Today was my 18th birthday, and I celebrated with a pair of 12g diagonal nipple bars.
At A Glance Author Brooke IAM styrovor When It just happened Artist Kendra Studio Needful Things Inc. Location Fort Myers, FL
I had been planning on getting them done on my birthday for a while, so after opening some presents and all that jazz, my boyfriend and I headed down to Needful Things Inc. This was one of my presents from him, and you'll see that it turned out to be the absolute best gift I've ever received.
On the way, I was more nervous than I expected to be. Not terribly so, but I had felt like I would breeze right through the experience without more than a couple deep breaths. It didn't hit me until we pulled up outside that I really was "all grown up now" and on my way to my first adult piercings. It felt so strange, after years of wanting to get various things done and not being able to due to my parents, to be able to just waltz right in and get pierced all on my own.
My piercer was Kendra, who had done a flawless job on my industrial several months prior, so that made me feel more confident and at ease. She scanned my ID while I started filling out the paperwork, and told me that there were two girls ahead of me so I'd be waiting a few minutes. I said that was fine, of course, and spent the time doing a little jewelry shopping. The wait wasn't more than 20-30 minutes or so. Once we were all situated in the room, I asked if it would be alright to just unzip my hoody halfway rather than take it off - so I'd feel a little less naked. She said that was fine as long as I made sure to keep it well out of the way the whole time. Yeah, I'm shy, oh well.
After cleaning the area(s), she had me stand on a footrest so she would be about eye-level with my chest to do the markings. I told her I was thinking of a true diagonal, 45 degrees, and she marked it that way. However, after looking at it in person, I decided to lean a little more horizontal. The second attempt was perfect. While she was marking it, I asked if she had done many diagonals. To my surprise, only one! Then again, I live in a pretty small town, but still - diagonal is just so much more flattering in my opinion. Aaanyway, the marking was really the longest process through all of this, though I imagine with horizontals/verticals it's less time consuming to get them to match.
She then had me lay back on the table, and the lights were obscenely bright. Obviously good lighting is important, but damn. It was burning into my retinas so I ended up putting my bra on my face to shield them during most of the clamping & piercing. Haha. I'm sure it all looked totally S&M. Don't worry, I could still watch everything she was doing, when I wanted to anyway. At this point it was only a couple of minutes til they were all finished and I was standing in front of the mirror admiring them. Kendra pointed out that one came out very slightly shallower than the other, and if I decided it bothered me I could come back later on and she'd re-do it for free. It's barely noticeable, even to my horribly scrutinizing self, so I highly doubt I will.. but it was still great that she offered. Then she gave me some gauze and the whole aftercare/healing time/etc speech, and we were done & off.
After reading all of the experiences saying how horribly painful industrials are, and hardly feeling a thing when I had mine done, I went into this whole situation pretty cocky. I had already heard that the clamps were the most painful part from a friend of mine, but I honestly expected them to feel kinda good. Sadly, this was not the case. They were painful, and the piercings themselves were as well. Don't let this discourage you from getting them though! They were INSANELY worth it. I would do them ten times over again if I had to. I had always been neutral (leaning towards negative) about the appearance of my breasts, but I absolutely love them now. They have sky rocketed my confidence. After they were finished and I was about to put my bra back on, I went ahead and just took my hoody off completely. The change was that immediate. I want to shout it from the rooftops and show the world!! Well, maybe not quite, but you get the idea. This is exactly what modification is all about to me - feeling that much more beautiful all over. Don't hesitate with this piercing, it is by far the most rewarding I've had so far.