ever since I started stretching my own lobes, I had almost exclusively used tapers, the exception being the jump from 00g to 1/2", which I did using electrical tape wraps. I'd always known about scalpelling, and had never really felt any particular draw towards it, as I had always thought of it more for people who were running out of lobe to stretch.
At A Glance Author carpetallday Contact carpetallday@bme.anon IAM carpetallday When N/A Artist Sam Velasquez Studio Lost Kings Tattoo Location Lompoc, CA Fast forward to January- my buddy Jasen had just gotten both of his flats punched, and myself and Johhny, the head piercer at Lost Kings were standing around admiring the new holes in Jasen's head. We got to talking about how he wanted to continue stretching his ears, and Johnny mentioned about how in this case, scalpelling might be a good option further down the road. This got me to thinking, scalpelling is essentially just to control the way in which your lobe stretches... I had been toying around with going bigger, but never did because my lobes were slightly uneven (a by-product of piercing them myself...). So I asked Johnny if cutting would be a good option to shape my lobes a bit and size me up. He told me a few score cuts would be perfect for that, and just like that, I NEEDED to have it done.
The next day, I went by an ATM and got some cash, then went into the shop and told Sam (Johnny's apprentice) that I wanted to get my lobes cut. He had the time, so he went to the back of the studio to get set up, and I called my buddy JJ to come down and watch. He arrived, and we walked down the hallway past the tattoo rooms to the piercing room, where Sam was finishing setting up. I sat in the chair,removed my 1/2" plugs, and Sam began to mark me up. Johnny came in after finishing his cigarette outside, and eyeballed Sam's marks. He re-marked one, and okayed the other. Sam already had his facemask on, and Johnny was grabbing his. he offered JJ one, and he declined. He then offered me one, and I said sure... JJ had his camera, and I figured it would look more brutal or....I don't know...dumb, with a mask on.
After being properly marked and masked, Sam reclined the chair I was sitting in, and pulled his tray in closer. The scalpel looked a lot different than I thought it would, like a toy, almost. However, both of the piercers assured me that it was fucking sharp. From there, Sam had me turn my head, and he clamped my right ear. He grabbed the scalpel, and held it to my ear, and told me to take a nice deep breath in. Now I'll admit it- at this point i was a little nervous. I wasn't sure what exactly to expect, but that made it exciting as well. Sam then told me to exhale, and I felt the first score. it was a slightly different feeling than a needle, I noticed that, not the pain, which was barely present. "How was that?" Johnny asked, and I just shrugged. Sam then lined up for the second score. Inhale,exhale,cut. I was stoked, just like that, one ear down. Well, almost. Sam unclamped me, and grabbed the taper. When he started to push it in...oh shitttttt did I feel it go in. The pain spiked my adrenaline, so I didn't even feel it as he chased the taper with my new 5/8"jewelry. He then proceeded to clean me up, and stop the blood, which was minimal. Johnny leaned in and inspected Sam's work, and gave it his approval. the next ear went much the same way, and it was over before I knew it. they sat me up, and then I walked over to the mirror. Damn, it was sure a trip to see the bigger eyelets in my ears. they looked great though, the shape was much closer to what I was looking for, and my ears felt awesome. I spent a few more moments admiring the work, and then let the guys know I was stoked on it. We stood around and talked for a few minutes longer, the whole time I was replaying the process in my head... as well as on JJ's camera: he had taken a video. I then thanked them both, paid Sam for his work, and we went on our merry way.
The whole rest of the week, I was stoked on my new and improved lobes. Cleaning was a snap, just some dial soap around the flares (by the way, if you have never had your ears scalpelled, I don't know if there is quite so nice a feeling as that first shower after getting cut when the warm water dissolves any crusted blood...ahh. Well anyway,) and I was comfortably able to take my plugs out after a week . I was so excited and satisfied with my decision, but the satisfaction with 5/8 was short lived- I still had my eye on 3/4.