I've been interested in body piercing for as long as I can remember. When I discovered that there was so many more ways in which to modify the body... I was enchanted! I did so much research and wanted to know everything. When I told my parents about my growing interest and my plans to become a body artist they were not too happy, and told me I wasn't getting anything done off the ear until I was 16. My school was also pretty uptight and even had problems with my lobe piercing! I knew I wasn't going to be getting any mods soon, so I devoted the time to learning all I could, and improving the few piercings I had. I've got a 10mm stretching on my left lobe, a lobe to anti-tragus orbital and low cartilage orbital on my right...and now that I'm 16... I'm a free canvas.
At A Glance Author Nikki Contact Nikki@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Dave Studio Under The Skin Location Aldershot, England The weeks leading up to my 16th birthday were spent trying to decide what piercing to get first. I've always wanted my bridge pierced, and that originally was going to be my first. A lot of people were trying to discourage me, telling me it would ruin my face and scare people away! This had no effect on my decision not to have my bridge pierced yet, I knew that whatever I chose to modify was for my own personal happiness, and the opinion of others was quite irrelevant. I have no doubt that my bridge will feel a needle at some point, but now wasn't the time. I finally decided on getting double vertical eyebrow piercings. This was the plan up until about a week before my birthday, when I changed my mind to a horizontal eyebrow. I thought it was a little more different from a standard brow, but still simple enough for a first piercing. My birthday came and went and I had received my parents blessing to be pierced and had left school to the wide world. This fact still hasn't su nk in. I'm sure that pleasant event is awaiting me.
After three failed attempts to get to the piercing studio ( I live in quite small town so travelling can be difficult) I found myself strolling up towards Under The Skin with my amazing Hana by my side, who was contemplating getting her septum pierced. Dave was standing outside talking to some previous customers, I said hello and proceeded down the stairs to the studio. I love the way Under The Skin smells like a hospital! You can tell immediately how clean it is, and the staff really care about you, rather than just wanting to pierce as many people as they can in one day...unlike a few sorry studios I've checked out.
I was so unbelievably excited! I couldn't stop smiling! Finally after all these years I could improve my body! It made me laugh when I told Dave what I wanted and he said "Whoa, that's different!" Hana decided to go ahead with the septum piercing and Dave laughed and said he was glad we didn't both want navels!
After we'd filled out the form ect we made our way into the piercing room. I wanted to go first, showed Dave where I actually wanted the piercing and took my position on the chair. Dave cleaned the area and sprayed on some cold spray, which I can honestly say was the painfullest part of it all, because it was a nasty sharp cold sensation! I could feel him prodding with the needle and the pressure he used to push the needle through, I heard a small popping noise, but no uncomfortable pain. I couldn't help smiling looking up to see the white of the cannula above me! I felt a sort of sting when the cannula was removed.. And it was all over! I ran to the mirror and grinned at the two little silver balls grinning back at me! He was exactly how I'd imagine him to look! Dave gave me some tissue to push against it to stop the small amount of blood. I then went to hold Hana's hand, she was so brave and her septum looks mighty sexy!
For a few hours afterwards I could feel a dull kind of ache and the area swelled a little bit, but once I'd got home and out with friends I'd forgotten all about it! I was pretty impressed, the swelling completely went down by the end of the day and the area was only slightly red. I had no trouble at all sleeping, and found I could lie in any of my normal positions without any problems. I've only caught it a couple of times while rubbing my eyes, and once on my hair straightners, but that's my own careless fault! I think being horizontal makes it harder to catch, which is a bonus. Its been pierced for 4 days now and has started to heal very nicely. I'm using salt water solution to clean it once a day, I don't want to go over board with excessive cleaning! I'd recommend this piercing to anyone, its simple enough to reach and look after, so it's a perfect first piercing with a bit of creativity.
I'm now currently looking for inspiration for my next piercing, and designs for some scarification at some point in the future. I'm not intending on completely covering myself with mods, but I know that a few well placed piercings and scarification will complete my body perfectly.
Thank you for reading.