as sent to bmezine for posting
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My fourth and fifth piercing experiences were spectacular in comparison to the first, second, and third piercings. Yesterday, I had my eyebrows pierced, one 16g curved barbell in each eyebrow ? by a guy named Rich, in a shop called Adornment Deluxe.
I was nervous going in to this piercing because I’d had bad experiences in the past. My first, the navel, was done without much thought, foresight, or research. I went to a shop I knew nothing about, and was pierced by someone I wasn?t completely comfortable with. He used bad jewelry and bad technique. It was bloody and painful and I wasn’t given proper aftercare education. After almost 2 years of irritation, I removed the jewelry.
My second and third piercings were my nipples. I?d gone to a shop recommended by my cousin who?s had some work done there. The experience itself wasn’t too bad, although very quick and not very comforting. After the right nipple migrated, the constant pain and terrible healing process that was happening with the left nipple forced me to take it out as well. It?s been more than a year since I removed my nipple piercings and navel piercing.
Almost five years ago, I decided I wanted an eyebrow piercing. I made the decision after meeting a girl who had a very tiny barbell in her right eyebrow. It was small and clever and unique.
I am a mountain biker. I get dirty and muddy most nights of the week, most months of the year. I knew that I wanted to do this, but as a mountain biker, I wanted to wait until the season was over before getting pierced. I?ve had such bad healing experiences in the past that I didn?t want to risk the trauma that the piercing would surely experience.
I started planning my adventure as soon as the last race was done in the beginning of November. Over the years, I thought about what I would get done. I knew that I wanted the jewelry to be small and I recently decided that I wanted a barbell in each eyebrow.
I always assumed that the healing problems I had were due to lack of proper aftercare on my part and had planned to go back to the shop where I had my nipples pierced. I took the advice of a trusted and experienced friend who recommended Adornment Deluxe for my eyebrow piercings. She’s had a few piercings and has been pierced by there before; she was very impressed.
Last Friday, I looked at the shop?s website and decided to make an appointment, wanting to get pierced that night. I called, and although the piercer had availability, they didn’t have two 16g pierceable bars ? they only had one. The woman I spoke with said that they?d have some arriving the following Tuesday, so I made an appointment for that Tuesday, after work. Well, as luck would have it, their distributor had not sent the 16g piercable bars with the shipment the day before. Adornment Deluxe called to break the news, and ask if I wanted to reschedule again ? they were told, with certainty, that the jewelry had shipped that day and would arrive the next.
This was Thanksgiving week, and I had plans the following night, so I couldn?t schedule an appointment until Friday. However, since I was on holiday from work, I could schedule a daytime appointment. As soon as I walked into Adornment Deluxe, I knew this would be different.
The shop was welcoming and calm; smelled like incense, and soothing music played on the speakers. Rich, the piercer, was behind the counter and was getting ready for my appointment. He showed me the curved bars he was going to use, and why he was using that length. He let me choose the balls that I wanted to go on the bars. He looked at my eyebrows and asked about my experiences. I gave a quick summarization of my previous experiences ? telling him that I?ve had problems with healing. He told me there were many reasons to have problems like I?ve had and that it didn?t mean that I couldn?t heal a piercing. He gave a couple quick aftercare tips and then left to prepare the piercing room.
I filled out my release form, read some more aftercare information and moved to the piercing room. I spent more time in the piercing room for my eyebrows than I did for my navel and nipples combined. Rich was amazing. He was calm, patient, comforting and educational. He explained everything he was going to do, how he was going to do it, and why he was doing it. He was meticulous when he marked my eyebrows where he was going to pierce. He handed me a mirror after the first eyebrow to make sure I was comfortable with the placement and angle. After he marked the second, he handed me the mirror again and told me to take as long as I needed to make sure it was right, to make sure it was how I wanted it.
The process was very smooth, very professional and relatively pain free. He took his time to make sure he was piercing in the right place, with the right angle. He was careful and calm. He was precise and soft. When he was done, he explained the aftercare procedures to me in detail and answered every question I asked without ever seeming bored or making me feel silly for asking.
Today is the next day, and I don?t feel any pain from my piercing (unless I crunch up my face real tight). The jewelry looks awesome. I?m so completely happy with my new piercings and the experience was fantastic. I?m already thinking of what my next piercing is going to be!
