Sometime around whenever I realized that I might one day turn thirty, I decided that I should really get going on the ear project that I had always wanted to do. When I was eighteen I had worked with a woman that had the most fascinating ear project, using what seemed like dozens of identically-sized CBRs in all of the strange little nooks and crannies that one can pierce in their ear. She had no other piercings, and to top it off, this woman was gorgeous and classy. I loved the look and told myself that one day, I, too, would do an ear project using the exact same jewelry in each piercing. Apparently, when I was 27, it was time.
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Jenna Studio Instinct Adornment Location Kamloops, British Columbia I started with two lobes and a cartilage, fairly generic. I've had other piercings, so I knew what I was getting myself into. From there I reopened two old cartilage piercings and got a tragus and a rook. I let all of that heal before embarking on the current round of piercings that I just completed: snug, daith, outer conch, the latter two of which I just did today. I'm here to tell you about the daith experience, though, so here it goes:
I booked the appointment with my regular piercer, Jenna, of Instinct Adornment in Kamloops, British Columbia. Despite it being a relatively obscure small town, I am very proud to say that we have piercings shops of the highest calibre here, with Instinct specializing in piercing. Jenna, who has pierced me on multiple occasions, has got to be the fastest piercer I have ever encountered. I also trust her advice on placement (and which piercings to get), which is good, because most of the people I know have only one opinion about what I should pierce next: nothing.
I booked the appointment at the beginning of the week for today, which is Friday, which of course is a stupid thing to do because it makes the week take forever. Finally, it was Friday, and I trotted over to the shop, which was busy, as always. Jenna was there, helping someone with a jewelry purchase, and she had another employee go through the IDing and initial aftercare instructions. We went into one of the back rooms to do the piercings and I asked Jenna if she would consider a forward helix as well as the daith that I had made the appointment for. She said she would consider it. We sat down and she looked at my ear (which is by far the best ear for intricate piercings I've ever seen, it has great ridges and cartilage and they're nice and big!) and advised me against a forward helix placed too high on my ear, which is where I wanted it. We decided to talk about it after we finished the daith.
She explained all the usual things that the piercers explain when you get a piercing, which I know you all know, about such as how to tell the equipment is sterile. I had told her that I heard bad things about this piercing and offered to remove my rook and tragus if they were in the way. She said they would not be a problem. She made me breathe, another thing I know you all are familiar with, and it was over in about five seconds. I find that I sort of pretend that I'm not there when I get pierced and don't think about what is happening and then it is sometimes a bit painful, but at least I'm not focused on it. And I never look at the needle. Jenna said, "Look at this" and I turned and saw something long and thin and I said, "Don't show me the needle!" and it was totally the toothpick she was putting the ink on with. I felt like a bit of a wimp. I figure once the ear project is finished, then I might look at a needle just to see what has been putting all these beauti ful holes in me, but I won't be done for a while.
Anyways, as for after the fact, we talked about placement of piercings considering she didn't like the thought of the forward helix, and we decided on an outer conch. That was a much less painful piercing than either the snug or the daith that I had got in the recent past. The daith bled a bit, but to be honest, with any of these "strange" piercings, you're going to have to expect a bit of blood. But afterward I didn't even look at the daith (it's a hard piercing to see), I sort of saw the BIG ring (I wanted a tiny one, but apparently they heal better with a larger ring), but couldn't see where the actual hole was. I trust Jenna and knew she would place it perfectly.
So, to any of you that are going to be in or around Kamloops, British Columbia, in the near future and are looking for a place to get pierced, I highly recommend Instinct Adornment, either of the piercers, Jenna or Sinead, are absolutely top notch. I've had about eight piercings done there in the past year, and I have nothing but good things to say about them.
Happy piercing!