At A Glance Author Taija Contact phillychic227@aol.com When A year ago Artist Valerie Velvet Studio Kadillac Tattoo Location PHILLY Last summer I decided I was going to get my eyebrow pierced. I had been wanting to get it done for quite sometime, but my mom wasn't having it, being as though I was only sixteen at the time, but somehow I was able to convince her to let me get it. The only problem was that even though she agreed to let me get it done, I had to figure out a way to pay for it. So I decided to ask my worthless brother for the money. I had to hunt him down, which took about three weeks, and no luck. I text messaged him, left threatening messages on the machine, but still again, no luck. Eventually, My father felt sorry for me, and decided to give me the money. Can you believe I went through all this for forty dollars?!
I did a lot of research before hand so that I knew what I was getting into. I checked out the place I was going to get it done at to make sure it was clean- I didn't want my eye falling out. Finally came the day of August 27, 2002. I was so excited, the time couldn't have moved any slower. I had to wait for my dad to get home from work because he was the one taking me to get it done. So w went to the shop that night, my dad wanted to just give me the money and wait for me outside, but because I was only sixteen, he had to come in to sign the permission slip and show i.d. So we were talking to the person who was going to pierce my eyebrow, you know making small talk, going over the "Do's and Don'ts", and the questionnaire's to be sure that this was what I really wanted to do, and finally came the moment. The woman complemented me on my beautifully shaped eyebrows because I got them done, so they wouldn't be bushy. I sat up on the table and the woman prepared herself. She cleaned off the equipment, set it all up. It sort of felt like I was in the doctor's office. She took out the needle, put ointment on it, and she grabbed my eyebrow (She doesn't use a clamp) and pierced it. It was over pretty quick, I was surprised that it didn't hurt. It bled a lot, but it didn't hurt. She gave me a paper that had instructions on how to take care of my new piercing, a few packets of ointment and told me to buy some Bactine. When we got home, I showed my mom, who wasn't too happy about the piercing.
School started a couple of days later. I was so excited to start the new year with a new piece of shinny metal, a little too excited that I couldn't keep my hands off of it. A few weeks went by and I noticed that my eyebrow was beginning to swell. I figured it was okay, until I noticed puss starting to ooze out. Immediately I called the woman who pierced my eyebrow to complain even though it was my fault. She told me to clean it regularly with Dial antibacterial soap and the Bactine, and to make sure I clean all the crust and blood off. puss cleared up, but it was still red and slightly swollen.
A few more weeks went by and I decided to get a barbell in but the shop told me to wait longer since it was still swollen. I am a very impatient person, but I decided to listen this time. So, finally a month went by and I went back to get my barbell put in. Valerie ( The woman who pierced my eyebrow) wasn't in at the time, so I got someone else whom worked there to put it in. A couple of weeks went by, and I noticed the skin on my eyebrow was starting to get sort of hard. I started to get worried, so I just kept on cleaning it and praying that it would get better. Sadly, it didn't. I was able to peel the skin on my eyebrow as if it were a scab.
As time went on, the skin over my barbell slowly began to disappear. It took about a week after the skin got hard for it to be completely gone. I was in school, second period, when the last piece of skin came off. I noticed when I happened to reach up and touch my eyebrow and the barbell came down with my hand. So I ran to the nurse's office (Even though I knew she couldn't help me, it was just an excuse to get out of class.). I knew that there was nothing I or anyone else could do. My first piercing was gone.
As time went on, I eventually got over it, but I still feel a little sad when I look at pictures of me with my eyebrow piercing. So to the BMEZINE users, listen to your piercer's instructions : don't mess with your new piercing, make sure you clean it right, and everything will be alright.