Since the beginning of my mod addiction, there's one piercing that I've held more disdain for than all others: The Navel. I had a heavy dislike for them, not because they were any less of a mod than anything else, but because every mother, daughter, middle school, high school, college age girl has one. Of course, I thought they were cute! What a nice little decoration to have right in your line of sight every morning! However, I refused to be swayed by this devilish cliché of pop culture!
At A Glance Author RabidKitten Contact RabidKitten@bme.anon IAM RabidKitten When A week ago Artist Jeff Studio Big O Tattoo Location Lincoln, NE It's funny how things change sometimes.
You'd be surprised that the thing that finally clinched my already resented desire for a navel was the entry under Brittany piercing in the Encyclopedia. I read it, thinking it would be something clever like a Christina or an Ashley piercing, but alas, I found myself mortified that the popularization of the standard navel piercing was being credited to the bane of our society! That was it for me; I had to have one! I had to stand up and fight the man! I had to do something, and I figured that someone like me having one had to take away (albeit, just a tiny little bit) from the pop culture fervor that was whipping around the navel.
Although the decision to get it done was a bit hasty, I wasn't about to let it detour me from running right into Big O to get myself pierced. I was trying to think the whole time about what to get done...what could I do with my navel to make it different? To distinguish myself from every other girl in the United States (as if I needed something ELSE)...and there it was...a bigger gauge! I thought it was brilliant! Subtle, I thought, yet classy. I have a funny way of talking myself into things.
We got to Big O and watch Jeff finish up with the ink he was doing. My roommate, who had just turned 18, was getting her tongue pierced, which made it a convenient trip for me since I would have had to be there to hold her hand anyway. He quickly did her tongue without any incident and hollered at me to get in the chair. He asked me what I wanted...he was speaking of jewelry, because he was assuming I wanted a 14g. I told him I wanted a 12g piercing with a barbell if he had one. He looked at me in shock...he probably had never done anything but a 14g in our tiny little college town. He informed me that he didn't have any jewelry for a 12g in a CBR or a barbell. I told him that was fine, did he have any in a 10g. Again, there was that deer-in-the-headlights look of shock. "You want me to pierce your navel with a 10?!" "Yes, please!" My cheesy grin smacked right across my face. He shook his head at me and laughed, "you're crazy, but f*#$ing alright, let's do it!"
Everything was already autoclaved, and he'd already put on a new pair of gloves. He grabbed his marking materials and had me stand up in front of him while he dropped to his knees (I seem to have had that effect on piercers lately!) and marked my navel. I stood in front of the mirror, inspecting it carefully without really knowing what to look for. The only thing I knew was that I wanted it deep, because my fear of rejection and the reputation that healing navels had with my friends, I wanted the fewest challenges possible during the healing process. It seemed adequately deep and it was centered very well so I gave it the go ahead and hopped back into the chair. I reclined, and he raised me up so he had the leverage he needed. He cleaned the area, lubricated the needle and clamped me (the most annoying part of a piercing). He readied himself, needle heading from feet to head. He started me with my breathing, and on my first exhale the needle slid through. "Damn," I said. "That stung!" Jeff giggled at me. "Yeah, dude, that's what happens when you pierce at a high gauge!" He dabbed of the blood and the cleaning solution and had me go inspect my new piercing. I got a lot of cools, that-looks-great's and awesome's from my usual piercing attendees (yes, we're each others fan clubs) and I found myself pleasantly surprised at how well the CBR fit in with my stomach. I raised my shirt a bit higher to see how it looked combined with my sternum tat and I got giddy!
We got out of the room and Jeff asked me what my standard aftercare procedure was and I told him it usually consisted of a few days of babying with Silk Anti-microbial soap and Bactine (not so much anymore) and then I just leave them alone to do their thing. He told me that was fine.
My only issue thus far has been how uncomfortable it is to wear pants that are within three inches of my navel. The have a tendency to rub, bump, and catch, which has made the piercing a bit irritated. I'm seeing the first signs of migration, but nothing I'm too worried about. I've also found myself being annoyed at the lack of 10g navel jewelry there is. I wanted something cute! Maybe I wanted a little dangly cherry, or a dolphin (I'm kidding!), but to no avail.
Overall, I'm happy with my new Brittn...*cough*...navel piercing and plan on getting two more off center on the top of my navel in the near future in a smaller gauge (14, no doubt). Don't tell anyone this, either, but I really don't mind Brittney Spears that much...