So here's the story - I was 15 and bored out of my mind with everything. Clothes, friends, school, the burbs. You know how it goes. I'd taken to wearing really stupid things just to see what people said, even though I knew how ridiculous I looked. My friends and I talked a lotta sh*t about piercings but most of us knew we'd never get one, we were all a bunch of pansies. I'd never had anything pierced, not even my ears, but I knew I wanted my eyebrow done, partly because my parents thought it was the most hideous piercing possible (besides the tongue, which is almost certainly happening tomorrow... but thats another story) and partly because it just looked so damn cool at all the kids at Edgefest, shameful I know. I'd tell my parents every day, "(so many) days left til I'm 16, and I'm getting THIS done!" and I'd pinch my eyebrow. Dad would whine "Ewww!" and mom would threaten to sue the store for piercing me underage. I told her their reason for piercing at 16 - If you can l egally bomb down the highway in 1 ton of metal, you can handle a (most of the time) itty bitty piece of it in your body. She scoffed, but inside she knew she couldn't really stop me.
At A Glance Author Kayelle When A year ago Artist Shannon (i think? she's pierced my friends and i many times) Studio Paul's Piercings Location Surrey, BC My friend Nick and had I talked about getting our eyebrows done together for a good few months, and eventually he convinced his mom to take him to get it done. So we marched down to Paul's store in Surrey (the inside is nothing like the outside surroundings - absolutely pristine - great place I tell ya, endless props) and us and another friend watched it happen. He said it didn't hurt at all, and although I wasn't sure if I should believe him or not, I was thrown even further into absolute obsession with not only watching piercings, but receiving the first one I was going to get.
For the next couple of months I counted down the days til my 16th birthday. Finally, it came - March 5 - and the same Nick and I bussed and trained right after school to Paul's and I chose a 14g blue barbell (after nearly a year and a half the colour hasn't really come off). Walking into the piercing room I got a little nervous, but since I'd watched him get his done it made me a lot more calm. The clamps went on (ouch a little, but mostly just like "Hey, get that sh*t off me man, it's bugging me"), and the deed was done. I was so surprised - absolutely NO pain! Damn, he really hadn't been exaggerating! Although I admit, when the needle was left hanging in my eyebrow, right in front of my precious, precious eyeballs while my piercer (who was an absolute doll) reached for the barbell, my breathing got a little iffy. "Don't move," she said. Nooooo problem there. I didn't really want to lose an eye or stab my cheek.
I looked in the mirror. I was absolutely ELATED!! It bled a little, but I can't tell you how happy I was. She went over the after-care - blah blah blah, no bodily fluid contact, no cum on it.. I burst out laughing. Come on, how many people get jizz on their eyebrows! She said, "You have NO idea." We had a good laugh.
But anyways - finally I had done something on my own, against what my parents wanted, when I had said I was going to, and didn't back out of it. I'd told EVERYONE I was getting it done that day for so long, and I was incredibly proud of myself for going through with it. It was an amazing feeling, and my next piercing (navel) was without any parents knowing at all on a track trip a few hours away (that was last June, and my friend's parents still don't know she's pierced!). I lost a bit of money on that one, my other friends and I had bets on anywhere from a week to a month... but damn, a whole year.
So yes, I just want to say basically that to me my piercings are a part of my independence as I grow up. I'm sure many of you know exactly how I feel... And also, I highly recommend the eyebrow piercing for first-timers (hell and anyone else), since there's virtually no pain and although it tends to get irritated by sleeping on it and playing with it, it's easy to clean and isn't a relatively large hassle. It also didn't take a very long time before I could change it (I didn't listen - who the heck does - and changed it after about a week, no problem). But don't be like me, listen to your piercer, because everyone is different, and so are healing times! Ps - don't wear rings or large barbells in moshpits, unless you like blood dripping down your face! But that's all for now, I may write another about my navel.. TTFN!
ps - Nick took his barbell out shortly after being pierced - probably about 4 short months. He got bored of it fast, and was a little too concerned with what other people think. Makes me think he didn't really get it for him, but because we were psyched about it. So here's my advice.... don't let your friends being psyched get you into a piercing or tattoo you really don't want. Try to picture yourself down the road with it, and if you can't, don't get it unless you're willing to realize that you just spent anywhere from $30-$100 (obviously way more for a tatt) of your hard-earned money on a piercing you couldn't stick with.
And it can't be said enough on this site - RESEARCH YOUR PIERCER, and make sure they have an autoclave and all that stuff.
Oh, and ask for Shannon. :D