I am obsessed with surface piercings. Not in the sense that I already have 14 and am looking for more, and more in the sense that I have none but am pretty much only interested in surface as far as piercings go.
At A Glance Author mishmish Contact mishmish@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Azl Studio Tatooatouage Location Montreal This summer, I decided it was about time a got a new piercing (I only had my lobes at 4g at the time, and had removed my cartilage piercing a long time ago). I was pretty much set on getting surface piercings on my hips, and already knew how I wanted them and where exactly. After much consideration and research, realised that it really wasn't an optimal place seeing as my skin is really tight there and they would rub on jeans, etc. I was really dissapointed, but then I thought about a sternum piercing - the area is pretty much protected so its foolproof, right? wrong. Considering surface piercings eventually always end up rejecting, and there's no way in telling how long it would last, I figured I didn't really feel like paying for something that will potentially (physically) scar me.
All other surface piercings ruled out, the only other piercing that potentially interested me was nipple piercings. I figured, might as well. My best friend had mentioned wanting to get hers done as well, so we decided to do them together as our little bonding experience (cheesy, I know). I checked into a bunch of piercing places in downtown Montreal, but a good piercing mostly depends on the piercer rather than the shop (though most of the time they do go hand in hand). I was referred by a few people to Azl at Tatooatouage, so I checked out the stories and pictures on BME, seeing that all comments were very positive towards him, and the photos showed that he did really good work.
So my best friend and I finally decided to get them done, about 2 weeks ago. We walked into Tatooatouage on St-Denis, both really excited and anxious about the whole thing. Once we had paid, signed the forms, etc, we went to the piercing area. Azl was really awesome and let us both stay in the room to hold each other's hands. My best friend wanted to go first, and considering how nervous I was, I had no problem with delaying mine for a few more minutes. She sat down, Azl made sure she was really comfortable and we decided that she should have her straight barbells done diagonally (which is how I wanted mine too). She toughed through it and it looked awesome once they were done, so my excitement made it easier to ignore the fact that my stomach was completely twisted (its strange, I can handle tattoos perfectly fine, but piercings really tend to make me nervous).
So it was my turn now. Same deal. Sat down, got comfortable, and squeezed my friend's hand. Clamp goes on... um, this already kind of hurts. Breathe in, breathe out, and OUCH. There it was. Ouch again, with the curved barbell being put in. Still breathing. OUCH. FUCK. There's the other one! He put the second one in without a warning!! Though I'm definitely happy he did, or else I would've probably delayed the second piercing by a few more minutes and felt the pain even worse. Come to think of it, neither piercing even hurt all that much. It was more the anticipation then the surprise of the needle than anything. I got up and checked them out in the mirror, and was so excited! Both were diagonal and perfectly symmetrical, and I was warned that if they didn't look symmetric, then it was probably because the barbells are curved and one of them had spun a little.
The entire experience was awesome, Azl did a really good job at making sure we were comfortable, choosing the right jewellery for each of us, making sure it was done right. He was both professional and really friendly, and took the time to listen to what we wanted. My best friend and I both left really happy with our new piercings, and neither of us had any complications at all, and cleaning them was only weird because a few days later they already felt and looked completely healed! (obviously not, but they were that low-maintenace). It's funny how my best friend and I both experience our piercings differently though; everything has become uber-sensitive for me (all of a sudden I'm aware of the shirt I'm wearing), while she says that nothing has really changed for her.
As for now, I'm very content with my nipple piercings. Though I still want my hips done, I might be able to distract myself with non-surface piercings for a while. Or I might finally extend my tattoos into a shoulderpiece. who knows.