So, I've been thinking about this for awhile. Really, I have. I had an eyebrow piercing done in Kansas City, where I'm from, and had to take it out for work, and I knew I wanted another piercing, but something different. After moving to Florida to attend Full Sail and was no longer working somewhere I couldn't have a facial piercing, I decided now was the perfect time.
At A Glance Author Ashlee Contact forever.heartbreak@yahoo.com When It just happened Artist Junior Studio Scratch the Surface Location 6550 International Drive, Orlando, FL I drove down there in the afternoon, which was a bad idea because traffic was horrible. Well, probably typical for I-4 W at about 4:00pm on a Thursday, but very congested for the Kansas City girl. After arriving at the location at about 5:15 or so, I was promptly greeted at the door by one of the artists who must have been going out on break. That was the first of a few surprises.
After getting inside, I was then greeted again by a man at the counter who was very helpful. Their piercer would be there in about five minutes, there was a man ahead of me for a jewelry change, so we would go ahead and get the paperwork done and I purchased the H2Ocean solution they recommended. I've had luck in the past with in-studio purchases in the past so I figured this one was worth a shot, too. After filling out the paperwork and paying for the mouthwash and the piercing, I waited around for the piercer to show up. I suppose he was probably out for dinner when the walk-ins showed up! Who knows. Anyhow, he was on his way.
Junior arrived and busied himself around for a bit. He went from the back to the front and then talked to the guy at the counter to see who was here for what and who was here first. Junior decided to take me first for whatever reason (surprise number 2!).
I was lead down a hallway that was marked off to the general public, and for good reason since the private rooms were down there. First things first, I rinsed out with a small cup of Listerine. I sat down on the bench/table thing (for lack of a better word) and he asked what size I wanted: 14g or 16g. I went for the 14g because it was smaller, then we discussed positioning. I wanted it not just below the lip, a little further down, but not very much. Just enough that it wasn't going to hit the bottom of my lip.
He washed his hands, put on gloves, and began unwrapping all of the equipment in front of me on a tray. Junior began to chat with me, asking me if I'd ever had a piercing before, and asked about my experience there. I told him about it, about how I'd been a little allergic to the jewelry, and had to take it out anyways because of my job. He then wiped off a bit of my skin under the lip, and carefully made a dot with a purple marker. I got up to the mirror to check it out. It was a little to the left, and he thought so, too, but had wanted my opinion. Junior wiped it off and made another dot, which was again too much to the left. He was trying to line it up with my nose. I was looking more at my lip and my teeth since I spent 10 years in braces, which he found very amusing (surprise number 3!). Junior made another dot, almost too much to the right since it was inline with my teeth, and we compromised on a place in between the two dots.
I sat down again, and he carefully put the foreceps on my lip, adjusting it a few times to get it just right. He pulled my lip down. Junior warned me it would hurt a bit, which I already knew about, and pushed the needle through. It almost felt a little hot for a second, but it didn't actually hurt. Junior threaded the jewelry through, and twisted the ball onto the end. We started joking around while he cleaned things up, about how women have higher pain thresholds than men do, and he's seen some men with really, really low pain thresholds. He said it was probably due to women being built that way, to have children and all, and men not so much. It was just something he'd noticed doing piercings. Junior made me wash out with watered-down Listerine. We continued chatting out to the lobby where we said goodbye and he took the other guy in for a jewelry change.
Overall, I was very pleased with this experience. I couldn't believe how friendly everyone was. The atmosphere of the place was very relaxed, and I, as a very shy person, had no problem walking in there and getting it done. Junior was very meticulous about what he was doing and made the effort to make sure he got it just right. I was very impressed with this location and I will definitely go back in the future, perhaps for a tattoo next time!