I had just received my summer-job pay-cheque, and decided I wanted some piercings. I'll admit, the only reason I wanted one was cause it looked cool on others (stupid reason). But luckily, it all worked out for me.
At A Glance Author The Holey One Contact The Holey One@bme.anon When Six months ago Artist Bear Studio Sacred Heart Location Vancouver, BC At the time, I only had six gunned lobe piercings so I was terrified at the thought of pain. I had butterflies in my stomach from just booking the appointment!
I decided to go with something non-complicated because it was my first piercing (I also chose a lip piercing, but that's (literally) a different story). After looking at different shops' websites, I finally decided on Sacred Heart and booked the appointment.
I was meeting up with another pierced buddy for support. If it weren't for the fact that she was waiting, I would have hopped off the bus and went back home. I had butterflies in my stomach the entire time. After heading downtown and transferring buses, I found that I was early by half an hour. I walked around Davie Street and found things to amuse myself with. I figured I should drink so I bought some water and then headed off to the shop.
When I arrived, I was still 15 minutes early. I looked at the tattoo flashes and heard "You're already thinking about getting tattooed?" by the friend I was meeting up with. Then I was "greeted" by the counter person (in a forced manner), and was asked to pick a gauge. Being a newbie piercee, I had no clue if 14 gauge or 16 would be better for an eyebrow piercing. I asked and she reluctantly answered, "....doesn't really matter......" I paid and then met my piercer and headed into the piercing room.
As luck would have it, I had Bear as my piercer. I had heard marvelous things about him before.
After reviewing aftercare, bruising and such, he also mentioned that he would be using his hands, instead of a clamp. Then he started cleaning the area and marking it. "Hmm.. You're the funny one, aren't ya?" Jeez, way to make me feel even more nervous. My eyebrows don't have a prominent ridge (or whatever you'd like to call it) sticking out. It basically looks like all flesh, and no bone underneath. After a bit of fiddling, we found a position we liked and then I laid down. Then he started having me breath deeply. "Breathe in.... breath out.... Breathe in... breathe out. I want you to think of a haaaaaaaappy place... relax. Breathe in.... breathe out." He has a really deep, relaxing voice so it was much easier on me. After what seemed like ages, the moment finally came. Talking in a deep voice, he slowly mentioned that he had the tip of the needle against my skin. I got nervous and held my breath, despite what he was telling me to do. "Breathe in....."
"That was it!??!", I said. I barely even felt it. I had felt the needle resting against my eyebrow, and a bit of pressure (I think it was from his fingers) and then the jewelry going in. I can honestly say that my lobe piercings hurt more than it. Heck, even a pinch on the eyebrow hurts more than having mine pierced.
After my piercings were done, I felt a huge rush. I mumbled something about being so happy, nervous before coming and thanking him again and again. He replied with a "Hmmm???" so I suppose he had no clue what I was mumbling on about. After tipping him $15, I was on my merry way.
It's been six months since I got it and I've been very happy with it. Aftercare was a breeze. The only bad thing was that the CBR got caught when I changed but after I switched to a curved barbell, I was a happy camper. I used a q-tip to clean the crusties off, lathered up some Jergen's gentle soap and rotated the jewelry twice a day. I barely did salt soaks as I found it uncomfortable to soak the piercing for more than a minute. Being the dufus I am, I slacked on aftercare for a while these past months but other than some minor "crusties", everything has been great.
This piercing is still one of my favorites and led to me getting many more. After my first piercing experience, my confidence has gone way up and as cliché-ish as this sounds, it helped me discover who I am. I don't blend/fit in anymore, and that's the way I like it. This little piercing helped me find other modified people and I even started not-hating (actually, I LOVE most of them now) some piercings that I once saw as ugly. It's all gorgeous to me now.
I definitely recommend this to anyone considering an eyebrow piercing (and even more so if you are afraid of pain, like I once was).