I turned 18 three months ago, and I'd been dying for a piercing. I have 4 lobe piercings, 2g & 14g, as well as a 14g upper-ear piercing, but those just didn't seem like enough. Two years ago I had my eyebrow pierced, but it unfortunately rejected, so I decided that it was time to try something new.
At A Glance Author fadeinxscene Contact fadeinxscene@aim.com When It just happened Artist James Studio Art & Soul Location Kalamazoo, MI My friend Bianca and I were sitting in Stats class, and I mentioned to her that I wanted to get my nipples pierced that night. It was something that I'd been really interested in for a while, and just had a sudden urge to finally do all of a sudden. I asked her to come with me, and she agreed, saying she might get something pierced herself.
The end of the school day came, and we went to the bank, cashed my paycheck, and headed downtown. I had gotten my eyebrow pierced at Old Anchor, but they only use rings for initial piercings, and I wanted bars, so I did some research to find out where to go. I had heard great things about Art & Soul Tattoo, so I decided to try it out.
We entered the shop and luckily there it wasn't too busy, most likely because it was a Thursday afternoon. Bianca decided on an industrial piercing in her ear, so we filled out the consent forms, and waited anxiously. I still couldn't believe that I was finally going through with this.
James, the piercer, was downstairs in the piercing studio helping someone with her stretched lobes, so we stayed in the tattoo area and talked with the other artists that were there. They were all really friendly and the conversation helped ease some of my nerves. Before I knew it it was time to head downtstairs.
The piercing studio was newly redone, and reminded me of day spa. Everything was clean and tidy - the lights weren't harsh and the walls were a soothing color - just the atmosphere alone was unlike any piercing shop I'd been in before.
I deciced to go first, excited to finally get them pierced. While James prepped everything, I stripped down. He made me feel really comfortable - I don't really have an issue showing my chest to someone, but it's still nice that he was so professional. He cleaned the nipples and marked them, and then it was time to actually pierce them.
I laid down on the table/bed, and grabbed Bianca's hand. He put the clamps on, and told me to breath in through my nose and out through my mouth. I shut my eyes, focused on my breathing, and the first needle was put through. I squeezed my friends hand like crazy, and she squeezed back just from watching the procedure - it wasn't as bad as I expected, but for that split second it definitely hurt. I could feel the pain in my elbow, but I knew that it would be worth it.
Thankfully James quickly moved on to the next one, while reminding me to continue breathing. With another quick movement the second needle was in. Unfortunately, the discomfort wasn't quite over - putting in the jewelry wasn't quite a party either, but when Bianca stated that they looked really good, I didn't care about the pain anymore.
It was over in less than two minutes, and I laid there for about another minute until I got up to see the end result, and I was more than pleased. The barbells had to be slightly long to allow for swelling, but it still looked fantastic. I've always liked my chest, but the piercings made it look ten times better.
Bianca got her industrial pierced, which looked great, then James explained the aftercare, I left a fairly substantial tip in his jar, and we were on our way. All in all, I am extremely happy with the way things went. It's been about a day and a half, and the piercings are healing nicely. I've been doing sea-salt soaks three times a day, as well as washing with an anti-bacterial soap in the shower. Despite some very slight bleeding in the left nipple right after the piercing, there hasn't been any discharge or crusties. I was slightly sore yesterday, but last night I slept great and today I can barely feel any discomfort at all.
Art & Soul is a fantastic shop. They were all so friendly, welcoming and professional. Each piercing is $35 separately, $45 for an industrial, and $60 for both nipples. Anybody in the Southwest Michigan area should check it out, for piercings or tattoos. I am definitely going there again for any further body mods. I can't wait to go back in to change the jewelry to shorter bars, and let James know how fantastic he is.