HI! Welcome to my first ever piercing diary / blog post. If you’re here I imagine it’s because you too are thinking about firing some steEl through your lil nip. OR maybe you’re just curious to see how I got on with my piercing experience? Either way welcome. Now let’s talk about the cold hard facts of getting one of the most sensitive areas on your body pierced.
1 MONTH BEFORE…
Like every fucker (blogger) in London I love a trend. Anything new and exciting with an added dash of chicness and I’m there. With bells on. Or in this case double ended, steal barbells.
Let me just take you back to my 18 year old self, when I was young and consumed with punk rock and my peers were piercing their bits to further accentuate their badass-ness. I went with my friend Kate to get our nipples pierced. She went first and I never even made it onto the bed.
Fast forward 10 years and I’m still thinking about that damn nipple piercing and how cute it looks. Girls like Kendall and Rihanna are piercing their nips and it’s definitely no longer associated with punk style tribes.
Maria Tash, a New York based piecer of celebrities opened her piercing studio in Liberty of London last year and girls flocked to have their cartilage pierced with her gold and diamond celestial inspired earrings. The jewellery isn’t cheap but it’s gorgeous and there is a definite feeling of exclusivity getting pierced somewhere as prestigious as Liberties with Maria Tash. In other words I didn’t think I’d walk away with a botched piercing and an infection.
1 WEEK BEFORE…
I was due to get pierced I came down with tonsillitis. I took antibiotics and because of this they cancelled my appointment. This is because if the body is weakened then it’s not a good idea to introduce a piercing to the flesh as it’s essentially a wound and at that moment the immune system is buggered. I rebooked for 3 weeks later.
1 HOUR BEFORE…
I was stood staring into the glass cases with my friend Anna (who came for moral support) wondering what nipple bar to choose. I made my mind up fairly quickly and opted for the basic steal bar (£45) after learning that the gold ones with diamonds would set me back a couple of hundred, reasoning if the piercing worked out I’d come back and invest at a later date.
DURING…
the appointment I was taken into a small, clean white room, which is essentially a few boards stood up to give you some privacy. I learnt this afterwards as upon exiting the room everyone (shop staff and customers) had heard my hysterical ramblings and embarrassing questions pre piercing. Oops.
Penny, my piercer, was one of those girls that loves getting pierced. Her face and body told a story of her past piercing decisions; ones she removed, ones she’d gotten recently. She had the calmest and friendliest demeanour which is exactly what you want when you’re about to let someone gorge your body with a spike (dramatic, I know). NOTE: I wanted a woman piercer too so I feLt more comfortable.
She ran through the essential information about the process, the aftercare and asked if I had any Questions. YES Penny, how long have you got? Could I breast feed? Yes, but piercing needs to be removed upon conception. Will it hurt? Yes, it will sting but everyones pain threshold is different. How long does it take to heal? Again, this depends on the person but anywhere from 5months to 1 year.
She marked me up with a black pen and asked me to check the dots in the mirror on the back of the door. I got to keep the pen…
I lay on my back, Anna at my feet and decided to not watch. Upon entry the needle stung, like an injection would and then proceeded to get really hot and stingy around the area. The pain quickly subsided and then she slide in the bar and screwed on the balls. It was over in about 45 seconds.
5 MIN AFTER..
I paid up and purchased some saline spray that Penny recommended for washing the area twice a day for 5 months. C.O.M.M.I.T.M.E.N.T.
1 HOUR AFTER…
was my worst moment. Anna and I had gone for lunch and my left nipple was now throbbing and stinging like I’ve never felt before in my life. I way I would best describe the pain was as if someone have taken a piece of crisp white A4 paper and sliced it across my nipple and proceeded to drip vinegar into the open wound. At one point I wanted to pull the fucker out. Instead I took painkillers and braced myself for a rough day.
1 DAY AFTER…
there is now no pain unless I press the area. I also can’t help but stop and lift my top to admire it at every possible second. I’m happy with how it looks.
1 WEEK AFTER…
there was no real change to report.
1 MONTH AFTER…
Everything seems so groovy until today. I’m still doing my salty baths AM and PM, maybe I’ve forgotten (or cba) like twice so I’m pretty pleased with my diligence with the aftercare. I woke this morning to see a white lump at the side of one of the holes.OBVIOUSLY I picked at it and guys it wasn’t pretty. It sort of ooozed white puss. INFECTION ALERT! If this had been anywhere else on my body then I seriously wouldn’t have worried but this is my nipple, its practically an ORGAN, so I’m in freak out mode but that doesn’t stop me from pinching it and extracting all the puss possible like a spot or something.
I sent an DM on insta to @PennyPiercer who reassured me all of the above was totally normal (okay I’m not dying, cool) and that I was more than welcome to return for a check up and to see if I needed a smaller bar now the swelling had abated. I didn’t do this.
6 MONTHS AFTER…
I had come out of the end of twice daily nipple salt baths and was impatiently waiting for the nipple to just be chill, kayyy. This still isn’t the case so I started doing random nipple baths to soothe it, hoping this will help.
I end up doing some reach on puss-y nipple piercings and find some info telling me that if the nipple gets crusty you shouldn’t touch it or twist it. Mind blown. Every time the crust appeared I was twisting it and washing it away because it looked totally gross.
I stop touching the piercing and actually manage a whole week. What happens is slightly startling. It actually scabs up a bit but then ends up self cleaning and resetting itself. This happens a few times but then I fall into a rampant love affair and I am forced to resume washing away the crap pre-intimacy. Needs must, LOL.
TODAY…
marks month 8 since I was pierced. To be completely honest not much has changed. I think I’m going to end up being one of the 1 year healers, god damn it shit immune system. I also feel like I discovered quite late on that I shouldn’t be touching and twisting it as much as I was and as a result slowed down the healing process. I have weeks when it’s fine and then it gets a bit icky again. ALSO I wanted to mention that I sometimes catch the bar in clothing or with my finger and FUCK ME that shit hurts. It will happen to you inevitably too. It sucks and you need to be careful.
I love the way it looks and am thinking about investing in some more expensive jewellery as it’s definitely here to stay.
Shop Maria Tash
Maria Tash Piercing at Liberty
Piercing Menu
Earlobe – £15
Outer Ear Cartilage (Helix) – £20
Inner Ear Cartilage (Tragus, Rook, Tash Rook, Conch, Forward Helix Orbit) – £30
Nostril or Septum – £30
Nipple – £30
Navel – £30
Dermal – £30
Steralisation & Insertion into existing piercing – £15
*Please be aware that all piercings at the Maria Tash piercing studio can only be pierced with Maria Tash jewellery. Service cost does not include price of jewellery.
To book you can email mariatashbookings@liberty.co.uk or call on +44 (0)207 573 9640.
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