I remember it was 1995 when I first saw someone with an eyebrow piercing. It was a girl at my college, and I remember seeing it in passing. Honestly, at the time, I was like, "How could someone do that to themselves?" and "Man, that looks painful!" But as time went on, it sprouted a seed of longing in my and my best friend's, E., minds, and soon we began talking about actually getting our eyebrows pierced. However, issues at the time were that A.) Neither of us had the money to get it done at the time, B.) We were both afraid of the pain, and C.) We were both going to be graduating college (her, very soon, and me, in another year), and we were both concerned what that would do for our chances of landing decent jobs after the fact. Not to mention at the time, I had very short hair at the time, and I wouldn't be able to hide it from my parents. So, eyebrow piercing got put on the back burner for about a year or so.
At A Glance Author bookitty13 Contact bookitty13@bme.anon When N/A Artist Adam? Studio Pleasurable Piercings Location Hawthorne, NJ Well, a year did pass, and my friend had left school (not because she graduated, but because of personal circumstances at the time), and I had graduated college. My hair had finally grown long enough to the point where it could cover an eyebrow piercing, my friend and I both had jobs (nothing professional at the time, but just something to earn money to pay bills and having spending money), so money wasn't really an issue anymore, and just didn't care about the job situation at that point. Now, came the part where we had to get over our fear of the pain. We both decided we were going to for it, and decided on October 11, 1997, a Saturday. Luckily, I had heard of a place called Pleasurable Piercings, and had also heard good things about them on the radio (thank you, WSOU, Seton Hall's Pirate Radio). They sounded very reputable, so I told E. that the plan was that I would pick her up from the Bronx (she had moved in with her boyfriend by this time, and that's where they lived), and I would drive us to Pleasurable Piercings to get our eyebrows done.
Saturday came, and all systems go. The drive to the Bronx went without a hitch, I picked up E., and we set up for Pleasurable. It's probably about 20 miles from the Bronx, and we made good time. Problem was I knew which exit to get off at, but once we were off the exit, I had no idea where we were going (no Internet access or Mapquest for me at that time), or what the address for the place was. Needless to say E. wasn't pleased, but however, I feel I have a good sense of direction, so I just followed my instincts. I didn't do too bad, but E. insisted that I call information from my (ancient) cell phone, call Pleasurable, and get the address/directions from them. I did, and discovered we were only off by a block. We drove past it about 12 times trying to find a parking spot, and I think we ended up parking down the street.
And now here comes the being really nervous part. We walk into the place, look around (E. was like, "Oh, my God! I can't believe we're doing this!"), and then the girl behind the counter asked if she could help us. We tell her we both want our eyebrows pierced, she gives us the forms to fill out, photocopies our ID's, tells us to pick our jewelry, takes our money, and tells us to have a seat. We sit down, and a girl came out of the piercing room with a fresh eyebrow piercing. E. got the jitters, and asked her, "Oh, my God, did it hurt?" The girl replied, "It wasn't that bad." But still we were nervous as hell waiting!
Finally, they called us into this purple room with a purple dentist-type chair in it. The piercer (who I think was named Adam, it was seven years ago, difficult to remember at this point) asked which one of us was going first. Right away, E., and I start arguing, "No, you go first!", "No, you!"...blah, blah, blah. Finally, E. said she would go first. E. sat down in the chair, Adam(?) asked which eyebrow she wanted it in, and she said the left one. He made two marks in the area with a felt-tip pen, put on his gloves, sterilized the needle and the jewelry, and told E. to take a deep breath. I think this made her even more nervous, so I grabbed her hand, and she actually screamed, "OUCH!" when the needle went through. Needle came out, jewelry went in, and she was done just like that. Adam gave her a mirror to check out her new piercing, and she got a little freaked out when she saw it was bleeding a little bit. Adam said this was normal, and not to worry.
Then I realized it was my turn, and that there was no turning back now. Adam cleaned and sterilized the area, and told me to hop in the chair. I did, and I got way nervous. E. grabbed my hand, Adam cleaned my (right) eyebrow, made the marks, and told me to take a deep breath. Well, I think E.'s nervousness was contagious, and I felt this really really sharp pinch in the corner of my face. I remember screaming, "MOTHERF*CKER!" I think it hurt because I was nervous more than anything. Apparently, my piercing went through cleanly because I didn't bleed at all, and E. started bitching at Adam about that. She kept saying, "Hers didn't bleed!", and he kept saying, "Not my eyebrow" (whatever the hell that means). I just said, "E., let's go." I think I just wanted to get her out of there asap, so I don't think I tipped the poor guy. However, the next time I went back (for my navel ring 2 months later) I did, but that's another story.
So, there you have it: The story of two twenty-something chicks getting their eyebrows pierced together. An 18 g silver ring for me, and an 18 g blue niobium ring for E. E.'s mother was not happy with hers, and I actually managed to hide mine from folks for a few months until they saw it peeking through my hair. They weren't happy about it either, along with everyone else in my family (they're all pretty conservative), but they just learned to ignore it after awhile. E.'s ring didn't last very long, as she went back to school for a teaching degree, and she didn't think it would be appropriate for a teacher to have a noticeable piercing like that. Plus, she hated trying to sleep with in and everything. I kept mine in for almost 5 years, and took it out because I didn't think it was appropriate anymore either (despite the fact I had gotten hired in a professional job even with it in that the time). Three years later, I still have the scar (holes?) from it, and I don't regret it one bit. It was a great and fun experience, and I am so happy to have shared it with my best friend of now almost 11 years. It reminds me of how nutty I can be, and that I'm not afraid to be different (even at the ripe old age of 30). I say if you want your eyebrow pierced, just go for it.
Thanks for reading my story. I have a couple more stories to share, but those are for another day. TTFN. :-)