I started piercing two months after I completed my secondary school education, when I was 17.(which was like 5 months ago, secondary school education here runs in Jan-May, July-Nov semesters) I wanted to do it earlier, but there were rules against boys having piercings in school, so to avoid all the hassle I decided to wait. After my finals, I got a friend to follow me to get my first piercing, in my left earlobe. This was done with a gun, apparently its not very safe, but at the time I had not known about this, and it was the norm in Singapore that ear piercings are done with a gun, so I went with it. I have 2 lobe piercings and a cartilage piercing in my left ear, and a lobe in my right ear, all done with a gun, and I have had no complications with them, other than the fact that the cartilage took quite a long time to heal.
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When It just happened Artist HP Studio BodyDecor Location Singapore Well, I figured I was done with my piercings after I got my right ear pierced, but I noticed that many people on the street had cartilage piercings too. Now, I am not the kind of person who goes out of his way to look different, but it kind of irked me that almost everywhere I looked I saw someone with a cartilage piercing. It was then that i decided I needed a new piercing. I had actually wanted a labret or vertical labret, but I realized that if I do those piercings, it would be hard for me to play my saxophone, so I decided against it.
While I was surfing the net, I came across BMEzine, and saw what I thought was a really cool piercing, the anti-eyebrow. I told a good friend of mine about it, but she said that she thought it was too over-the-top, and to further dissuade me, she said if I did it she would be too embarrassed go out with me. (one of the powers the female of our species hold over the males) That left me with the eyebrow.
My friend was actually pretty excited that I was going to get my eyebrow pierced, so she helped me check out a studio and price the piercing. A week later, I arranged with her to accompany me to the studio, to finally get my first piercing done with a needle. When we arrived at the studio, I noticed that it was pretty clean, and there was a guy getting a tattoo. The piercer, HP, came over and asked if she could help us. I told her I wanted to get my eyebrow pierced, and she explained to me that as the eyebrow is a surface piercing, it would not be permanent. I had not read this on BME, so I was kind of disappointed.
I decided to go ahead anyway, and she brought out the barbells for me to inspect. They were (according to HP. Being inexperienced I wouldn't know whether or not they were) standard 16 gauge curved barbells. I asked about getting a ring, but she advised against it, as a ring would stick straight out and as a result be more prone to getting clipped on something, and hamper the healing process. After I had agreed to it, HP handed me the form to sign, I assume its a release form or the like. after I was done with it, she handed me the aftercare sheet to read while she cleaned the jewelry, and collected the 61 dollar payment. Being the naive newbie I was (still am, heh), I asked to watch the cleaning, and she said that it was just soaking the jewelry in disinfectant, and that I would be able to see that when she pierced me, the needle package will only be broken just before she pierced me. She then told us to come back in 15 minutes, at 5:55pm, on 5/5/05, heh. It was a total coincidence, I just noticed that it was my fifth piercing too.
So my friend and I stepped out for a smoke, and when we got back, it was almost exactly 5:55pm. HP led me into a small room, along with my friend who wanted to watch. She marked out the entry/exit points for the needle, and asked me to check it. I was happy with the placements, so she started explained the procedure to me. She told me to remove my glasses so she could clean my eyebrow with cotton, and clamped it. Some stories I read on BME said this was the worst part, but to me it was just a little uncomfortable. She told me then to close my eyes, because if I saw the needle, I would instinctively flinch, and we didn't want that. I felt some pain as the needle went through, not much, but that was the worst of it. I didn't feel her putting the jewelry through, and that was it. My friend and I thought it looked really great.
She went through with me on aftercare, and told me some things on the aftercare sheet that might be easily missed, like how it is best to dry the area around the piercing with a tissue, instead of a towel, as towels might harbor bacteria. I thanked her once again, and we left the shop.
That was less than two days ago, and the only problem i have had is my brow feeling bruised. I am very happy with my new piercing, and if the healing goes well, I probably will head back to get my left eyebrow pierced too, and maybe even my lip in the near future. I really recommend anyone in Singapore who would like to get pierced to go to BodyDecor, feel free to e-mail me if you are Singaporean and contemplating a piercing.
It was my pleasure sharing this experience, my way of giving back to BME the something for all the help I got from this site.