This all happened a month or two back now...
At A Glance Author TattooedMonkey Contact TattooedMonkey@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Chantal Menard Studio Red Hot Tattoo Location Arcadia, CA I'd know the folks at Red Hot Tattoo for about a year at this point, got to know them after walking in after a hectic workday. I'd wanted a tattoo, they were wonderful to deal with, and conveniently blocks from my house. Over the course of time I got to know everyone who works there, as well as a majority of the regular clientele. Chantal began working there late last year, and I met her through my tattoo artist Kat Von D (great gal).
I began talking with Chantal about all manner of bod mod stuff (piercing, branding, scarification, etc) we tended to think a lot alike, and had similar aesthetic tastes. Up to this point I had no piercing done what so ever, merely tattoo work. In speaking with her we clarified an ear project (which has since then been begun) and gotten some advice, but I was still hesitant. She pointed me to BMEZine and a few other places to look for ideas, info, experiences, etc.
I started poking around all the galleries, reading what people had to say about all manner of piercing, tattooing, body mod work. About this time I realized what I wanted to do; a surface-to-surface nape piercing. I chose it for a few reasons really. One, it was intense enough in its nature that I would be able to gauge whether I could handle what I wanted to do to my ear. Two, it was placed on a stop on my body which I'm rather fond of. Three, if I ended up not liking the piercing, it would be removed, and thanks to my long hair, any scarring would be a total non-issue.
I went in a few days later, talked to Chantal some more, let her know what I'd come up with. We bantered back and forth over it, size, placement, a few neck pinches to see how the skin worked all that jazz. She told me she'd need to order the bar, and she'd call when it got there, so I was on my way with some friendly advice. No alcohol a few days before hand, and try to lay off the caffeine for a few days as well.
The day came, and I got the call, so I zipped home to change into a nice dark shirt, just in case any bleeding hit my clothes. I went down, and was probably running on adrenaline at this point. I've had a bad fear of needles for much of my life, so there was certainly something for me to overcome here.
I stepped into the back room, and we started talking, she let me know what would happen, and so forth. As well as a lot of friendly conversation (which helped the nerves). All the while as she setup she was continuously changing gloves (a habit of hers I've come to love). She cleaned my neck, pinched at it a few more time, and we started to settle in. Chantal literally spent 10 minutes cleaning and babying the area to be pierced, then she started marking a few different sizes so I could choose whether or not 1/2 inch was really what I wanted. Seeing the marks for it, I ultimately decided on a 7/8 inch bar, it just straddled my spine oh so well. After that she cleaned the area just a tad once more, and we set in to get the show on the road.
Initially she had me lay face down, but the skin on my neck was too tense to get a good grip with the clamps. I shifted this way and that, sitting, standing, leaning one way or another, all in all it started to look pretty bad. We were both starting to get a little frustrated, each time my neck was clamped, they slipped off with a pinch (didn't hurt, but I did get these really great bruises from them). Finally we opted to just stop for a moment, talk, relax, breathe, etc. I started doing some deep meditational breathing, cracked my neck, my back, and tried to feel out my own body to see what I could do to get it to chill the hell out. I finally ended up sitting dead upright, arms laced above my head, and that did it. She clamped and it took perfectly. I started to take nice deep breaths, in..... and out. Slink went the needle into my neck. At this point, it still didn't really hurt, I was like I wasn't really all there. Unfortunately, my leathery neck didn't get all the way pierced, so Chantal had me take another deep breath. On the exhale she pushed again, I could feel her shake as she muscled the needle through, and then I felt this really subtle pop as it broke the skin on the far side. As soon as that happened, a fine layer of sweat covered me from head to toe, and I got one of the most intense rushes I've ever had. It was incredible to say the least (and frankly, what probably hooked me on piercing).
We paused just a moment to breathe a sigh of relief. She swapped in the jewelry for the needle, screwed the little ball on nice and tight, and cleaned me up. It was definitely a shared experience, and as much was taken out of her as I had from me. We both sort of laughed and talked as she cleaned the area up, making sure I was good. I hung around the shop for close to an hour really, just talking and relaxing, and finally went home.
Aftercare has been simple. Just was with antibacterial soap (don't forget to shimmy the bar kids) and soak every few days with a salt water bath. It's healing up nicely, and I adore how it looks. Most of my co-workers think I'm truly nuts now, but it's okay. Since then I've gotten a madison, as well as four orbitals in my left ear (for the aforementioned ear project). I'm looking forward to quite a few more piercings over time, and I'm sure to share some of the experiences here. BME has been a source of many ideas and inspiration.