On December 6, 2004, the day after I turned eighteen years old, I was extremely excited about getting my first facial piercing. I had wanted an eyebrow ring for as long as I could remember, but my parent's would never sign for me to have anything done unless it was an ear piercing. I was finally old enough to have it done by myself, and by God, no one was going to stop me from doing it. This was my day!
At A Glance Author Riché Contact Riché@bme.anon When A year ago Artist Chris Studio Dogstar Location Durham, North Carolina I met with my friend Rebecca, who had recently had her nose pierced by Chris at Dogstar, and we started the walk down Ninth Street from my highschool NCSSM to the parlor. I was excited the whole time, and was talking about how completely stoked I was about all of this. I was finally getting my piercing done!
When we walked into the room, I was completely confident and ready to do the piercing. I wasn't a bit nervous about anything, because a week before I had gone to Dogstar to ask about sterilization procedures, the piercing procedure, risks, cleaning, et cetera, so I would be prepared when the time came to have the piercing done. Even with piercings as standard and common as an eyebrow piercing, there are definite risks.
I set my eyes on Chris for the first time and the only thing that popped into my mind was "Good God, he's fucking hot." That's when I got nervous. Not because of the piercing, but because someone as hot as him was performing it.
I walked up to the front desk and told him that I would like to have my eyebrow pierced. He made me fill out the appropriate forms, asking about allergies and health problems, and took my ID to photocopy it and make sure I was 18 and legal to pierce. When he noticed my birthday was just the day before, he wished me a happy birthday and had me pick out my jewelry. I was thinking about going for a hoop piercing, but decided a barbell would be perfect for me. There would be less chance of snagging it.
He walked me back into the room, and again went over the piercing procedure, before taking the marker and carefully planning where the piercing would be located. He picked up his clamps, wrapped rubber bands around it so it would grip well, and lined up the markings. He pulled the clamp around and this was actually the most painful part of the piercing. It didn't really hurt, but it was annoying as fuck.
When Chris was ready, he asked if I was ready, and of course I was. He explained that once he corked the needle, after putting it through my skin, that it would slide out as he inserted the jewelry, and would fall between my knees. He let me know this just so I wouldn't panic and be afraid of being stabbed as he opened a new pair of sterile latex gloves and put them on.
Chris had me take three deep breaths to help calm me because I was very very excited, and then the piercing began. I saw the needle come down in front of my eye, and I remember Chris telling me to close my eye so I didn't get any blood in it. I felt him clean the piercing with a Q-tip. The piercing went very quickly and I actually, honestly, didn't even feel the needle enter my eyebrow. Chris had mentioned that with his, he didn't feel the piercing, because there aren't really any nerve endings behind the tear ducts, which are behind the eyebrow. He slipped in the jewelry, screwed on the ball at the end of the barbell, and cleaned up the supplies, throwing away the needle in a box screwed to the wall.
He then went over the healing process and how to clean my piercing, and sent me on my way. For two months, I soaked my piercing in warm water with sea salts, and used an antibacterial liquid handsoap like Dial to clean it. My piercing healed perfectly, and I changed the barbell frequently and cleaned them often. However, about six months after getting my piercing, I snagged it on a towel while drying my hair. It bled very little, but became irritated and stayed that way. I tried to nurse it back to health, but failed miserably, and my piercing soon began to reject, slowly but surely. When I realized there was no helping it, I removed my eyebrow piercing and am left with two small scars as a lovely reminder of my perfect piercing. DO NOT SNAG YOUR PIERCINGS!
I'm going to redo my piercing, but will need to pierce through scar tissue, which will be tons of fun. TONS.
Goodluck with your piercings, and I definitely recommend Chris, Dogstar, and standard eyebrow piercings.