Since September, I've had only 9 piercings. It's something that's bothered me, simply because I wanted to have my piercings in the double digits but I couldn't think of anything else to do. I had just gotten my nose pierced and I had a bunch of piercings in my ears, but I wanted something a little more uncommon among my peers. Also, since I'm in a sorority, and almost every girl I know has her nose and belly button pierced, I wanted to be different.
At A Glance Author Andrea Contact Andrea@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Scott Studio Tattoo Blue Location Macomb, IL I knew that the only way I would actually go through with the piercing was to tell all my friends about it in advance so they would make me go. I didn't want to back out at the last minute, because I knew I would regret it. So when I got out of class at 3 PM, I called up my friend Jill and drove the 30 minutes from my school, Monmouth College in Monmouth, IL, to Macomb. I chose to go to Tattoo Blue because they did my last 3 piercings and I knew they were sanitary, and very good at what they did.
When I pulled up in front of the tattered black doors to the tattoo parlor, I was a nervous wreck. I didn't care so much about the pain because I have my tragus and my industrial done so I knew all about how painful a piercing could be. No, I was more scared about something else: my mother. My mom is usually pretty cool about everything, and she's the one who has encouraged my last few piercings. But when I came home last time with piercings 7-9, she told me, repeatedly, that I was not to get any more piercings. But my best friend Stacey had her eyebrow done and I wanted something kind of different from my friends, I knew I had to go through with it, regardless of my mother. Besides, it's my body and my money, right?
So anyways, I went inside, and I was not surprised to see a small crowd gathered. Fortunately, the guys who work there recognized me and I was kind of ushered ahead. I filled out the forms, and picked out the barbell, since I did not want to be pierced with a hoop. I settled on a 16 gauge pink titanium barbell, because I have hyper-sensitive skin and I knew that titanium was the only thing I could handle. Also, I'm still a girl at heart, and I thought the pink one was cute (so sue me).
The piercer, Scott, took my into the back room and set up to do the work. I was pleased to see him taking all the instruments out of plastic packaging because I knew it was all sanitary. He took a small pen and marked on my eyebrow where he was going to pierced, and then he gave me a mirror so I could approve of it. By this time, my usual pre-piercing nerves had kicked it and I was a little shaky. My palms were sweating like mad. He told me I could close my eyes if I wanted to, but I'm one of those people who has to watch the needle go in, so I kept them open. He took the clamp and put it on my eyebrow (which hurt almost as much as the piercing) and told me to breathe in and then out, and then in again. He pushed the needle through and for a split second, it hurt like mad, and then it settled into a kind of warm throbbing feeling. I barely felt anything because as soon as he did it, I had a huge rush of adrenaline that lasted almost all night.
He put the barbell in, and tightened the ball at the end. He handed me a mirror and I was so happy with what I saw: it looked amazing! It was small and perfect on me. The best part was it wasn't even red or anything. My friends all said it looked like I had had it done a long time ago, instead of five minutes ago. He told me about the obligatory after-care instructions, and also warned me that it could bruise a little bit (and it has a tiny bit but you can't even see it unless my eye is closed). It didn't bleed at all, and after about 10 minutes, I completely forgot it was there.
For the most part, it has been problem-free. The only time I feel pain is when I accidentally snag it with my hand, but then it's only a quick shock of pain and then it's gone. Everyone who has seen it thinks it looks amazing, even my friends who told me that I looked terrible with piercings. None of my other friends have this done, with the exception of my friend Stacey, and I am absolutely in love with it. It really adds something to my face...it actually accentuates my eyes and really brings attention to them. I do not have one single regret about getting this done. My friends tried to scare me away with myths of migration and having it come out through the skin, but the guys at Tattoo Blue informed me that as long as I take care of it and use good jewelry, I shouldn't have any problems. One of the guys I talked to has had his for 9 years!
So that's my story of finally getting piercing #10. Unfortunately, now I'm addicted even more than before, and I'm looking to get up to 15 piercings now! Oh well...you're only young once, right?