So, this is my story of my beautiful eyebrow, from around 3 months ago to now...
At A Glance Author Lauren Contact lbell83@hotmail.com Artist don't know Studio Skin Gallery Location Downers Grove, IL I had been begging my parents to let me get my eyebrow pierced for a while, around fall of 2000.(I'm only 17...legal age is 18, but you probably know that.) After all, I am a good student and generally "good kid". However, my dad would not take me in, even after admitting he had no reason not to other than allowing it would not be the "fatherly" thing to do. After giving up on my parents, I then decided to rely on my older brother and his "possee of contacts" to get me in, but he's a slacker. I knew that if I wanted to get this done, I could only rely on myself. Soooo...I did what any typical teenager who wanted a piercing done correctly the first time would do: continue nagging the parents. Finally, one weekend, my mom started giving in, and she told me to call my dad to make sure it was alright with him if she took me in to get it done that night. Turns out, my dad was planning on taking me in the following week as a surprise. How cool is that?!
So, we went through the phone book and found a place. We went, and the studio was actually kinda grungey and unorganized. Being ignorant and such, I didn't care if I got pierced in an alley; I just wanted it done! So the piercing guy sat me down, set all his stuff out on the table, and drew the little dots with a marker. I checked the mirror and decided it was not slanted enough, and I changed the positioning myself. Then, I closed my eyes as he prepared to pierce. I could feel a slight pinch when the needle first hit the skin, and after that, there was a sense of burning, but basically no pain at all. He got the ring(of which he wouldn't let me choose the style or the gauge, claiming I had to be initially pierced with a standard 16-g "starter ring"...pssshaw), and then put it through. I turned around and admired my new reflection in the mirror. He gave us bacitracin and a care sheet. Then, we paid our $40, and we left.
Presently, it has been about 3 months since I initially got pierced, and I have nothing but great things to say about it. As of now, I have no regrets, as it has not given me any problems. I can sleep on that side(the left side...), it doesn't get caught in my clothes, and it healed up extremely fast.
One minor detail that had not occured to me before I got pierced...how to get the damned thing out! I had to go to gym class, and my teacher said I would have to take it out or put a bandaid on it. So, the first day of gym after getting pierced, I put a bandaid on it. However, I did try to get it out, and it wouldn't budge. The next day, I thought my gym teacher would be cool if I just let the ring stand out loud and proud, without the bandaid. And HE DID! Probably because I'm a "good kid", and he has enough delinquents to worry about, let alone a stupid piece of metal in my head. So he let it fly, which is cool. To this day, I still can't get the god foresaken thing out of my head for the life of me, but it's ok; It's cool as hell.
I have taken it out once, but I did not personally take it out; I went to a local tattoo place(Tattoo City in Lockport), and they were very friendly and very professional. They took my ring out, replaced the bead, and wished me well all free of cost. After going to Tattoo City, I kinda wished I had gone there to get pierced. It seemed extremely more sterile and more professional than Skin Gallery. Nonetheless, I am extremely happy with my eyebrow and would recommend this to anyone who thinks it's the coolest thing and has really had serious thoughts about it. I hope you have enjoyed my boring story. As with the rest of the BME patrons' stories, feel free to email me about any questions, concerns, whatever. Good fun.
***SIDE NOTE***: I was a little irked of the legitimacy of the place by which I got pierced because I had taken all the trouble to convince my mom into allowing this to be done only to arrive at the studio and have them ask no questions about my age, ID, signatures, etc...No photocopies or anything. My sister just got her navel pierced at Tattoo City, and they made her and my father show valid IDs, signatures, and then photocopied all records. Makes you think...