Having been fascinated with the art of body modification upon my first sight of a tongue piercing (age 9, seeing my rec leader with one) I have since been on a journey to have the art define me as a person as well.
At A Glance Author Laura Contact Apathian618@aol.com When Six months ago Artist Luciano Morales Studio Evolution Location Albuquerque, New Mexico I got my first earlobe piercings at the age of 11 (mall and gun...bad, I know. But a start). They were followed by several more earlobe piercings, and I later evolved to ear cartilage piercings. Then came my tragus. Soon my body was becoming adorned with jewelry (despite some disapprovals from immediate family members).
While nothing in particular sparked my interest for nipple piercings, I have to say that now they are indeed one of my favorites.
About 6 or 7 months ago I had just gotten out of the shower and was drying myself off. I looked at my body in the mirror and, well, like any girl, was sighing at the sight of myself. While I am far from the media-imaged perfect body, I am usually happy with who I am and feel my self confidence helps battle the cliche and danger of the Beauty Myth. Anyway, despite this, I still felt the need of improvement. Seemingly out of nowhere, I looked down and thought "Hey....my nipples would look awesome if they were pierced!"
Knowing first hand the dangers of acting on impulse, I decided to wait a few weeks and really think about the idea. I did everything from hours of online research to even just holding up earrings and barbells to my nipples. Finally, the fascination became too much and I drew the conclusion that this was for me. On the night before my 19th birthday I headed out to Evolution Body Piercing (a birthday present to myself!)
Evolution is not, in my opinion, as well-known in Albuquerque as it should be. This is the most professional, sterile, and overall friendly studio I have ever come across. Having gotten tragus, tongue, and septum piercings there before (and others at not-so-great places), I knew there was no other place for me to go than this studio. I walked in and approached the owner at the counter, telling her I was interested in nipple piercings. She smiled, said OK!, and asked me what kind of jewelry I was interested in. Personally thinking captive bead rings or curved barbells would not not look too good on me, I told her I wanted barbells. She said that was an excellent choice because barbells are the best jewelry to use for initial healing as well.
She took my driver's license and I signed all the proper forms. Luciano was piercing that night and was doing a navel piercing before me. So I sat down and waited for 10 of the most emotional minutes of my life (excitement, nervousness, a little fear, adrenaline running, gotta love it!) Finally, he stuck his instruments for me in an autoclave and called me back.
While I am a very shy person, I had absolutely no discomfort pulling off my shirt for Luciano. This is most likely because I assured myself beforehand that he is a professional and my feeling awkward and shy was solely me (he was thinking of my nipples like he would an ear or a tongue). Luciano made me feel very comfortable too, which I think helped a lot. I wore a tank top with a built-in bra so all I had to do was pull down the straps (this also made for a lot of ease once they were done...I would recommend a top like this for anyone who does it!).
Luciano marked my nipples while I was sitting up, all the while explaining aftercare guidelines to me and opening up the packages containing the needles and jewelry. He then asked me to stand up to make sure the markings looked good in that position as well. He approved of the dots he made and asked me what I thought of them. We were both satisfied, and so he had me sit down again and he finished the aftercare lecture.
Then came the Moment of Truth. He asked me if I was ready and I said Yes. He told me to breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth. I closed my eyes out of habit and soon felt the needle go in my right nipple. Yes, it hurt. But so do all piercings. I do not want the pain factor to deter anyone who wants this, so I will not say more than that. Luciano asked me if I was OK and upon hearing a "Yeah" with a nervous giggle after it, he put the barbell in and screwed in the ball. One down, one to go!
He then asked if I was ready for Number Two. Admittedly, I was kind of not looking forward to it considering the first one hurt more than I thought it would. But once again, I won't go into that. I knew there was no way I was going to wait to get the second one done, so I said Yes. I think he sensed the nervousness in my voice. He reassured me by saying "You're doing great!" which made me smile. So I sat through the second one as well. I thought this one was a bit more painful than the first, but it was liveable and oh so worth it!
I pulled the straps back on my shoulders, tipped Luciano, and payed the owner at the counter. I got in my car, put on my seat belt, paying a bit more attention than usual as to where the strap ran across my chest, and was off on my way to a new level of self confidence (though I didn't really know it at the time)!
Later that night my friends took me to a hookah bar in celebration of my birthday. But I have to admit, hookahs and the belly dancers around us were not the only things on my mind! Halfway through the night I had to run to the restroom....not really because I had to pee, but because I had to pull down my shirt (oh so carefully, of course!) and admire my new adornments. I swear I have never felt so beautiful than when I did staring at my chest in that public bathroom mirror (no worries, it was a single bathroom! hehe).
These were also very easy piercings to clean because a shot glass of warm sea salt water fit over them perfectly! When I washed them with Provon in the shower, I experienced occasional sharp pains, but they went away after a couple weeks.
The only semi-bad experience I had with them was me putting on a halter top in a rush one night about a month after getting them done. Despite the fact that it had been a month since they were pierced, and despite my barely brushing the top up against them, this was probably more painful than the initial piercing.
Now fully healed, I still admit to admiring my nipple piercings when I am all alone. I have many other piercings (including a unique surface piercing that I get many compliments and comments on), but I do not think I love any of them more than my nipple rings. To me, they really express my femininity, and I feel like such a powerful female when I see my pierced nipples! I feel that the adornment is a symbol of intense beauty.
Amazing piercings indeed!