Growing up a tomboy, I didn't think I'd ever get something pierced, even my ears. Boy was I wrong.
At A Glance Author jimmycarter Contact jimmycarter@bme.anon Artist ? Studio Infinite Location Philadelphia, PA I had my ears pierced when I was 11, but I was never much one for jewelry. I didn't wear earrings again until I got to college when I re-pierced them with another pair of earrings. Now I wear one pair of earrings all the time, never take them out. It's too much hassle to think about changing them with my outfits. That's part of what appealed to me about a facial piercing. I've always admired facial piercing on others, so I decided to finally get one myself. As my best friend also wanted a piercing, the time was right to do it, once and for all.
I was 20 years old and I was visiting my best friend at her college in Philadelphia. She and I were going to get pierced the first night I was in town.
I got off the plane and we headed straight for the shop. Infinite is an amazing shop, really clean, with nice people and a large selection of jewelry. We got there and chose our jewelry. I got a 14 gauge CBR (niobium, a mistake) for my right eyebrow and she chose a great nose screw for her piercing.
We both went into the back with our piercer (I didn't catch her name) and we talked about procedure and her experiences with her many piercings. She had just removed four eyebrow rings and she told me everything she'd learned while she had hers in. It was very clean and very comfortable. I felt like I was in a doctor's office.
I went first. She cleaned my eyebrow with betadine and marked the in and out points with a sharpie. I approved the placement and she had me sit down on the table to prepare. My friend held my hand and the piercer told me to take a couple of deep breaths. I breathed in and exhaled. She pierced my eyebrow on the exhale. It didn't hurt at all. There was an incredible rush of adrenaline, and a very strange sound and feeling. It sounded like something was ripping behind my eyebrow, but it didn't hurt at all. I opened my eye and saw the needle there while she prepared the ring, she inserted the ring (again, no pain) and fixed the bead. I stood up and admired my new ring in the wall of mirrors covering one side of the shop and settled down to hold my friend's hand while she got her nose pierced.
Her piercing was very quick but very painful. Her eyes watered, and you could hear the 'pop' from the needle passing through. She was mad at me because my piercing was so painless and hers hurt so much.
We left the store and went to wander around until our friend was ready to drive us home. It was raining slightly and was a little cold. The rain felt amazing on my really sensitive eyebrow and forehead. It was very nice. Sleeping that night was difficult, because I kept accidentally rolling over onto my new piercing.
The next day, I was getting ready for the day and my friend decided that it would be fun to brush my hair. Well, you guessed it. She caught my eyebrow ring in the brush. I was very unhappy with her and that started the long descent of my beautiful eyebrow ring from lovely piece of facial decoration to hellish infected pus factory.
I wasn't the best at taking care of it, but I did clean it every day. After it got caught in a hairbrush it was bumped during a party later that week. I flew back home and it got much worse. The main problem was that I would unconsciously touch it. I would find myself playing with the captured bead and it would then, of course be contaminated. It was infected and sore for months. I cleaned it every day, did salt water soaks like I was supposed to, but it just wouldn't heal. A year later, I finally took it out. I just wasn't meant to have an eyebrow piercing. Sigh.
I found out later that I was allergic to the metal, and rejected the piercing from the start. I know now to always get surgical stainless steel for a new piercing (unless of course you are allergic to sss, too).
Now, two years later, my friend has kept her nose piercing, has a rook that is healing nicely and is going next weekend back to Infinite to get a 2 gauge punch in her upper conch. I don't have any more piercings but I will get my right nipple done (vertical barbell) or my tongue done soon. I've been looking at shops and procedures and I've decided on 13 BC in LA. Wish me luck!