I had wanted to get my eyebrow pierced for almost a year. It isn't the most common piercing where I live, and if considered common-only for males. I had used BME as my research guide; reading up on the stories of other people's eyebrow experiences. I also made time to read the horrible side-effects. These included, migrating, cysts from infection, and bruises. The fear that perturbed me the most was that of migration. Paying $70.00 for a piercing, only to have it migrate half-way down your face was not my idea of a good deal. So, I talked to a couple of friends who had gotten their eyebrow pierced as well. Getting pierced with a ring as opposed to a barbell seemed to be the favored method between my friends. They claimed their piercer told them it was easier to clean, and less likely to become infected. I was stubborn though, and I wanted to get a barbell.
At A Glance Author Tess Contact Tess@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Chris Studio Way Cool Tattoos Location Toronto, Queen street There is a Way Cool tattoos near where I live, and they are highly popular for piercings. So, I decided I would go there, but only to find out it would be closed for a month. So, I decided to go to the Way Cool in Toronto. My friend had wanted to get her labret pierced, so I dragged her along with me.
When we got to Way Cool, the piercer was very friendly, and informative. He let my friend and I look through their piercing book. There were some interesting piercings in that thing, and looking at them made me slightly queasy.
I had to sign a bunch of forms saying, stating I was of age to be pierced and that they weren't to be held liable. I had to show him my ID. The legal age to be pierced without parental consent is 16 in Ontario, Canada. Luckily I was 17, and had parental consent regardless. My mother wasn't exactly thrilled about it.
The piercer took me back into a room that looked like a doctor's office, with a lot of mirrors. There was a raised bed, like that in a doctor's office, which he asked me to lie on top of. He took a marker and marked where he thought the beset place to pierce my eyebrow would be. He marked the very end of my eyebrow, where the hair becomes thinner. He picked the exact spot I had been thinking to get pierced, so we were ready to make a hole. He began telling me the cleaning instructions as he moved me over to the light. I wasn't really paying attention as I was focusing on the needles. I am sure he anticipated this though, as he gave me a brochure with cleaning instructions on it as well. He began showing me all the tools he would be using, all of them were in plastic sealed packages. He showed me each instrument and explained they were sterile and had never been used before, and would be discarded as soon as the piercing was done. He changed his gloves about 3 times. This was all very comforting to see, as I had been paranoid about infection from the beginning. He then asked if I had any questions before he pierced me. To which I responded, "What about migration!?" He explained that he would not do a piercing if the chances of it migrating were higher than it staying. As well as if it migrated, I could come back and we would let it heal and he would pierce it again for free. This was good to know, because I was very concerned with wasting my money.
Finally he started the piercing. He placed a clamp on my eyebrow and asked if it was pulling too hard. It was pulling a bit hard, but not unbearably. He then told me he was able to pierce more skin, which would be better for preventing migration. The clamp was beginning to hurt at this point but I decided not to say anything. Finally he told me this was it, he was going to stick the needle in me, and that it should not hurt anymore than popping a pimple, a bit reassuring. I was very glad I was lying down, and for anyone else getting your face pierced I would recommend lying down, because I probably would have passed out if otherwise. He told me he was sticking the needle in me, and about two seconds later he nonchalantly replied, "You're done". I blinked, and the bright fluorescent lights blinded my eyes. It was done? I had barely felt anything; I quickly hopped off the bed and checked it out. I was not bleeding which was definitely a bonus, and the barbell was conservatively small, and in an awesome spot. He told me it looked awesome, and I ran out the door to show my friends.
My friend had brought his digital camera to take a picture of me for BME, my eye was a little red but I am going to send it anyway.The piercing was very painless; it looks nice, and is easy to care for. For anyone considering this piercing, do it. Even if you have never had anything pierced before I would recommend doing it. It hurt less than getting my lobes pierced-which I had done when I was five. I would suggest going to a well-known piercer to have it done though, and make sure everything is clean and sterile. Do your research, and if it costs more to go to the guy who will do it better, so what?