The thing that drew me to eyebrow piercings was, well, I have no idea, I just *loved* the way they looked to death. The only thing I love more than my eyebrow piercings are my labret, but thatīs another story altogether. So, for me, it was only natural that this time it was my fourth eyebrow piercing. I already had two on the left side of my face, but only one (my original lone barbell) was decorating the right brow. I hadnīt seen too many people on BME with four or more, so I figured why the hell not. I was about to found out why.
At A Glance Author Justin Artist Kevin Anton Studio 9 Lyves Location Bradenton, FL About 2 months ago I went down to a fantastic shop here called 9 Lyves. I really didnīt have to think about it too long as for a choice of jewelry, Iīve had the best of luck and love the way curved barbells look, and the placement I love, slanted. The gauge was a no-brainer too, not only because my other three were at a fourteen, but because of the horror stories Iīve heard from everyone and there brother about sixteen and (why they were even given the choice) eighteen gauge barbells migrating and rejecting.
My piercer, Kevin, asked me to sit down in the chair, had me fill out the release form (he had a stack of them from me by now), and then proceeded to swab my eyebrow with alcohol and marked the spots to be pierced with a marker. After agreeing (and him having to re-dot me on account of me rubbing my eye!), he put on the clamp (god is it tight) and asked me to take a deep breath. One, two, three. I felt it all over again for the fourth time, the eek-I-can-hear-the-skin-being-broken and the needle going through, and the sigh and exhilaration of having another beautiful piece of metal adorning my face. Happy as always, I paid the full price despite him giving me a discount (always tip), and smiling left the shop.
Now donīt get me wrong here, I donīt take pericing lightly. Hell, itīs a hole in your body. I have a bottle of surgical soap handy for whenever, so donīt think I was slacking on the after care. As with the others, I washed it gently with surgical soap and q-tips, and never rubbed it with my hands (can you remember all the door knobs you touch in a day?). A few weeks later, my ultimate fear had come. Infection and rejection reared itīs ugly head. Blah. I had it taken out. Oh well, maybe it was something I did wrong, eh? Possibly, but I was about to learn the real answer soon. I let it heal, and I mean heal. I donīt take chances often when it comes to my health. I made sure I had completely healed over before I proceeded again.
I was looking at my face in the mirror and really wanted to get my face balanced out again. Stupid me. So I put down thirty bucks again and had Kev go at it again. Ouch, a little different this time! I had completely forgotten about all that scar tissue! Well, itīs all over and done with, weīre out of the woods now, right? Nope. Yesterday I looked in the mirror. Ugh. Black and red. DISGUSTING feeling. I could tell as soon as I started walking down the stairs that morning that something was wrong...barbells that are firmly pocketed in your skin donīt giggle when you walk. My heart dropped and I got a real queasy feeling in my stomach, I hate when things go wrong and I absolutely freak when percings reject!
I went down to the shop and had to wait a few minutes for Kev, since Eric (heīs another wonder too, all that fantastic work you see on Jason and Frances Sands, thatīs him) was busy tattooing a customer. I waved to Kevinīs baby, cute little bugger. I had Kev take out the barbell, since he puts them on so damn tight it might as well be welded to the thread. He took a good look at it and I could tell how bad it was from the was he contorted his face. Speaking of thread, thatīs about how much skin I had holding that sucker on. *shudder*. SO did I learn my lesson? You bet. From now on, my face is unbalanced eyebrow-wise, and itīs gonna stay that way. Donīt think Iīm not counting my luck with my eyebrow either, somehow after rejecting very nastily twice thereīs little to no visible scar. What lesson did we learn today kids? If something keeps `a rejecting, think about it; your body is telling you something. Peace.
Justin