It was a bright sunny day in August, my best friend Dylan and I where doing the usual summer activities, skateboarding, sun bathing, committing felonies, ect. When we got the bright idea to go check out the local tattoo shop, Black Art. I had been dreaming of getting a piercing for so long, I can't remember a time when I didn't. I had my ears done all the way up for about 3 years, but it wasn't close to enough for me, I needed more. There were other factors contributing to my boring pierce-free body; Family. My family seems to think that piercings and tattoos are wrong, they are very old fashioned, coming from the old country where you sit on the front porch playing the banjo eating sunflower seeds and pigs feet. But...I am not! So I went ahead anyway.
At A Glance Author Kitty Karkas Contact leeserin@hotmail.com Artist Big Dan Studio Black Art Location Dawson Creek, B.C. I had heard some pretty bad stories about unsanitary studios and I made for damn-sure I wasn't gonna be one of those people that got tricked into getting a bogus-ass piercing that would reject in no time or give me some nasty disease. I didn't just up and choose any old tattoo artist, I have known Dan for a while and I have had friends and other people tell me he was a skilled piercer and had a clean studio with sterilized and packaged tools and instruments. My advice to anyone getting a piercing or tattoo: Always check out who's doing it, because they could be screwing you right over. Also, it's not really a question of money. Paying alot of money for a high quality piercing is definitly worth it in the long run.
So we walked on down to Black Art where Big Dan was giving a biker guy a touchup on his Harley Davidson tattoo. He blabbed on and on about bikes and such, as we sat and watched for about 10 minutes. Dan pointed out a few photo albums to us with some pictures of other work he had done on people. It was filled with beautiful tattoos and HUNDREDS of nose and tongue piercings. There where a few eyebrows and they really appealed to me. I drooled over the tongue and septum piercings while Dylan ogled the navel and butterfly tattoos. I figured my mom wouldn't appreciate either of my dream piercings so I settled for the Eyebrow and Dylan had her heart set on the navel.
After the biker guy left Dan sat us down and explained the procedure, the aftercare and the extra precautions we should take. He then showed us the instruments he used, they where all sterilized, pre-packaged, the whole nine yards. I heard good things from other people about Dan so I decided to trust him with my eyebrow. Dan asked us who would like to go first and Dylan shouted, "Erin will!" So I guess I was the first one in the hot seat. I was fairly nervous since it was my first piercing but I have a high pain tolerance so I wasn't too worried.
He put on some rubber gloves and asked which side I would like it on. I chose the left side so he proceeded to disinfect the area with some solution on a q-tip. He clamped up my eyebrow and I started to get ready for an intense amount of pain. I asked him when he was going to do it and told me it was already finished. He asked me what kind of bead I would like and I chose a blue tiger's eye. He removed the clamp and I hopped out of the chair to look at my beautiful new piercing.
Dan gave me a pamphlet and a bottle of solution to use for cleaning in the first few weeks, I solemnly swore to clean it religiously. He reminded me of all the precautions and such, then I paid him and walked out. I couldn't help but look at it every chance I got. It didn't hurt at first but a couple hours later I could feel it and it was a bit swollen so I popped a couple Advil and it didn't really bother me much after that. I cleaned it a couple times daily with the solution Dan gave me and it never got infected at all. A few weeks after I snagged it on a shirt and I treated it just like a fresh piercing again, cleaned it a few times daily. Needless to say, I was EXTREMELY careful after that! And there was a bonus in all of this; Mom liked it! I'm really happy with my eyebrow piercing and I don't plan on retiring it any time soon.