Facial piercing

amazing eyebrow experience

2010-02-10T07:15:00.007-08:00

Hey everybody. My name's Travis, and I'm 16 years old. For the last year and a half, I've wanted my eyebrow pierced with a passion. Both my parents were against it throughout that time. My mom never really gave me a reason, but my dad thought that I'd be treated differently (in a bad way) by basically everyone I'd ever meet because of it. I think the initial reason I wanted the piercing was as a source of independence and control of my own body, as I was molested by a close family member as a child. 3 months ago, my parents divorced, and I went through some rough times with my siblings and parents.

I was eventually sent to boarding school this September, and came back for Christmas break. I asked my dad if perhaps I could get my eyebrow done as a Christmas present, and he seemed extremely reluctant. A few days later, he told me I could get it done, with my own money thought and not as a Christmas present. He talked to my mom, and she approved reluctantly as well. The day of my piercing, my dad got into an argument with me over something trivial half an hour prior to my appointment at Anatomic, and told me I wasn't allowed to get it done anymore. I exploded at him, as I'd been waiting a year and a half for it and he used it as a carrot so I'd be "good" (AKA obedient) around him, then pulled it away at the last moment. 10 minutes later, he kicked me out of my house. Extremely upset, I went to my mom's house, who knew how upset I was, and gave me the money to go get my eyebrow done that night and so it'd get my mind off of things.

That night, I met up with my best friends Nick and Hermes downtown, and also Nick's friend Taylor. Taylor happened to be going to Next to get her right nipple pierced, and I thought I'd tag along and get my eyebrow done if the place was clean. Hermes gave us a ride there, then he and Nick went off for a bit while me and Taylor got our piercings done. The girl at the front had an assortment of piercings and was very nice when we were filling out our papers. Unfortunately, Taylor had no ID at all and I had the wrong ID, so they called both our parents to confirm. My mom picked up right away and said I was allowed to, while they couldn't get ahold of Taylor's parents. I picked out my jewelry, a 16 gauge barbell, and went into the back piercing room with my piercer and Taylor.

The piercer showed us their autoclaves and how clean everything there was, and then gave us our aftercare speech which took about 5 minutes. Taylor eventually got ahold of her parents and left to get hers done. I lay down on the padded table (kind of like a dentists table), and she washed her hands, put on gloves, and pulled out all her equipment. Everything was packaged individually and looked very sterile. Once everything was out, she changed her gloves again, and marked where she thought it would look best (I had decided on my left eyebrow) I looked in the mirror, and it looked like awesome placing on her behalf. She then pulled the clamps out of their package, and clamped around where I was to be pierced, and tied the clamps with an elastic band. She changed her gloves once more, and gave me some gauze that was lavender scented and told me to take a few breaths of it. I immediately relaxed with the scent of the lavender, and she removed the needle from it's package. She moved around the table to my left side, and told me to take a deep breath in, then out. I expected it to go in right away, but then she told me to take another deep breath in, then out. As I did, I thought that she'd ask me to do one more and pierce me on the third time around. As I'm thinking this, as I exhale, I felt a sharp pain, then it was gone and I felt a presence in my eyebrow. I was kind of surprised that it was done, and I asked "Are you done already?" She said "Yep, I just have to put the barbell in now." She put in the barbell, which didn't hurt but felt a little weird, cleaned the piercing, then put the tools into a drawer for used tools, and told me I was all done.

I went out front and found Hermes was in the front room, and he immediately told me it looked awesome. I looked in the mirror, and instantly was overjoyed. I went and bought the epsom salts and unscented Neutrogena soap from the front desk, they asked me if it was an enjoyable experience (to which I replied of course!) and we waited for Taylor to come out. After showing me her piercing, she bought her aftercare stuff and off we went in Hermes car. We ended up having a great night with our new piercings, and I love looking in the mirror every morning at it. I've had it for about 4 days now, and I found it only painful if I accidentally bang it (which has happened twice) and if I sleep on it. There were a few crusties on the third day, but I do two half hour Epsom salt soaks per day and clean it with the soap and q-tips every morning.

To anyone considering getting their eyebrow piercing done, I would totally suggest it. Mine cost $97 canadian, which is about $75 american. My only warning is that piercings are addictive, I was planning my labret the next morning, but I'm think piercing is a healthy method of self expression and body modification. Feel free to email me or add me to your MSN at clubberlang17@hotmail.com to ask specific questions about my experience or to see some pictures.

Coming of Age with a Bridge

2010-02-10T07:15:00.006-08:00

Since middle school I have wanted a bridge. I think I first saw it on my friend's poster plastered wall. I never told anyone that I wanted it, but secretly I longed for it. I drew (crappy) self portraits of my older self with that piercing and hid them from the world, but day by day my wish took seed and grew.

As time went by, my life changed in ways I could have never imagined. I was growing up and taking responsibility for my life. I was able to confront my mother and tell her that I no longer wished to live with her. That I wanted to move in with the man she hated above all others, my father. After a six month falling out with her, I was boarding a plane with my brothers headed away from mild Dallas and on to rainy Frankfurt, Germany for Christmas visitation.

That Christmas, instead of boarding the return flight to Dallas with my brothers I stayed behind to live out the remainder of my childhood in my childhood home. But it was different. The house itself was double the size, built for double the people. I now had a loving stepmother along with two (half)sisters.

Here, I finally had the freedom I had always wanted. The grass was definitely greener. Well, sort of. I had lived in Germany as a child, but it was hard after really growing up in the U.S. to adjust. Not just because my German sucked and I could barely utter an intelligible sentence without committing a major grammatical faux pas, but I had to learn how their school system worked and how to function in their culture.

Being an American in a small village in Germany was interesting, not only because my childhood friends were now Anti-americanists (better said anti-Bushists) but also coming to the painful realization that we had all grown and changed and were no longer best friends and not even good friends.

Luckily, adaptation has always been part of my life. Now I was the "crazy American chick" whereas in Texas I was the "crazy German chick" (you can also substitute Nazi for German). And I was about to get even more "crazy". I graduated from tenth grade and moved on to a new bigger and better school.

I found new friends and smarter friends. In the whirlwind of change I also joined a band, whilst all the while my 18th birthday was slowly creeping nearer. My wish was finally going to come to fruition. It was to be my symbolic coming of age ceremony. After all the familial turmoil and major life changes during the last 2 and Ѕ years of my childhood, it was going to be the squeezing of that horrible Mt. Vesuvius of a zit on your forehead the day before a big date. Yes, sweet satisfaction and vindication. (O.K. sorry about the gross metaphor, but don't tell me squeezing big huge zits and watching them explode isn't satisfying)

I wanted to get it done on my birthday, but unfortunately my birthday was on a Sunday, and in Germany everything except service stations and restaurants has to be closed on Sundays and holidays by law. So I went in to my favorite piercing place (I stretched my lobes with the aid of Julius) with a girlfriend and talked to Julius about it.

After the very undramatic beauracracy, I went into the little white room with the red leather evil dentist's chair. My friend had to stay outside during the procedure. Mainly because of space considerations. So Julius marked me up and prepped everything and asked me if I was ready. I so was. He put the clamp on and in went the needle. It felt sooooo cool. It felt as if cool water was flowing through my skin. All of sudden it was over and I was staring at two beautiful balls suspended between my eyes.

I was on a high. My life was finally mine. At least until I got on the train home. I hadn't told my parents that I had planned this for my birthday, so I was very nervous as to what they would say and how they would react. My step mother didn't like it, but told me it was my life and my body.

A week after I had it done my father noticed it. His first words to me after a look of disbelief on his face were "Take it out!!!" and then "YOU LOOK LIKE SHIT WARMED OVER!!!". This was the man who told me to stand up for myself and take control of my body when my mom had all my hair chopped off. And now when I was taking control, he didn't like it. But I wasn't insulted. I actually had to bite my lip not to burst out laughing.

So he lectured me and repeatedly told me I looked like shit. But I had resolve. I hadn't gone through hell to change my life just to let few nasty words make me crumble. Sooner or later he would get used to it.

After about a month, the lectures got fewer and fewer. Occasionally, during the past year he has tried to bribe me to take it out. But I am not to be bought. I am in control of my life.

To be honest, my peircing was very polarizing among my friends and family. Either they loved it (the minority) or they hated it. I was very encouraged and flattered, though, when I saw a friend at a birthday party that I hadn't seen in a while and he said to me "Ich habe noch nie ein Peircing gesehen, dass so zu einer Person passt" translated it means "I have never seen a peircing that suited a person so well".

That's exactly how I had always felt.

My 19th birthday is rolling around in a few weeks and I think I'm gonna pay Julius a visit.

The best birthday present

2010-02-10T07:15:00.005-08:00

Ever since I had gotten my tongue pierced, all I wanted was another piercing. Although I did receive a second piercing in my ear, it wasn't enough. I mean, I knew that I would be getting another piercing as my birthday present, and still, I couldn't wait. The thing I had to determine was what piercing I was to get next. Everyone had their own suggestion, such as my mom and boyfriend said I should get my bellybutton pierced, a few friends of mine said I should get my septum pierced, and many other people were wanting me to get my eyebrow or lip pierced. And what I was more of wanting was my eyebrow pierced.

It was the Thursday of the week before my birthday after school, and when I had come home, I entered my mother's room and asked her (after awhile of contemplating whether I should ask or not) if we could go Friday to get my piercing. She didn't say anything for a few seconds after she said, "Psht, ha...," then she said, "Why? You don't even know what you want yet..." Now of course, to me, this is a yes, but I still had to answer. I told her that I wanted my eyebrow done, but I was still slightly unsure, since I didn't want to upset my boyfriend in my decision, but I was sure, because it was what I wanted. Still, she acted as if it wouldn't happen, since my birthday was still in a week to come.

Come Friday, after school I had gone to my boyfriends house, since I knew my mom was still at work and wouldn't even be home until around 5:00 pm. Around 5:30 my cell-phone rang, and it was a private call, so I knew it was my mom, but being unsure (since the number was covered) I still answered as if I didn't know who it was. Of course though, it was my mom. All she asks is where I'm at, and I just tell her to guess, and she gets it right, since I'm usually no where other than my boyfriend's house. Anyways, I say in my voice, as in I know why she called kind of voice "why..." she just says that she was just wondering. After awhile of that going back and forth, I say, "So can I?" Then we talk a little and agree that my boyfriend and I would meet her at Koolsville.

Well, my boyfriend and I arrived right after my mother had, but my boyfriend was having a little difficulty in parking, so we waited until he was finished. Then we walked into the shop, and I admit—I was nervous. In fact I told my mom and my boyfriend I was nervous, but all my mom had told me was "why?" Seriously, I didn't know why, but I think it had to do with the fact that my last piercing wasn't at this place, and I didn't know if they would do a good job. Then again, they all had piercings, which put me a little at ease. They then handed my mom the paperwork, knowing that I would be 16 in a week, they allowed me to qualify for a piercing (which was the reason they kicked me out last time). My mom was half way through the paperwork, when they read our I.D.s and said, "Oh, no, we can't do this. The last names don't match." I got really mad, and so did my mom, because even on the birth certificate our last names don't match because she's changed her name three times. So w e just found that to be a total waste of our time and decided to go to the last place I had it done—Bone Daddyz.

I felt less nervous at Bone Daddyz, in fact very calm. We walked in and everyone is just sitting in the room talking to each other and giving people tattoos. My mom told them what I wanted and they asked if I was underage and then told her she had to sign all the paperwork. Then the guy told me to wait as he set up the room. I never learned his name. A couple minutes later he comes back out and tells me he's ready. My nerves started coming back, but this is what I wanted. I first asked if my boyfriend could come back with us (which he was)—this calmed me down a bit.

The guy told me to keep standing, and he marked where the jewelry were to be placed, and then told me to look in the mirror—I like it (this was on my right just to tell). He then tells me to sit down, and he cleans up my eyebrow in alcohol and then goes to business with the clamps. The clamps really weren't that tight—I was hoping that they would be tighter so I wouldn't have to feel the piercing that much. And since I had gotten my tongue pierced, I was expected just a slight pinch, or nothing at all. He finally got the clamps on right, but didn't even tell me to breathe in or nothing he poked down with the needle, and I felt it, then it felt like he struggled a bit with pushing it through, so that hurt a bit. Even my boyfriend told me at the end that I flinched. That's because I could feel the struggle it took for the needle to go through. When he got it through, he told me to close my eye (the needle was right in front of it), then he put in the jewelry, which wasn't muc h of a struggle. I would have to say, that this piercing did hurt more than my tongue, but not to where I was crying or even tear up a bit. And when I looked in the mirror—I fell in love with my newest piercing! It was so beautiful. My mom then paid the guy and we left.

It's been about four days since I had it done, it is a hassle to try and not bump into it, but I still love it. It's slightly swollen, but not to where you can tell that much. Nonetheless, I would recommend that people get this piercing. I can't wait until my next.

completely painless

2010-02-10T07:15:00.004-08:00

I am addicted. That's what I have to say about my thought on body art,
especially piercings. It was around January 20th when I got my eyebrow
piercing. It was luck that I accidentally left a portion of my Christmas money
in one of my school binders. I had a spare block combined with lunch break, so
I had a longer stretch of time away from school for that day. My friend also
had a spare that day too (complete luck) and she asked me to go downtown with
her. She was throwing her lunch napkin away when I saw it; a big purple
building with a fluorescent light saying "open" (it was non other than the
tattoo/piercing parlor) right across from me. I tried to resist, but the
addiction of the adrenaline metal in my body gives me made my cave in, I swear
the building was calling my name to come over and place another hole in me.
The only thing that was saying "don't do it" was my parents because I already
had 8 other piercings.
My parents threatened me that if I got one more
piercing that they would kick me out of the house, but I knew that was too
much of an exaggeration for them. An eyebrow was the next "to do" on my list
(I have a labret and my ears are done) I was not even nervous that time.
I
was excited for the whole experience of being pierced again.
The parlor
usually gives you a long talk about what they are doing to you, how to keep it
clean, and the whole healing process of it etc.
Its like an intimidation
talk in my opinion.
Since I had already had this talk when getting my
labret done, I insisted that I did not need it again. So they agreed and let
me go without the "intimidation talk". I had a different guy this time who I
was comfortable with, so I was completely confident. They use titanium for
their gauges and contain all sizes. I don't mind strangers doing things to me
as long as they look (and are) sanitary and look like they wanted to pierce
me. He put me through the same process for mental and physical relaxation as
they do for everyone else. It starts with the "enya" music being played in
the foreground.
Then a series of aroma scents wafted under your nose
while there is a soothing and focused voice telling you to feel your oxygen
surpassing through your body. He said he would pierce me on the count of
3.
He counted down, I deeply inhaled and exhaled, I could feel the
adrenaline building throughout my body. I was so relaxed and dazed out, I
could feel a natural high. I felt the slightest prick which seemed at the
moment to be over within milliseconds. And then it was done. A huge release
of hormone overtook me. It did not hurt what-so-ever at all. I looked in the
mirror, and it was like adding a new limb, another part of myself. I left in
time to get back to school.
It felt completely normal, like nothing had
happened to my face.
I was highly satisfied with my new eyebrow. My
parents didn't kick me out of the house, but I was punished severely. I
cleanse it two times a day with Bactine that they recommend and I wash my
face with Neutrogena soap, which is less harmless on piercings.
My
future intention is to get more piercings done and possibly some other
things. An eyebrow piercing is easy to take care of and looks good. The only
thing I was worried about was the piecing migrating, I was told by the
piercer that it happened frequently. So I asked him in great detail of when I
know if it has started. But all these months later, it has no sign of
migration, nor infection.
I recommend this piercing for those who aren't
good with pain, because it doesn't hurt. Its little and stylish and accepted
into most families. An eyebrow piercing is so simple I felt it had no healing
to do. I did have to get used to remembering it being there, as I would tug
my clothes over my head and it would get caught.
I kept forgetting about
it, and then when I slightly felt it on my hand I would panic and this it was
a huge pimple.
I like the way it looks with my labret, it looks more
shiny and more completed. It makes me feel as if my labret doesn't stand out,
but that it has a companion. I also feel it balances out my face.
I chose
the right side to be done because I found that the majority of people with
their eyebrow pierced had it on the left side.
I chose the simple sphere
balls instead of the spikes or a ring because it matched my labret. I also
found that the majority of people had the spikes. I took it out once to clean
it, and I found it highly difficult to screw the bead back into the bar being
that it was so little. I did find myself loosing the bead every now and then
and having to search for it on the ground until I found it.
I don't take
it out or unscrew the bead because its very frustrating to get it screwed
back in. I guess all it needs is practice. I am still weary about my eyebrow
piercing getting caught on something and being torn out, as I have heard it
happens.
I have had a few experiences where it has almost been pulled
out. I haven't gotten any negative comments on it I have gotten a whole load
of positive comments on it though. Some people don't even notice, some just
don't care. I recommend this piercing for everyone.
As I've experienced,
well it just didn't hurt at all and I love it !

I love it

2010-02-10T07:15:00.003-08:00

I don't remember how long I've been thinking about getting my eyebrow pierced. I think my fascination with eyebrow piercings in general started when I was about 16, and my boyfriend at the time talked about getting one. (He didn't, to my knowledge.) Anyway, at that time I was both underaged and living at home, so there was no way it was going to happen. Plus, my high school had a rule against "visible facial piercings" other than earrings.

During my freshman year at college, I watched as one of my friends got her nose pierced, and was *thisclose* to getting my eyebrow done - but all the eyebrow barbells they had at that studio just looked too big to be shoved through my face. So, I forgot about it for awhile.

So here I am, in my sophomore year. I find myself thinking about the eyebrow piercing more and more, and decide that if I was ever going to get one, now would be the time. (I won't have to worry about job interviews, etc for at least 6 months, and by that time I can put in a retainer.) And, I know I can have it in for at least the rest of my college years. So, I decide I'm going to do it. Plus, my boyfriend broke up with me 2 weeks ago and I resolved to do something for myself to help me deal with it, and I decided that piercing the eyebrow would be perfect.

I researched a TON. I read almost every experience here at BME and elsewhere, and looked at websites for about 20 different studios in the San Francisco area. It dawns on me one day, though, that if I'm going to get this done I need to get it done right - on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley. Where else? Plus, that's where the piercing studio I was most impressed with - Zebra - was located.

One of my friends and her boyfriend were going to his brother's graduation from UC Berkeley this past Friday, so I hitched a ride with them and then took off by myself down Telegraph. I knew that it was too late to turn back now, since I had come all this way. I found the studio. There were tons of people inside - a busy piercing day. A guy helped me pick out my jewelry - I chose a simple surgical steel curved barbell, 16ga, 3/8in. He rang me up, and gave me a number - it was so busy that day that I had to take a number and stand in line. I was number 26, and they called 21 as I was paying for the piercing. I decided to eat something during that time - they had free cookies for people getting pierced, so I had one.

It only took about 10 or 15 minutes for my number to get called. When they did, I walked back into the piercing room. The piercing artist, Kerri, was getting all of the stuff ready when I walked in. She told me to have a seat in a chair next to the counter. While she was prepping, I had a chance to look around. Despite the weird murals on the wall, the room was immaculate and had a very professional feel to it (the entire studio did).

She cleaned and marked my eyebrow, and asked me how it looked. It looked great. Then she put the clamp on - which wasn't really even uncomfortable, just like pinching your eyebrow. I remember her telling me at one point that it felt much like tweezing like 4 hairs out of your eyebrow at the same time - ouch, but not severe pain, and it goes away quickly.

Let me take a minute to say that whenever someone tells me that their piercing didn't hurt, I never believe them. To me people who get pierced are "hardcore" in some way - like they like pain, or pain doesn't affect them. So, I was expecting this to hurt quite a bit.

I did feel the needle go in, and it wasn't the best feeling ever, but it hurt a lot less than I thought it would. Before I knew it, she'd inserted the barbell and screwed on the ball. I looked in the mirror - it looked wonderful. Perfect, even. I was so thrilled with myself for having gone through with it that I told the piercer, "I am awesome." Heh, I'm such a dork. Anyway, she told me to grab a soda out of the fridge, which I did, and I went on my merry way. Walking out of the shop I could barely even feel it. It was slightly cold from the disinfectant she used to clean the brow, and kind of warm because of the blood rushing to the area, but it felt fine. I couldn't help but stop and stare at myself in store windows and mirrors. I was in love.

Today, on Sunday, it still doesn't hurt. There hasn't been any discharge, no crusties, no bleeding, no nothing. I can even sleep on my left side without a problem. The first day I kept bumping it with my hands, and it would hurt for a second, but not very much, and the pain went away really quickly. Yesterday and today I've been able to clean it with absolutely no pain. Hopefully I won't have any complications - I'm being really good about cleaning it, and washing my hands with antibacterial soap before I touch it, and soaking it in salt water 15 minutes a day. Taking care of it is no chore, I love it so much.

I don't know if I'm going to get another piercing - I'm not really into heavy body mods or too many facial piercings, don't want my genitals or nipples pierced, and think the belly button is too trendy. But, this one is enough for me (at least for now) and I'm thoroughly enamored with it.

I just can't wait to see what my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles have to say about it when I go to our family reunion after school ends........

That s all

2010-02-10T07:15:00.002-08:00

I was 16 years old and had been thinking about getting my eyebrow pierced for a long time. Earlier that year i had met a guy who had a bunch of piercings (including his eyebrow) and i liked how it looked. Also, i hated the stereotype that was being given to people with piercings... the way people think "nice girls don't get piercings" and "oh they're just looking or attention". Now, i'm a very "nice" girl and i knew that having metal shoved through my skin wouldn't change who i was inside, so with my descision to get this done came the hope that the people i loved would understand the same. Plus, it was what I wanted and i'm pretty selfish in that i do what i want despite what anyone else may think.

So on August 24, 3 of my friends came and picked me up and we drove 45 mins to the closest town that would do piercings on 16 year olds (all the other places don't do them untill you're 18). There were a lot of detours but finally we made it. as soon as we knew we were getting close, we all lit up cigarettes cuz we were scared shitless. none of us had ever had anything pierced before and we were all so terrified. we pulled up in front of the place, parked, and walked inside. i was getting my eyebrow, one of my friends (jessica) was getting her tounge and another of my friends (amanda) was getting her bely button. my other friend (robyn) was just along for the ride. we filled out all the paper work, showed our id's and paid the $50 it cost us each to have the procedure done. When i was filling out my paper work, i was shaking so bad that as my friend looked over my shoulder, she pointed to the top line on the page and inquired "what does that say?" i looked at it and didn't know myself.. but i think it was probably my name.

We were still really nervous because all these people were hanging out in the studio, all filled with holes and covered in ink and here we were, bare and fully intact skin. Finally, a large and semi-mean looking lady came out of a room towards the back and called out "eyebrow!" I actually screamed. My friends grabbed my arms and tried dragging me back there but i refused to budge. I was neraly in tears i was so terrified. I was begging my friends to go first but no one wanted to. the lady laughed and said "shit, it seems like you guys think i'll kill ya or somethin!" Finally, Amanda (bellybutton) agreed to go first. The lady seemed annoyed at this and made a comment about having everything for the eyebrow all set up but she let amanda go first. she sat in the chair and i held her hand, watching the whole thing. the lady cleaned the skin, marked it, clamped it, and then pierced it. I squirmed more than amanda did because it looked like it hurt like hell, but she sw ore it didn't.

then it was my turn. i got up in the chair and i was sooooo scared... i was hyperventilating and almost in tears. I told the lady i was going to cry and she warned me that i had better not because if i did, she would take a picture of me crying, frame it and hang it up on the wall in the lobby for every customer to see because i would have been the first person in 8 years to cry. naturally, with a threat like that, i shut my mouth. Robyn was holding my hand and jessica and amanda were sitting accross the room, watching. as the lady was getting my skin ready to be pierced, robyn was talking to me about how school was gonna start in a few days and how we were all gonna graduate soon and stuff. finally, the lady said take a deep breath and then exhale. i did and i felt a slight pressure on the skin and a pop.

the lady turned away. it hadn't hurt AT ALL... i actually laughed and said "that's it?" the lady laughed and told me that that was it. she put the ring in and i hopped down off the chair. after a few minutes though, i felt pretty nauseous. That didn't really surprise me because it runs in my family for people to have that sort of reaction to needles. usually when i get blood drawn or a shot, i either throw up or pass out. i had a glass of cold water and tried to rest my head but i was NOT feeling well. it was time for jessica to get her tounge done and she didn't want anyone in the room with her except robyn so amanda and i went back out in to the lobby area. the lady had given me a garbage can and i ended up throwing up once in the can. one of the tattoo artists came out of the tattooing side of the place and saw me sitting there with my head between my knees. he patted me on the head and asked if i was okay. i told him i would be in a few minutes.

jessica and robyn came out, the tattoo man handed me a plastic bag and we left. on the way home, we stopped at dairy queen and i bought jessica ice cream for her tounge. we got lost and had to stop for directions, but the only person who could remember the directions was jessica and with her tounge pierced, we couldn't understand what she was saying so it really didn't help much.

It's December now and i've had my eyebrow done for 4 months and 2 days. exactly a month and 2 days ago, i went back to the same place with 3 different friends and got my labret done. my family has adjusted well to how i look... i must admit, they weren't crazy about them at first but i think they realize it hasn't changed me at all.

I never thought I d actually go through with it

2010-02-10T07:15:00.001-08:00

If you had asked me a year ago whether I would ever get a facial

piercing, I would have emphatically replied, "Never!" My sister had her
nose pierced at one point, and now has a tongue piercing and three tattoos,
and I pretty much wrote off piercing as a trendy/semi-tacky thing. Well, as
hard as it is for me to admit, I was WRONG.
I got to college here in
D.C.and started seeing more people with pierdings (I am originally from an
extremely tiny, conservative town where the most radical piercing is a guy
getting his ear done) - in fact, one of my good friends has his eyebrow
pierced. Anyway, I started to really like the way they looked and I began to
contemplate getting mine done.
In the meantime, however, I had joined
the women's ice hockey team, and I didn't think that a fresh piercing and a
hockey helmet would be very compatible. So, I actually had well over a month
to think about my decision and make sure this was something I really wanted
to do. I did some research online and chose Grafixx, near Metro Center, as
the place where I would get pierced. I went with a friend of mine to get his
tongue pierced there a couple weeks before I got my eyebrow done, and the
studio seemed very clean and the people were really nice and helpful.

So, we had our final hockey practice of the semester on a Wednesday morning,
and that afternoon I set out to get pierced. The original plan was that a
friend of mine who wanted to get her nipple done would come with me for moral
support and whatnot; however, she was sleeping and refused to wake up. No one
else could come with me either, this being in the middle of finals week (so
people were a little crazed). I ended up having to go alone. I was a little
nervous, but not much. So I got there, paid my $50, showed my I.D. and signed
a consent form, and then it was time for the action.
I stood in front
of the piercer and he marked the spot to be pierced on my brow. Then I sat
down and closed my eyes, preparing for the pain. Well, I was in for a
surprise....it barely hurt at all! I just had my wisdom teeth removed, and
the injection of anesthetic for that was about 10 times more painful than the
piercing was. It just felt like a sharp pinch. I bled a little, but not much.
The whole process took about 10 minutes, maybe less.
Basically, this is
what happened, as far as I can remember (I kept my eyes shut, so this
information might not be that accurate!): He put the clamp on my eyebrow,
which felt a little odd but didn't hurt. Then he stuck the needle through,
which was the most painful part - "pain" being a relative term, since it was
more uncomfortable than painful. Then he put the jewelry in and closed it,
and voila! a new piercing. Like I said, I kept my eyes closed because I'm not
a big fan of needles, so I didn't want to see anything that he was doing. All
the equipment used was brand new and sterilized, and Matt explained how to
clean the piercing and what kind of soap to use and all that fun stuff
afterwards.
It did sting a bit for the rest of the day, and it was a
little tender to the touch for a few days afterwards, but seriously, I had
more problems when I got my ears pierced. Cleaning it grossed me out a little
at first, just because you have to move the ring around and I was a little
squeamish about that, but overall it's a lot easier to care for than I
expected. I just apply some antibacterial soap and water around the ring,
then wiggle it back and forth to work the soap through the hole. Then I rinse
it out really really well. I put Neosporin on it for the first couple days,
and now I do sea salt soaks once or twice a day.
It does tend to bleed a
little sometimes and get a bit crusty, but I just wipe off the crust with a
Q-Tip and it's fine. I was expecting it to be a lot more swollen and bruised
than it actually is. The only problem I have is with sleeping...I got the
ring in my left eyebrow, and I tend to sleep on my left side. The first night
I had it, I pulled an all nighter to write a paper so I didn't have to worry
about rolling over on it in my sleep, but for a while I was so petrified of
accidentally hurting it that I slept flat on my back and didn't move all
night. Even now, two weeks later, I'm still a little hesitant to sleep on my
left side, but that's probably just my own little issue.
All this has
been a small price to pay, considering how much I love my eyebrow piercing.
Everyone else tells me they really like it as well. Right now I have a ring,
but I am definitely going to switch to a barbell before hockey starts again.
I would recommend eyebrow piercing to anyone...it looks great, it's not very
painful, and I can honestly say that it's one of the best decisions I've ever
made.
One warning - be prepared to get some strange looks and to
encounter some prejudice from people. At school, it's not bad, but right now
I'm at my parents' house for break and I do get a lot of nasty looks and some
comments from the people around here. If you aren't prepared to deal with
this, go for a tongue piercing or something less conspicuous. Other than
that, I think eyebrow piercing is great and I wouldn't trade mine for
anything!

Don t Touch

2010-02-10T07:12:00.009-08:00

I was browsing through BME at the eyebrow piercing section, looking at all the types and the different styles, and I knew then and there that I just HAD to get one. They looked so interesting! I only had one piercing at the time, a nose ring. Boring. It was just a hoop, nothing special. Nobody in my small town had body mods, so I thought it was time to get more.

I asked my Mom if I could get it for an early Christmas present, and she said yes right away. Up to this day I have no idea why she didn't even think about it first, but whatever.

So I thought about a few places I should go to. At first I thought about going to Electric Lettuce in Nanaimo, but we didn't have enough time to drive down there at the moment. So, we went to the only place in Port Alberni that does piercings other than ears. Camille's.

My Mom made an appointment for a couple days later, and it was all set. I was so excited about it! So on the days before my piercing, I looked at different types of jewelry and colors etc. I decided on getting titanium, because I wanted color in my piercing.

I got allergic to anything cheap, so I guess I couldn't of gotten anything else.

So on the day of my piercing I was bouncing off the walls! So we finally went there and I told her that I was here to get my eyebrow pierced and she led me into a room on the other side of the studio. It was also a hair/makeup place so there was people getting their hair dyed and such. I looked around the room to make sure everything was clean.

I laid down on a comfortable chair, like a dentist's chair and relaxed. I watched her wash her hands thoroughly and put on gloves. She showed me a box of jewelry in sealed plastic bags, there wasn't much to choose from, because she was going to get a shipment of jewelry in a couple days, and there wasn't much at the time. But I picked a titanium hoop, kind of purple and blue, and a blue ball.

I was getting kind of nervous, but that went away very quickly. I wasn't worried about the pain, because it only lasted a couple seconds, so I was ready to go!

She took all of her tools out of sealed packages and got them ready. She cleaned the area with some stuff, I don't know what it was.

She asked me if I was ready and I said yes. She told me to breath in through my nose and breath out through my mouth, as to relax me. While I was doing that, she stuck the needle through my eyebrow, and I didn't even notice a bit, I was too busy breathing.

I said, " Is it over yet?" and she replied with, " It's already done".

Boy, was I surprised!

I looked in the mirror, and there it was, my eyebrow ring, in all its glory! The area was kind of red, but thank god, not bleeding. The eyebrow ring itself was sticking straight out! I asked her why it was doing that, and she said not to worry about it, just push the hoop down every once in a while, so when it's healed it will lay flat. She said over and over again, " do not let people touch it!" So I definitely listened to her.

She said to clean it twice a day, or when needed with Saline Solution, (you know, the stuff you clean your contact lenses with.) And if it got infected, go and get Sea salt from the health store.

So we left and went to the drugstore to get saline solution.

It was hard sleeping on it, because it hurt when I put pressure on it, so it was hard to get to sleep the first couple of days, scared of it getting infected or ripped out by a loose thread on my pillow.

The first couple of days were okay, but I noticed a lot of green puss coming out of it very frequently. I guess I was playing with it too much, or not cleaning it as often as I was supposed to. I made sure not to let people touch it. You would hear from me "don't touch" almost every day when people were looking at it.

So, one morning, about a week later I woke up and noticed my right eye was all puffy and red. I started freaking out and asking my mom what I should do. She phoned Corky and she said to go get sea salt from the health store.

We got the sea salt and ran the hot tap water until it was burning, on fire hot. She told us to dump some of the sea salt into the water, get a clean cloth, dip it in the water and hold it on my eyebrow, to flush out the puss and whatever else was in there at the time. Damm, did it hurt! We did that every once in a while until it was better.

I used bactine on my eyebrow since then. And now it's fine!

A few words about the piericer...

I guess you could say I was impressed by her techniques, she wasn't all that great, and she wasn't bad at it. She also changed the ball my nose ring, because the ball I had was huge and purple! So she changed it to my first one, a tiny black/gray one.

But I wasn't too impressed with her on this. The ball fell out as soon ass I got home. She didn't fit it tight enough. Oh well, I don't mind, there's a big gap, but I just hide it

The price was 77 dollars, not too bad, because cheap piercings are not good news.

It's been a couple months now, and it looks awesome. I'm going to get it changed because the jewelry is too big for my face.

I hope you liked reading my standard, boring eyebrow experience! I sure had fun writing it!

My eyebrow is friggin in the riggin cool

2010-02-10T07:12:00.008-08:00

IM kinda working backwards on this whole deal. I never wrote about my first piercing adventure, because before I could I had a different thing done, So I just kinda "ignored" the fact that I had a first one. But anyway, I think this first one deserves some credit, after all it started the work on my empty canvas.

My whole "I want an eyebrow ring" obsession started a while back. Around the 5th grade time. My friends mum had a few piercings under her belt (not literally speaking) She had her navel, eyebrow, tongue and some work in her ears. This was a first time for me to ever see these things. I was secretly hooked after this. I never told my mum about this until oh...7th grade? I was 13 at the time. I suddenly popped out the question "mum, can I get my eyebrow pierced?" and she pop out "no!" But that didn't stop me, It takes a heavy pounding to stop me. Everyday until the day, I bothered my mum about it. (I didn't say anything to my dad because that was a certain NO) But my Mum told my dad of my begging. They both went about now saying "no".

So I devised a plan....ask for more outrages piercings and perhaps, that will make the eyebrow not look or seem so bad. Either that worked, or my Mum persuaded my dad to let me get it done, because one day after a slumber party at my friends house I came home, and one of the first things my Mum said to me was "your dad and I decided to let you get your eyebrow pierced". How happy was I? VERY happy. When I went to school the next day I only told a select few of my friends about what my mum and dad said. I didn't want to spread this news around, and then maybe for some freak reason, my parents change their minds or something.

So a week later it was the day. I called my friend Jen up (who was also there for my second conch, and 3rd eyebrow). It seemed like the whole family was going. Me, my parents, Jen, and my older brother. He was going because he wanted a tattoo...but since Virginia isn't like Texas, he couldn't get his tattoo with my parents permission at 16. Oh yes, of course the place we went to was Army Navy Tattoo. We were new to Virginia at the time, so we didn't know of any other closer places.(now I just go to the mall, to Urban x-Change...a lot closer to home) We walked inside Army Navy, and my mum asked about the tattoo and piercing. My brother was kinda pissed about the VA law, but he got over it. Lucky me piercing was allowed with parental consent! So they gave my mum the paper work and all that jazz, and we filled it out.

Melanie, the piercer wasn't in yet. She didn't get in until noon. So Jen and I walked around the place, and looked at the flash art on the walls, and looked at pictures of the artists work. Finally, I saw a lady come in carrying a bag and her ears were practically silver. I knew right then and there...she must be the one I was waiting for. I was the only one at the time who was waiting to get pierced, so she called me over and then the adventure began. She showed me to a lil room in the back of the shop, a lil white room with a chair near the middle, a mirror near the wall in front of the chair, and a table to the right holding different jewelry, and a little table to the left where she laid out the materials she was to use,

I sat down, and talked to my mum and the piercer about different piercings, and which was she thought hurt the most. Good thing the eyebrow was at the bottom of the list, next to tongue. After our casual talk, she was finally ready, and introduced my skin to a marker, and then let me look at it a mirror. I didn't like the placement, and I asked her if she could move it over a bit..and she did. Then, we were ready. She showed me the needle in the pack, opened it, showed me the clamps in the pack, opened it, and the 16 CBR..and opened it. She put a rubber band on the clamp so that it was stayed down better on my eyebrow. Then she told me to breathe in and out and on the count of 3 she was gonna poke. Not very painful I must say. I don't recall and blood either. A great experience. My Mum tipped her, and I hoped outta the chair and looked in the big mirror at my work. Beautiful. Then Melanie gave me some information on how to clean it, and asked if I wore make up (I guess to give any additional info)

We left the lil room, and went back to the main room. A lady was having a tattoo on her ankle, so we watched. We were waiting for my dad and brother to come back, because they had gone some place else. We waited for a good amount of time...but they finally came back. We left the shop to go to the PX and buy antibacterial soap. And we already had sea salts at home, so I was cookin with Crisco.

*Sigh* well I guess this is the end my friends. What more to say? Of all my piercings, this one was my best behaved, and is still in fantastic shape. I love it like a child. We been threw a lot together. Er well, For anyone thinking about the classic eyebrow go for it. And if you go to Army Navy to get pierced, see if Melanie can do it. She was really nice....and her ears are mesmerizing. They keep you mind off of what's being done...so much metal in her ears.. well, anyways Top! Good lucky all you peoples getting pierced.

mY dAy oF sMiLes

2010-02-10T07:12:00.007-08:00

My first piercing.
It was a mere seven months ago that I had my first
piercing done, it was my left eyebrow. Did I mention, being an underage
teenage girl, without parental permission and a fake ID made it soo much
funner? Heres my story.
I live in a small little town. Population here is
maybe...500?!? Translation: mainstream and boring. None of my friends had/have
mods, and being the different one of the group, I went for it. The only
trouble was to find a place that would pierce underage kids..well first I had
to find a place period. The solution to my three month problem came when I was
visiting my friend Celine, in the great city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
*sigh* just the thought of it brings a smile to my face.
Anywayz, back to
the story. I decide to call up this wicked shop, Divine, claiming that I did
not have an ID on me. Well they told me, unfortunatly, that they couldnt
pierce me without proof that I was of age. BUMMER!! I was really disapointed.
I mean, my parents hadnt exactly said no...they just hadnt said yes. The next
day, I decided to try my luck, and call the shop again, this time, from my
uncles friends house, still in Saskatoon. I had "borrowed" a friends ID, and
was going to use it. An ingenious plan I thought. So far so good. My eyebrow
was to be pierced at 3:30 the next day!!! WOO HOO!! The rest of the day went
by soo slow.. I kept looking at the clock in anticipation, counting down the
hours until i would have my first piercing..I coulnt wait.
The next day,
around 3:00 Celine and I took transit down to Brodway, which is the coolest
place in Saskatoon to be. We went into the shop, and sat down..THE ADRENALINE
STARTS TO PUMP. A friendly looking guy, with huge lobes walks in, smiles and
hands me the release forms, and a recipt. I couldnt believe it, I did'nt even
get asked my age (not that having a Universtity of Ottawa sweater on had
anything to do with that right?)
I walk out of the room, and into the
store, where i paid for the jewelry, a CBR with a shiny black ring. I walked
the short distance back to the piercing room, and smiled..I was soo happy:)In
total the piercing costed thirty-two dollars, nothing in comparasion to other
places Ive seen. My piercers name was Jason, and he was very very friendly,
answered all of my questions, I was very impressed. I still remember what
music was playing in the background. Ironiclly, it was one of my favourite
bands, 311.
He took me into the back, where I layed down on a table sort
of like you'd see in a doctors office. The whole place smelt clean, like a
hospital, and I knew that the shop had a good reputation, so i felt confident
that this was a good idea. Jason cleaned the area surrounding my eyebrow, and
with a pen, marked two dots where the ring would go through. I looked into the
mirror, and couldnt believe I had gone this far, layed back down, saying it
was perfect. I have to admit, that I was kind of shocked to see the size of
the needle, but I didnt let it worry me too much, there was no way i was going
to chicken out now. With one quick motion, the needle was through, followed by
the ring. Let me tell you. Piercing your ears hurts way more than an eyebrow,
any day. Before I left, I took a look at my spiced up brow, thanked Jason, and
smiled once more.
The healing, however, went less than well. I was told
to buy saline. Not the kind for contacts, but the kind that they used in
hospitals. I searched several "Shoppers Drug Mart" and many other pharamacies,
until I found exactly what I was looking for. I was very faithfull in cleaning
the wound, well for the first month at least. After that point in time, I made
the ludacris assumption that it was fully healed, and I cleaned it less, and
played with it more(big mistake, dont play with your piercings..ever..)
Eventually, my eyebrow got sore, and red, exactly what I was told would happen
if I wasnt careful. Worried I would have to take my precious CBR out, I went
to a pharmacy back home, and was told that polysporin would do the trick.
Carefully, and devoted, I got my eyebrow back into shape. It went from a
puss-filled tender hole, to a clean, healed piercing.
Another problem I
had with my eyebrow was the CBR itself. I had been getting sick of the little
black bead, so I bought what i was told a 14guage bead, meant for CBR's. I
even had it changed by the piercer, this time,a girl named Ally. By the time I
got home, however, the bead fell out. I was unable to get another in, so i
left it, open, assuming that it would stay in. Now this is, about, two months
after the initial piercing, and I was getting comfortable with it, until, one
night, the CBR(well, minus the bead) fell out. Needless to say, when I woke up
the next morning, I was shocked to find my eyebrow, sans ring. Not cool at
all. Even less cool, was the fact that I couldnt find the ring anywhere. So in
the drama of the moment, i found a 16guage barbell I had recieved as a gift,
but never used(I wanted to keep my eyebrow a 14guage, not shrink into 16) I
ripped the barbell through the healing skin and almost cried as a flash of
pain ripped through it. Needless to say, the second time hurt more.
Over
all, I really enjoy my eyebrow ring, and I dont regret it at all.

Eyebrow Smiley

2010-02-10T07:12:00.006-08:00

I LOVE body mods, and tattoos, and really got into about about four years ago and I've been obsessed ever since. Anyway, at the moment my slowly stretching lobes were a complete bore so I decided to step up on my body mods and not have something pierced on my ears because those are kind of boring, at least the ones my parents would allow me to get (i.e your standard cartilage done ::shudder:: at Claire's in the local Mall).

I love looking at the stuff in BME's shop and found they sell needles, I've also wanted to be a piercer but abandoned the idea once my mom refused to allow me to try...err...bitch. I had a friend who wanted his eyebrow pierced and offered to send him a piercing kit to do just that, I got the needle from BMEShop, a 14G needle, and waited for the thing to come in so I could send it to my friend...

Well, I got in my head I wanted a smiley, so I decided hell, since it's my needle and my money, I'll use it, and get him another one. I got really hyper (off life I promise), and called up some friends that live near by and see if they'd let me borrow their bathroom to perform the piercing, with their help incase I need it.

I went to my friend's house with the 14G needle, a curved barbell with blue and white beach ball balls on it, a 16G, and walked to my friends house, mom not knowing what was about to happen. I brought mouth wash to wash out my mouth along with piercing supplies...

When we got there we went into the downstairs bathroom and I laid the materials out on the sink to start, I rinsed my mouth out for about 30 seconds, spit and asked my screamish friend to take pictures and my other one to assist me in holding back my lips to pierce the little webbing there. Unfortunately...I pierced about half way through and it started to hurt pretty badly and besides I couldn't really see the webbing or get my hands angled so I could pierce and not end up piercing my lip at the same time. I gave up, and my hopes dropped, I REALLY wanted something pierced, THAT day, right now, that second!!

My friends, a little bummed out too that no flesh was beautiful pierced, they started to suggest things. My friend suggested cartilage (I've always wanted an industrial...), but no, that'd hurt too much...and then they said EYEBROW!

I stared at my eyebrow and began to wonder, okay yea so I decided to pierce my eyebrow. I used some anti-bacterial soap to clean off the needle (which was only used on me by the way), placed it on the wrapper it came in and washed my eyebrow with anti-bacterial soap as well. It was my left eyebrow because I like to sleep on my right side the most so I knew I wouldn't hurt it in my sleep, and the barbell was also the perfect size for a eyebrow so I went through with it.

I had my friend stand to my left ready to assist (not the screamish one), and I pulled out a nice chunk of my left eyebrow. I took the now clean needle (to a point it was clean), and pushed it through from bottom up. YES! A NEW PIERCING!! It didn't hurt at all really, it truly felt like a pinch, and of course I could feel it going through, but no pain to the point I would have screamed or something.

Okay, needle in I screwed off one of the beads to the barbell. Since the needle is hollow (recommend to anyone to use hollow, tee hee), I was able to place the jewelry into the bottom of the needle and simply pull the needle up and out making sure the jewelry was pushed nicely in th needle so it was SUPER easy to put the jewelry in. At this point my eyebrow started to bleed a bit at the top hole.

My friend placed some cotton thing on my eyebrow to stop the bleeding, while I held the jewelry up so it wouldn't fall out, which would have been bad because I don't think I could have gotten it back in. After it stopped I cleaned off some of the blood and proceeded to put the ball BACK on, which took about 5 minutes, and my friend had to do it because I was so nervous that I had actually just pierced my eyebrow that I was shaking a bit.

I spent the night at a friend's house that night, my assistant's house actually, and showed my mom the next day, once I had prepared a speech. She has this thing where I should have been a cheerleader instead of being myself, you know, tee hee, she isn't too bad, she just doesn't understand my love for piercings.

I washed my eyebrow twice a day, morning and night, with anti-bacterial soap and warm water, being careful not to knock it or play with it. It was sore to the touch for about two weeks, I'm not sure if that's normal, but it isn't sore now. I only wash it once a day now because over washing is bad, and it's practically healed, just wanna keep in clean. It didn't have crusties really either, only the first day did it crust up, or if I hit it hard it will.

Other than that I'm very happy with my piercing, was grounded for only five days and still have it, and have since around eh July 24th or so. Disappointed in not having a smiley, but I'm happy to have the eyebrow!! Any questions, or comments, e-mail me, I'd be happy to answer them!

WARNING: As always, nothing can be better than getting it professionally done by a good piercer...don't do self-piercing in-less you are sure this is what you want and that you'll take EXTRA care of it.

My enjoyable eyebrow piercing experiences

2010-02-10T07:12:00.005-08:00

Since about the age of 14 I have had an interest in piercings and tattoos. After having five holes put in my ears, and my bellybutton pierced, I became bored and wanted to do something a little different. Getting a tattoo just was not an option because I just can not handle the thought of having something on my skin permanently. So I began researching all the facial piercings, from the actual procedures to the healing and after care. Unfortunately, piercings and tattoos are pretty much taboo where I live. Most of the people I know do not like them and are quick to judge the people who have them. I knew that anything I had done would mean me catching a lot of crap from people, especially my family members. After a lot of careful thought, I settled on having my eyebrow pierced. I decided that I did not care what everybody else thought and that if I wanted to do it,I was going to do it. I have now had it done twice and I will tell about each experience.
The first time I had it done I was 18. I called around and talked to the few piercers that were in my driving range. The first one I talked to was not at all friendly and did not seem to want to answer my questions, I knew that I would not be using him. I talked to a couple more people and they were ok, but on the last call I found somebody that I really liked. The studio was an over an hour drive from my house, but I did not mind because I was so impressed with the guy. So we got there and I talked to him about the actual piercing process and aftercare. I told him I was ready to do it and he asked to see my i.d. I went digging through all the junk in my purse trying to find my driver's license and realized it was not in there. I had taken it out while I was switching bags. I explained that to him, but being the professional that he was, refused to do it until I could show my i.d. I really wanted it done so I decided to take that long drive back to the house, pick up my license, and return. That really sucked, let me tell you.
So when I got back he took me and my mother into the piercing room where he carefully got everything ready. Once he was ready to pierce me he told me to breathe in and out. On the third breath out, he stuck the needle through. I was very surprised at the pain. I was expecting it to be a lot worse than what it was, but it actually hurt less than my bellybutton did. He put in a 16 g curved barbell which was exactly what I wanted. It turns out my mom actually watched him do it, which was surprising because she is not fond of piercings and such. When he got the jewelry in she said, "I did not know there was going to be a ball on the top and the bottom." The piercer just laughed and shook his head. So I payed him and told him what a good job he did and left. My piercing looked great and I was very proud of it and glad that I had it done. As for the people that I knew would be making negative comments, no surprise there, a lot of them said just what I figured they would. Some were more accepting than others, and over time my eyebrow ring became a part of me, and the comments were dropped for the most part.
I enjoyed my piercing for eight months with absolutely no infection or problems before having to take it out, due to a job. That was two years ago, I am now 20 and no longer have the job. This past week was spring break week and I had been tossing the idea around of having it done again. This time I was considerably more nervous, I don't know why. I was honestly scared to death and actually dreaded having it done. I was aware that the place where I had done it before no longer had the same piercer and that made me a little nervous. I spoke to the new guy on the phone and then met him in person when I went in to have it done. He was extremely nice and reassured me that everything would be ok. I was glad that they had replaced the other guy with another good piercer. As I said, I was extremely nervous and thought about backing out a couple of times but he reassured me and the fear pretty much went away. So this time I new what to expect. It was the same as before, fill out the paper work and talk about the healing and aftercare. He took up a lot of time with me, marking the dots just where I wanted them and where they needed to be. I decided to do it on the right side again but this time we did it a little farther over. When he pierced me it was not bad at all. Don't get me wrong, it hurt, but was over in seconds. To me the worst part is putting in the jewelry but I did not even know when he did it. My mom said that it looked like a magic trick, the way he put it in. Yet again I have a great piercing that I am very proud of. It was totally worth the bad nerves and the long wait. As far as comments go, I have yet to get the ever so popular question thrown at me, "What is that in your eye?" But I know that its coming sooner or later.
If you are considering having your eyebrow pierced, I say go for it! You only live once and you might as well enjoy your body while you have it! As for the pain, it's nothing to worry about, especially when you have a good piercer. If you are in central Alabama and want to get a piercing, go see Crow at A Perfect Touch in Oxford, you will be very pleased!

Is it technically a surface piercing

2010-02-10T07:12:00.004-08:00

My name is C.J.

I just recently got my bridge pierced.

A while back, when the band The Used first started seeing their first signs of success, I bought their cd, and fell in love. I then proceeded to buy a poster of the band to put on my wall.

I noticed the drummer, Branden Steineckert had a bridge piercing. I thought it was Distinctly the most individual and original piercing I had probably ever seen.

Since I was young, I've always been heckled for the size of my nose.

I don't think that it's that big, and in fact fits my face just fine. The day when I started contemplating getting a bridge piercing myself, I almost immediately wrote it off as a whim.

I didn't believe that I could pull it off because I was fairly self-conscious about my nose. Then, recently I had a fight with my best friend. I tend to like to undergo painful experiences when I'm in emotional pain. I used to be a cutter, and recently started messing around with burning myself. I love the rush, but would NOT recommend it to anyone. If you're interested in branding, please, seek the assistance of a professional.

During the separation period of the argument, I stared long and hard at my face in the mirror. I tried to picture a small barbell right between my eyes. I felt as if I'd be called Frankenstein if my family even knew I was contemplating this piercing. I have an overly critical set of parental units.

As I was staring myself in the eyes, I just couldn't envision the new mod there. Being me however, meant that was my best excuse to jump up and do it as soon as possible.

I drove down to the same studio where I got my nape pierced on my birthday. (I mentioned before that this particular studio gives 3 free piercings on your 18th b-day. All you pay is the cost of the jewelry.)

Sadly, the guy who did my neck (Andy) was not there. It was about an hour before the studio closed for the night. I walked in with the biggest adrenaline rush, knowing what I was about to do.

The first thing I noticed when I entered the familiar studio, was that the two unfamiliar piercers ALSO had their bridges pierced.

That made me feel a lot more comfortable with the idea of letting a stranger pierce me.

Dana was extremely friendly, answering all of my pestering questions.

I showed him my nape, and he said it appeared to be doing extremely well. From this point, he seemed very comfortable with the idea of piercing my bridge.

He explained to me that the marking process was slightly awkward since it takes so long to mark a bridge piercing perfectly, and he had to hover over my face for a long period of time. Each time he backed up to look at it, I had a hard time not staring right in his eyes. They were very pretty eyes, and you could tell he was an honest man.

After marking and remarking the piercing about 9 times, he finally got the dots in an acceptable place.

Here comes the pain.

I kept my arms relaxed, as opposed to the way I tensed up to prepare for the pain of my nape piercing.

I sat extremely still.

He explained to me that it was going to feel very strange.

I love how good piercers always avoid the topic of pain as if they're going to scare the customer away.

The sole reason I wanted the piercing was for the pain.

I was so ready.

Then it came.

The 14 g needle entered the left side of my nose.

My eyes jammed shut instantly, flooded with salty tears.

No, I wasn't crying. It was just an instant, unavoidable reaction.

I guess it's similar to a septum piercing, except that probably hurts worse seeing as how it goes through cartilage.

The bridge simply goes under the surface of the skin.

Originally, Dana inserted a 1/2 inch internally threaded barbell.

It did well for the first day or two, and then started to swell.

The barbell was far too short for the piercing to heal properly. It was too snug and the holes couldn't breathe.

The jewelry rubbed a cut into the side of my nose from being so tight. About 5 days after the original piercing session, I decided this was going to be a persisting problem, so I revisited the studio.

As soon as the guy who ran my transaction previously saw my face, he was like, "Oh Shit. You need a longer barbell."

I was like, you're most definitely correct.

I had no money.

I thought that would be a problem.

Alas, it was not at all.

They owned up to their misjudgement,

gave me a replacement barbell (1 inch) and inserted it for free.

I would highly recommend HTC to anyone who wants any type of body piercing.

The piercers are all down to earth, amazing people who really know what they're talking about.

So far, since the insertion of the new jewelry the piercings swelling has decreased drastically, and it is releasing the proteins in a healthy way that is now a lot easier to clean.

As for how it looks on me, the majority of people's reactions still surprise even me.

I get approached by all sorts of people asking me about certain piercings and whether or not they should get them.

People assume that because I have such an out-of-the-ordinary body mod, that I know something that they don't.

An eyebrow piercing a long time coming

2010-02-10T07:12:00.003-08:00

So I had been planning to get *something* pierced since I was in junior high,
but my school & family wouldn't allow it. Finally in college, I decided it was
time.
I did a lot of research on the web, talked to people, visited
piercing parlors, etc. I'm kind of picky & anal-retentive about things. Still,
I only decided that I wanted a barbell piercing on my eyebrow. I couldn't get
any more specific than that.
So finally Spring Break came around my 3rd
year in college, and my friend & I went up to the Northwest. I picked Black
Hole based on the recommendation of my friend's sister *and* her mother! They
stay open late & are centrally located. The atmosphere there was pleasant,
relaxed. Contrary to stereotypes, every place I checked out had sterile
techniques. The main problem I had was that BH is so popular it's probably a
better idea to make an appointment, as I was told to come back the next day.
When I returned everything seemed great, I was ready. But I was turned away
again because I hadn't eaten in over four (4) hours. I personally thought it
was a bit silly, but it is probably a good policy. So we went back after
dinner, this time with an appointment.
This place has a reception area on
the first floor, not very big but cozy. There's even a large fishtank to
soothe the nerves. I have tetras at home, too, but they didn't calm me down
much. When someone's turn came up, the technician would come downstairs, call
the client's name, and they would go upstairs. Quite professional. The only
problem for me was that it made me really uncomfortable to see people led
upstairs; it seemed really frightening, like they were going to get tortured.
And then they'd come downstairs a couple minutes later, calm. It made me think
they were getting lobotomies! So when my turn came up, I was panicked. And I
am nearly always cool & level-headed. Suddenly the idea of surgical-grade
stainless steel going through my tender flesh made me a little lightheaded.

She called me & I went up nonetheless. I must mention that I took my
friend along; I don't think I could handle the stress all alone. Be sure to
take a good, trusted friend who is nice to have around when you're stressed or
upset. Not the right time to try & impress people. I was so relieved to see
that it was totally normal upstairs, nice even. The working rooms seemed like
a physician's practice except with cool stuff on the walls.
She asked me
which side I wanted it...left, I decided. So she took some dye & pinpointed
where she thought it should go. She showed me & it looked fine. It turns out
they have a standard 16 gauge barbell they use for the piercing. That's cool,
I thought; makes my decision all the easier. She told me to lie down on the
table & close my eye. She didn't explain much, but I could tell it was so
routine for her by her motions & gestures, which made me feel better. She took
an instrument to clamp my eyebrow, which surprised me. It didn't hurt, just
try pinching your eyebrow. I was told there would be a sharp sting & to
inhale. Exhale, she said, then put the needle through.
I could definitely
feel it going in, but like everyone says, it didn't hurt all that much. I
found the feeling of metal going through my skin much more interesting to
think about than the discomfort. I think it even felt a little neat, relieving
no doubt! When she attached the other bearing to the bar, I could feel the
metal moving my skin around, which didn't feel pleasant. But again, I must
admit it didn't hurt much overall. Thanks for coming, she said & we left for
the stairs. Halfway down she asked if I felt dizzy. A little too late, I
thought. If I had really been dizzy surely I would have fallen already. But
anyway, she was really nice & did a good job.
Downstairs, I was given a
little handout, explaining how to care for the piercing and what to avoid. The
'receptionist' also explained it clearly. Instead of using bactine, I was told
to use saline solution for sensitive eyes. Even better, try making your own
soln. with 1/4 teaspoon sea salt in warm/hot water. He gave me a bag of salt,
and remembering from my ID that I'm from Texas, gave me another. As if we
don't have sea salt in Dallas! Still they were very nice & funny. If I had any
problems, I could call them up & get a referral to a piercing parlor they
trust in my college city. I charged the $40 to my card & we left. I was really
excited.
I went to the drugstore & bought a one-cup tupperware container
so I could mix my salt soln. Since you use so little fluid with each washing,
I decided to conserve by saving the solution & not waste a cup of salt soln.
each time. I prepared the soln. like they told me and keep it in the plastic
container. Whenever I wash, I take the container from the bathroom counter,
take off the lid, and microwave it for ~30 seconds. I use cotton swabs &
Q-tips dipped in the soln. to wash the area. If you are going to do this,
which I recommend instead of prepared saline solution, never ever double-dip
the cotton! Think of all the bacteria & possible infection that could result.

I am very happy with my piercing & caring for it during the healing
process is a snap. All my friends/coworkers think it's great.

My Green Pus Oozing Mess

2010-02-10T07:12:00.001-08:00

So, I was 13, and had begged and begged and begged my mother to get my eyebrow pierced. Her answer started off with, "No". Then it was, "When you're 18". Then it became, "When you're 16". Then, somehow it became, "When you're 15". Walking around the markets one day in Malaga, which is a fair way out from where I live, I came across The Body Piercing Place stall. Of course, this is a big no-no for me now, having done a lot of research on body modification. A small market stall is NOT a good place for piercings at all, but me being the stupid kid that I was (and, still am) didn't ever think that there could be a problem with this kind of set-up.

Back to the story. I'd already lost my mom in the markets, so I stood around looking at the jewelry in the case, and asking questions about different piercings. I guess my mom had sensed that her daughter was thinking about doing something that she had not given her consent to, and believe it or not, I found her standing behind me when I turned around. I told her excitedly, "I don't even need an appointment. It's safe. The lady will even tell you about the procedure and stuff... can I get my eyebrow pierced?!". I don't even remember the look on her face, but in words I'm sure it was equivalent to something along the lines of, "Fuck, she's not giving up on this one." And so a decision was made. I was to get my eyebrow pierced that day. The ground rule was, "Don't ever ask to get anything done [pierced] ever again!" but alas 3 years down the track I have had 2 other piercings (nose and helix), a tattoo and have stretched my right lobe to 5mm.

Anyhow, as it was, I hadn't eaten anything all day, and the lady behind the counter told me it was sensible to eat and drink so that I wasn't dehydrated and such, and told me to come back in about 20 minutes or so. We walked over to the food court, and with my stomach doing flip-flops; I managed to get some Chinese food down. My mom was looking a bit neutral, as if she was having an inner struggle about letting me go through with it, but thankfully (or so I thought at the time) she let me get it done.

Back to the piercing stall, I picked out a captive bead ring (as I was told that a barbell would be a bad choice, swelling etc) and was taken into the back room. It was small, but looked clean and sterile-ish. I don't remember much about the actual piercing procedure, but I do remember the woman using an alcohol swab to clean up the area. I wasn't watching her get the needle and jewelry etc, so for all I know, it could have been a used needle, and jewelry that hadn't been autoclaved. I don't even remember her using a clamp, or talking to me during the whole time. She dotted me up, asked if the positioning was okay, and then through went the needle. At the time I thought it hurt, (although considerably less than my helix, which I got when I was 12, RIP, and less than my ear stretching which was recent). I was happy. Very happy. But when my mom saw, she was noticeably disgusted. After I'd paid and we were in the car on the way home, she could hardly bare the sight of it. "It l ooks gross!" she had said, but that was about it.

I cleaned it regularly with salt soaks for about a week or so. Then about 2 weeks later, inevitable infection set in. (Inevitable because I had touched it and played with it, and it had been touched by other people). It hadn't had a chance to heal properly, as I had to tape it back for work, and looking back, I suppose the fistula never got a chance to strengthen. The infection, according to me, wasn't so bad, although my mom thought otherwise. After a trip to the doctors, I was put onto antibiotics and hoped they would help.

They didn't. My whole eyebrow became a gunky, inflamed mess with green pus oozing out of it, and of course, with me being 13 and still growing, as well as not giving it proper aftercare, it started rejecting. At the time, I was unaware of what this meant, and never thought of going to another piercing place to get some help. It started bleeding and oozing green pus frequently, but I didn't want to give up just yet. So I left it longer, giving it salt soaks and trying not to touch it. Eventually, after numerous failed attempts at "saving it", I decided to take it out. My mom knew I'd be upset, and I think she knew I had to make the decision for myself. Being a pressure ring, I went back to The Body Piercing Place (the main studio in Leederville) and had to have it taken out. The woman there didn't even tell me what was wrong with it (as at this time, I had no idea about rejection of migration, I just thought it was a horrible infection), instead just taking the ring out and g iving it to me. I was pretty fricken sad about it. Years of begging, and I'd fucked up the whole thing. I got back in the car, almost in tears, and looked at the 2 holes where my short-lived wonder had been.

Now, nearly 3 years later, I can see the tiny scar from the initial placement, and then more scarring where it had rejected. Let that be a lesson to people wanting to get a surface piercing like this. Wait until you've finished growing, and make sure you give your piercing proper aftercare. A gunky, inflamed hole in your eyebrow that oozes green pus is NEVER attractive. RIP.