I had been itching for a new piercing for a few months, trying to decide between a vertical labret, centre cleavage surface, or a helix orbital. After much debate over the pros and cons of each I decided on the cleavage, as being a month away from the Download festival the other two would be much more exposed and more likely to get damaged. It would probably have been better to wait until after the festival altogether, but I decided I would sacrifice the short-lived fun of the mosh pits for a cute and longer lasting piercing.
At A Glance Author Wendy Contact Wendy@bme.anon When A week ago Artist Caroline Studio Holier Than Thou Location Manchester, England A poster in the window of the old Manchester Piercing Studio directed me further down the road to their new location, now named 'Holier Than Thou.' I had a few gulps of Coke while I waited, and after a girl had paid for her navel piercing I went up to the till and told Caroline what I wanted. She asked how old I was, which was strange as she had wished me a happy 18th not too long ago, but I attributed it to the fact my hair was in pigtails and the shop has a strict policy. Luckily I'd put on a shirt suitable for the occasion and she checked if the area had any chance of being suitable with a pinch. Thankfully there appeared to be enough flesh, so I handed over £30. I signed the forms and read through the aftercare sheet a few times while I waited (I miss the sofas they had in the old shop) and somehow I was much less nervous than I had been on the tram into Manchester. I was before a man who had come to get a Prince Albert, so I figured he had more reason to be nervous than me!
I was called into the piercing room, which was just as sparkling clean as the last one, but smaller. Caroline measured up and marked the points for the placement, and clipped and bent a PTFE bar into shape, under the watchful eye of a new piercer. The original purple solution used for the dots ran too much so I was cleaned up and marked with the pen, but when I lay down the points moved slightly, so they were changed again - the more perfect the better. I lay down and my skin was clamped, which wasn't as bad as I'd expected, and decided to concentrate on the ceiling. This was in the hope that it would be done without me realising the needle was through, like a few of my other piercings. No such luck! Caroline told me to breathe in, then out, and I felt the needle go through - alright at first but on the way back out of the flesh I felt a brief flash of pain and my leg jerked involuntarily. It seemed it was the most painful of my piercings, but I knew it would look the prettiest.
I leaned upwards to see the tube poking through my chest, then the PTFE was slid through with little fuss, and I was glad to hear the other piercer say, "Hardly any blood, always a good sign." I stood up to look in the mirror and loved it, it was exactly as I'd imagined. My chest was wiped before and they spent a while trying to take a good picture for the new website. That felt a bit strange as I don't really want any pictures of my (rather small) boobs on the internet, but it turned out not to be too revealing after all. Caroline explained the aftercare procedure and kept checking I felt alright, then I went on my way, pleased I'd finally gone through with it. On a high, I went shopping for some shoes then met up with a friend who decided it was 'interesting.' Other people's reactions included, "Wow, I didn't think you could get a piercing there," "Oh my god," and "Eh, I thought it would just have one ball." For the first couple of days I couldn't stop taking sneaky peeks down my t-shirts to check on and admire it.
6 days on, the bruising has almost gone and it hardly ever hurts, except for when I wake up to find I've rolled onto my front. There's a bit of pink under the top ball that looks similar to when I got my belly pierced, so I hope it's the same thing and nothing more problematic. I've vowed to myself to try and take as much care of it as possible as I'm really paranoid about rejection, I want to keep my cute little balls for as long as possible.
Aesthetically, the cleavage piercing is one of the best. I'd definitely recommend Holier than Thou, as everyone's so friendly and laid back yet meticulously clean. Caroline's done almost all of my piercings and she's always been really honest, considerate and professional.