Ever since I can remember, I've wanted shiny bits of metal stuck through random parts of my body. I believe the obsession started at age seven, when I *had* to have my ears pierced. Then I became enamoured with the Spice Girls, and have, since then, wanted my tongue pierced. Eyebrow, nostril, septum, and various ear piercings are also on my list of wants.
At A Glance Author Devil's Advocate Contact Devil's Advocate@bme.anon When Three months ago Artist Mandy Studio Division Tattoo Location Madison Heights, Michigan
Like a lot of parents, my parents are not great fans of visible piercings, and have threatened to cut off money/food if I get anything pierced, thus the tongue/eyebrow/nostril/ear project must wait until I am out of the house. However, nipple piercings are not visible, at least not to anyone except my close friends and boyfriend. So, being 18, I decided that going to get them done would be fun.
Once I had sufficient funds (i.e. had taken on waaaaay too many odd jobs of baby sitting and not been out in a month), I drove down to 12 mile with my best friend there for moral support. While I loved the idea of nipple piercings because a) they are shiny and b) I have nice boobs, I am a bit of a chicken sometimes. I filled out the paper work, gave them my ID to copy, and then sat, and waited the half hour while Mandy finished off her previous client, whom she was tattooing in an adjoining room.
When I'm nervous, I have a tendency not to be able to sit still, due to the fact that I cannot deal with nervous energy. So, I looked around the place. It was incredibly clean without being intimidating like a hospital, with bright paint on the wall (red) and various artwork by the tattoo artists on the wall. There was also some jewellery on display, but not a lot, since it is primarily a tattoo place.
Once Mandy was ready to pierce me, she took my friend and me back into the piercing room, which had its own screen door and a very nice and clean air about it. It *smelled* clean, if you know what I mean. She carefully explained exactly what she was going to do, explaining that everything was new except the clamps, which were autoclaved and in their own little baggy. She let me look at the bags and explained how I could tell if the stuff inside them was sterilized (by looking at the little line and the colour it had turned). Then she marked the dots on my nipples with one of those cool purple pens and threw it away immediately. She then asked me if the positioning was good, which it was.
Then time for the big moment. She clamped my left nipple, told me to breath in, breath out, breath in, breath out—then pierced. I have to say, I didn't feel the first one. She slid the cbr in, no problem, then moved on to the second one. The second one, same deal. But this one hurt more. I think because my adrenaline had sort of worn down. However, it was over quickly, and soon enough I found myself paying her and tipping her also, buying aftercare and driving home.
The road...ow. It was so bumpy, because it's Michigan, and I accidentally went through a red light because it hurt so much -_-. But keeping up with the cleaning helped sooth it, especially when I got back to my friend's house that evening and washed it with H2Ocean spray, which worked wonderfully. Bleeding was minimal throughout the healing period, except when the cbr got caught on my bra while I was reading in bed and tugged a crusty through the piercing, cutting it and causing a whole load of blood to leak all over my tshirt, which I threw away so as not to alert my mother to the fact that I had a piercing. Other than that, however, the piercings have been brilliant healing, just getting a little pissed when knocked by my boobs being large and tending to hit things. XD
That was around 3 months ago, and I couldn't be happier with my shiny nipple piercings. I have changed the jewellery from cbrs to straight barbells, because they are less likely to get stuck on my bra/shirt. However, despite the slight trickiness of the cbrs, I love them, and wouldn't give them up for the world! XD
That's it really. I love my piercings, and am totally going to recommend Mandy to anyone in Michigan who wants work done. I still get happy when I see them in the mirror, and I love looking at them, and having my boyfriend play with them ;-). Of course, I still have a long way to go before I get all the shiny material I want in my body, but I'll be updating here as soon as I do. ^__^