If you want a piercing done right, go to Lucky's in Northampton, Mass. I've got to say Penelope is the best piercer I've ever had. I live in Albany, NY and I'll drive two hours for a piercing done right. I found them through a search of the best piercing shops in the Northampton area.
At A Glance Author Janet When Three months ago Artist Penelope Studio Lucky's Location Northampton, MA When you walk into Lucky's you'll see the shop - stocked with lots of awesome-ly unusual kitch and clothing. Most likely you'll see Penelope there talking with customers about anything. You can definitely tell she LOVES what she does. And it makes you really want her to pierce you.
I called Lucky's the night before to ask if they did surface piercings. I first got the idea for it searching on BME for something new. I couldn't get the thought out of my head. It looked better than anything I had ever seen. But the risk of rejection was high. And I wasn't about to trust any of the over priced and not-so-sanitary places in Albany to perform a surface piercing on me. Luckily, surface piercings just happen to be Penelope's specialty! So it was pretty clear that Lucky's was the place to go.
When I got my nape I had a selection of jewelry. They're one of the only shops in the northeast that has flat discs instead of balls to put on your surface piercing. It's not only cool looking, getting flats put on also kept my hair from getting caught around the posts.
Once you've decided what kind of piercing you want, (And it's really easy - they're all incredibly affordable) Penelope will go and prep her room. And she's always consistent with hygiene. Every time I walk in there, she reminds you not to touch any of the counters to prevent contamination. She gives you the usual talk about care, but it's good to have someone do that every time, and not just assume you remember everything from your last piercing. When you walk in her room, you'll see framed papers on the wall with Penelope's various certifications. She's also a member of the Association of Professional Piercers. That really puts me at ease.
Now down to the actual piercing. I had to straddle the chair so Penelope could get to my neck. She first massages your neck to loosen up the skin. Now this is no pleasure massage. She really works your skin to loosen it up. I honestly thought that the massage was the worst and most painful part of the piercing. Then I was clamped. And in went the needle! Getting pierced has got to be one of the best feelings in the world. There was an initial flash of pain, but it was so mild, it barely hurt. A lot of people think that a nape is incredibly painful, but honestly, getting my ears pierced hurt more. I bled for a few minutes after the piercing, and walked around the store part of Lucky's to look at their merch. After looking for a few minutes, Penelope came up to me to clean me up a little. Evidently I was bleeding, and it made the owner really squemish!
Once I got home, I wore my hair up. Partly to keep my hair from getting tangled in it, and mainly to show it off and let people stare at it. I got a wide mix of responses from everyone. A lot of people called me crazy, and a couple liked it. I even took one of my friends to get hers do ne a month later. It's such a well done piercing, it looks like two implants, because Penelope went under my skin enough to let only the disks of my piercing show. I love it more than any other nape I've seen anyone else do. Every other nape I've seen has had the sides poking out of it, so the piercing just looked loose. This nape is amazing!
For aftercare, I used a combination of anti-bacterial soap, sea salt soaks, and tea tree oil. I used the anti-bacterial soap in the shower in the morning, and soaked the piercing with sea salt at night. I'd also put on tea tree oil (a natural antiseptic) about once a day, as I'm a slow healer, and this definitely helped speed up the healing process. Tea tree oil smells kind of like extra smelly eucalyptus, and the smell lasts a loooong time, but the smell is well worth the trade off - a quickly healed piercing!
My total cost for the piercing was $50 for the bar (more expensive because they're made for surface piercings) and $20 for the piercing. $70 for a surface piercing! I've paid a lot more for navel rings in Albany, and Lucky's doesn't cheap out on anything like some less reputable stores may be. At Lucky's you get the best piercing for the best price. And it'll heal up just fine too!