Besides the basic hole in each ear lobe (which I *gasp* had done with a gun when I turned 13), I was totally vanilla when it came to body mod's, before I got my eyebrow done. Starting 'round about senior year in high school, though, I started to really have the urge to get a facial piercing of some sort. Since I knew my parents would never go for it, and I had limited funds, I put that on the backburner while I got prepared for college and stuff.
At A Glance Author Carolyn Contact Carolyn@bme.anon When Six months ago Artist Robert Studio White Tiger Tattoo Location Rochester, NY Freshman year was a bitch for me, and as some people know, when the going gets tough, the tough get mod's. I was completely stressed out with classes and a long-distance relationship, and I had made friends with this free spirit who got her right eyebrow pierced over Thanksgiving break. I had to get mine done. I guess that makes it sound like I got it because Sarah had hers done, but she was really just the catalyst. My boyfriend was less than thrilled when I told him about my decision (he's even more vanilla than I am), but after about a week of tense discussions where I alternated between wanting it really badly and not wanting it at all, we finally decided that I should just get it.
So, I did lots and lots of internet research before getting it done. I was mostly just concerned about the safety and sanitary issues, since I had no desire to have an infected piercing right over my eye. Unfortunately, there are no universal cleaning instructions for facial piercings (something that is really frustrating to me), so I just sort of tried to get a feel for what the majority of professionals were recommending.
Looking back, I probably should have made an appointment at the parlor before showing up, since I had never been there before (Sarah was taking me to the same place she got her eyebrow pierced, so I just assumed it was safe and clean). Anyway, the morning arrived, and I was wicked excited, and a teeny bit scared. We showed up like an hour before the parlor was scheduled to open, so we went to a mall to walk around, to try and calm me down. When we got back to the parlor, it was open, so we walked in.
Right off the bat, I was a little put off. It wasn't exactly pristine in the parlor. There were some bikers getting shoulder tat's in the regular portion, and the piercing part was a tiny little alcove in the back. The woman at the counter didn't seem very happy to see two college students there, but she kindly pointed me toward Robert, who's the piercer at White Tiger.
He was a nice enough guy. Pretty quiet, but nice. I was confused because he didn't ask to see my license, nor did he ask me to sign any forms. Maybe he just assumed I was 18. I mean, I was, but it still seemed like better-safe-than-sorry.
I was a little jittery at this point. He asked if I had any questions beforehand, so I asked if there was any possibility that he would pierce my eyebrow with a 20g instead of an 18g. I really like the way that the thinner hoops look. Anyway, he said no, since it would obviously be incredibly easy to pull that sucker out. I also asked about getting a seamless ring instead of a CBR, but he either didn't have any, or didn't know what the hell I was talking about, because he just gave me a weird look and said no.
He washed up at the sink and showed me that the needle he was using was brand new, straight out of the package, and then he put the gloves on. He picked up the marker and made the dots on my eyebrow, but when I looked, they were a little too close to my nose, so I asked them to be moved out more. Heh, he put the next set of dots at such a miniscule distance away from the first set that I almost said something, but I decided to let it lie. Again, in hindsight, I should have been much more assertive, since it's my friggin' eyebrow, but hey. I was scared.
I sat down on the little bed/gurney type thing, and he swabbed, clamped, and then told me to take a deep breath. I have a pretty high threshold for pain, so I wasn't scared about that. To be honest, it didn't even hurt me. Getting my ears done hurt a million times more (but that's obviously because it's so much more traumatic to the tissue when you use a gun). It felt really weird to have something that large moving through my eyebrow, but the discomfort level was minimal.
Afterward, I jumped off and ran to the mirror, and oh my God, did it look hot. Heh, I seriously thought I looked so much cooler now that I had a ring through my eyebrow. He gave me a little brochure with cleaning instructions, I paid, and then we left. In the brochure, he said to use the ear piercing cleaning solution that they give you at like the little piercing kiosks at the mall, but I had read online that that stuff isn't so great, so I opted out. Maybe that wasn't such a great idea...but I don't know.
Anyway, so it's been over 5 months now, and I still don't think that the piercing has completely healed. For about a month after I got it done, I was using Dial twice a day, and sea salt soaks at night, and it seemed to be doing fine. Soaking your eyebrow is really friggin' difficult though, so I stopped doing the salt soaks. I think that's mostly the problem – the Dial dries out the area around the piercing, and I think that's delaying the healing process. If anybody has any suggestions for that (and can back it up with experience), then definitely leave me a note, since it's kinda bad that I can't even move my piercing without worrying that my hands aren't washed or that I might get it infected still.
Anyway...aesthetically, this is one of the best things I've ever chosen to change about my appearance. I think it really draws attention to my eyes (which are nice), and yeah. I really just like the way eyebrow piercings look. I, of course, got a lot of shit from my family about it (but surprisingly none from my parents, who think it looks really cool on me), but that's cool with me.
Now that I'm a mod' convert, I'm constantly making plans for new things. Next up is probably a nose piercing. Left nostril, to balance out my face (since my eyebrow piercing is on my right). I could get that as soon as next weekend, but I think I might wait until after I meet my boyfriend's parents and they pass judgment on me. Don't want them thinking their little boy is going out with a freak or anything.