It all started when I was hanging out at South Town Tattoo Studios and my piercer, Scott, said "Hey you should let me do some side corsets on you." I blew it off from the get-go, laughed and didn't think I would ever be interested. But with piercings, once an idea gets in my head it just keeps going around and around. So after a few days I noticed myself looking in the mirror thinking about how amazing that would be to have. I love originality in my piercings and I knew no one in this town, possibly this state had anything like it.
At A Glance Author inkedpixie Contact inkedpixie@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Scott Creel Studio South Town Tattoo Studio Location Ft. Smith, AR So after laughing at the idea originally, I found my self in the studio a week later taking measurements and figuring out placement. Scott and I agreed that with me being so short, I'm only 5'2, that 6 rings would be as many as we could get away with. He's an absolute perfectionist when it comes to measuring everything out. We spent some time laying out dots over and over until he was happy that they were exactly right. I took a look in the mirror and they were dead on.
This whole time my mind was racing. I had twelve piercings at the time, but I was terrified that I wouldn't be able to handle twelve more in one session. I am more stubborn than anyone you can come across, and it would have devastated me to have to admit I couldn't handle something. So after a few cigarettes I was pumped and ready to go.
I lay down on my side and Scott started to get the clamp in place, which felt lovely by the way. He told me to relax, and slid the first needle through. It hurt so much worse than I thought it would, but I tried to stay calm. I moved a little when the ring went through and made it much worse for myself. Here's a tip, when they say try not to move, it is definitely for your own good. After that, the next two when flawlessly. The skin was a little tight and made it hard to clamp, but it wasn't really too big of a problem. When he got done with number three I had to take a break. My body was already shaking so bad that I didn't want to chance passing out. The next three went pretty well, and I figured out that the further you go, the more it hurts.
Up to this point I was thinking 'okay, what have you gotten yourself into.' I was already so exhausted that I had no idea how I was going to get through the second half of this. I went back in the room and Scott started on the second half. I guess being so worn out from the first half made me a lot weaker on this half of it. I took a break every two piercings to catch my breath. Once he got number 7 and 8 done, every piercing made my vision go a little black for a second. I made sure Scott knew how I was doing, and he was so great at not pushing me. He would stop between piercings to make sure I was still okay and not going to fast.
When he slid that last ring through it was the best feeling ever. I lay there and laughed for a while, just because it was finally over. On a one through ten scale of pain I would have to give this a seven. I'm lucky that tattoo parlors aren't PG-13 because the words coming out of my mouth that whole time shocked even me. It was so weird when I first looked at all of them in the mirror, it didn't matter that it hurt so much or that I had weeks of healing left with them. They were so pretty.
It's only been a day since I got them, and they are fairly sore still. Showering is a little longer, and I figured out that there are two ways to sleep, on your stomach or on your back. They haven't been a hassle though. I cleaned them all today and it's not as hard as I thought it would be.
This whole experience was so much more intense and painful than I thought it would be, but in the end it was more than worth it. I had always thought of myself as being pretty tough and I guess it was a nice reassurance to me that I got through it. If anyone who reads this is thinking about some side corsets, this is all I can tell you. It hurts, a lot, but in the end it is the best feeling of strength and satisfaction with yourself for sticking with it and going for it. I love mine already. I would recommend however that you have a very patient piercing artist work with you. Scott was so great with me. He kept me laughing the whole time, and as always was perfect at what he does. After they heal I'll try to post an update to let you all in on some tips for healing them and probably a BIG list of what not to do and wear with them.