Well this is a story of my eyebrow, then and now. I got my eyebrow pierced at the end of July, 2003. This is where my saga begins.
At A Glance Author Julia Contact Julia@bme.anon When It just happened Artist EEKK i didnt get his name Studio Big Joe and Sons Location NY
After lots of persuasion, mostly to my dad, he agreed to let me get my left eyebrow pierced. (I don't know why left, I'm a righty) So this was decided and then my friends and I had a garage sale, leaving each of us with around 125 dollars. That was enough to get my eyebrow pierced and more. So 60 dollars, (50 plus possible tip), was placed into a special drawer so I wouldn't spend it. Maybe a week later, towards the very end of July, the date of my piercing was set. My boyfriend came over, because I wanted him to come with me, so he would see me not cry. It was immense anxiousness all day long. I finally got there and the wait was very minimal. I was scanning the room again, I'd been there 3 years earlier, getting my belly button pierced.
I filled out the little paper, name, address, birthday, city, state, signature, as well as, my mom signing the bottom. Then we were off, to the back room, a place familiar to me. I sat in the black chair and waiting. I was a little nervous, but not too nervous. I wasn't expecting it to be too bad. So he marked my eyebrow, doing so after I commanded, "I want it to be towards the end of my eyebrow."
"Okay." Pause. "How's that?"
At that moment, I stood up to look into the mirror and the two purple pen marks. They were perfect. But to be sure I showed, my boyfriend, Mike, and called my Mom over to make sure she liked it too. She said it looked good. So I sat back down.
He was explaining to me the process which I knew like my times table.
He placed the clamps on, which some say is the worst, it was pathetically painless. It just felt like someone was holding the skin. A feeling I was familiar with because of my belly experience. The he said, breathe in, breathe out, and on 3 I'll pierce. Yet again, a familiar phrase. So one, two, three.
The pain was nonexistent. I sat there with the needle in my eyebrow, looking through the corner of my eye at the dangling sparkling metal. It was so fucking cool. I felt no pain, no dizziness, and there was no blood. Success! I know it seems like, when people write that it didn't hurt people have a hard time believing it. But the fact is, it sounds and looks a hell of a lot worse than it feels.
There was tugging and a little twisting and the 16ga surgical steel barbell was a part of me. It was in my skin forever, or so I thought.
Well the joy lasted, well not to long. This is where everyone should pay attention!!
It got hit by everyone and everything. It was poked by friends, abused by siblings throwing various items at the cranial region, my best friends hair getting wrapped around it, and pulled terribly by clothing, combs and terribly well, fucked up, by the plucking of the eyebrows. Everything hurt it. Eventually it began to heal forward; there was a mass of scar tissue behind it forcing the piercing forward. It was healing terribly, it was simply gross looking and not what I wanted. It was the worst possible scenario, and no amount of sea-salt could fix what I screwed up.
So one day I went into my parlor, Big Joe and Sons, and I saw a female piercer, (not mine) and I had her look at it. She looked for a few moments and said, "Oh yeah, this' gotta come out."
"WHAT!?" I more than half expected it, but it was still sorrowful news. So she escorted me to the room that gave me this, and stole it right from me. She removed the piercing, with great ease. There was a slow trickle of blood and a funny, lonely, empty feeling. Something was so missing, and even though I only had it for two or three months it was a huge part of me. Like extra makeup. And when I got home I almost cried. I looked into the mirror at the hole left on either side of my brow, and the scab of blood, the only reminder of a great experience. She said, two weeks for it to heal and I could come right back.
That's where the lesson is, taking care of your piercing and being extra careful is so important. It is so tender and you really need to be sure that you're doing everything right if you want it to last. Ha, my mistake.
4 MONTHS LATER
Everyday my ex-piercing healed better and better, the scar barely visible after two months. All my friends asking when I was getting it redone. The only thing standing in my way was the cash. I didn't have it and that's all. I got a new bed for Christmas and that was basically it. I didn't even bother asking for the cash for a new piercing, because it just wasn't the time for that.
Well, then, my boyfriend, Mike, (yes the same one from last year), said, he had a surprise for me. At this time, about a week before, I had started a fund, the Julia Needs To Get Her Eyebrow Re-pierced Fund. I shoveled snow, and did my sisters homework for cash, Mike gave me a dollar and so did my brother. I had about 12 dollars and on the day that Mike had my surprise.
So he came over, it was Monday, January 19 2004, only a few days ago. And we had to wait for my mom to come home, because "We needed a ride and it is too cold to walk." Hm, honestly had no clue what the surprise was. But all and all, that time came and I was told to keep my eyes closed the whole ride. So I did, I basically knew where we were the whole time because I know my city that well. Ha.
Finally, we get to the street that Big Joe's is on and I put it together. He was paying for me to get my eyebrow re-pierced! I was really excited and nervous.
The time came, the piercer came in, the same guy who pierced my eyebrow the first time. Cool. Stupid me wanted it in the same place, exactly. And he had to go through the scar tissue. Well I didn't realize that would be a problem, but oh it was.
So he marked it, he said he'd have to go "farther back" than it was last time, I said okay, and it looked really perfect. Better than before. So I'm not nervous at all, expecting to be just like it was last time. But was I wrong.
So the clamp blah, blah, whatever. Then the needle, okay, not scared of that, but it went halfway smoothly, then it just stopped, right in the middle of my skin. Apparently he hit a web of scar tissue, which was a lot tougher than regular skin. He said he didn't want to just shove it because it was so close to my eye.
The feeling was a numbing feeling, not really pain, kind of pushing and tugging, and my face felt hot. My ears began ringing and I felt tired. I was little nauseous, but I didn't cry nor did I throw up. After all was said and done, I drank some water, the barbell was in and it bled a ton. He cleaned it up, very nicely, and he walked me to sit down. I didn't need it though. I was perfectly capable. I walked back to the car and looked at it in the rear-view mirror. It was coated in blood. But I loved it. And the weird ass feeling was totally worth it.
Well now, it looks really good. The swelling went down, and it's looking good. I'm so happy with it and it's in perfect place.
The best lesson anyone can learn is do it right the first time, and you won't have to suffer through a abnormal feeling while being pierced through a big layer of scar tissue. =D Thanks for listening! And be safe, and love it.