Body Modification

new philtrum piercing!

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:54:41 GMT

I got my philtrum pierced today at Icon Tattoo in Nashville, TN by Rachel. She did a really good job and had a really wonderful bedside manner. She giggled at my being nervous because she said it shouldn't hurt nearly like my septum or any of my dermal punches. She was right: it barely hurt. The clamps were mildly uncomfortable, but it was the easiest piercing by far.

I have my septum pierced and I'm worried it makes it look off center. What do you think?

Also, I know everyone is different, but what length labret post do you guys wear in yours after the swelling goes down?

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 00:50:16 GMT

How many of you have had other people copy your own custom-drawn (either by you or your artist) tattoos without permission?

I know this is kind of a controversial thing in the mod community - a lot of people are of the school of thought where if you allow it to ever be posted or shown anywhere, especially the internet, you should just expect people to steal it and replicate it on their bodies or otherwise, regardless of how unique your work is. Therefore, if you don't want everyone and their mom to walk around with your tattoo, you should never allow its image to be replicated in any way, shape or form.

I was having brunch downtown, and a waitress stopped me, as I had a slightly off-the-shoulder top on. She said "Oh, my cousin's daughters have that same owl on their shoulders, too! It stands for autism, right?"

For the record, this is my owl. And no, it has nothing whatsoever to do with autism. Maybe owl symbolism does, I wouldn't know, but not this particular owl.

She takes out her cell phone, and lo and behold! Two separate backpieces on two different girls, with my exact owl on both of them. Also on a branch. Also on their left shoulders. The difference? A few clip art cherry blossoms scattered all over the general branch area, so it's a "different" branch, apparently. I told her I drew that exact owl, and it was my work, inked onto me by Picasso Dular, formerly of Metamorph Studios in Chicago. I asked her when her cousin's daughters had their work done. Go figure, about "a few months ago," when I've had mine for over a year. I gave her my contact info so I could ask them who did their work.

My point is that I'm somewhat irritated. Yes, my backpiece has been photographed for the Chicago Tribune (please don't read this as bragging, but it is a pretty widely viewed media outlet, and they probably saw it there, seeing that they're from the Chicago area), and it's on BMEzine and my other social networking sites. I don't think that this is an excuse to rip off of someone's work, when it's photographed as already having been inked onto their body.

If they saw it on the Tribune site, my full name and my artist's full name were on it, too, same with BMEzine. It would have been EASY for them to Google me and contact me. I am very accessible, and other people have taken the trouble to do so, and ask to use my other artwork for their tattoo pieces. Either that, or they saw it posted by someone else, and just took it to their artist and said "I want that on me, too!" It's also my understanding that it's industry-wide etiquette not to copy already-tattooed custom work onto other people. As in, if I brought in a picture of a tattoo ON SOMEONE'S SKIN, the artist should make an effort to make it not look EXACTLY THE FUCKING SAME as the first piece of work. The artist technically "changed" it by lazily throwing a few extra flowers on it, but the owl was exactly the same.

I don't know who did their work. My artist relocated to NYC a while ago, but I don't know if he's been back in the city or doing work here. Regardless, this is irritating, and obviously not a case of someone just picking the same kanji/flash/etc off of a wall.

Am I being completely irrational? How would you all feel if you spent hours drawing up a design just so someone could go "OOH I WANT IT TOO, TEEHEE!" and shamelessly rip off of you?

Sat, 31 Jan 2009 03:14:07 GMT

For a variety of reasons, posts on this community will now be viewable only to members.

Worst piercer...ever?

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 19:59:28 GMT

Back when I was young and naive, I went to Jamaica, Queens to get all of my piercings. At separate times I got my nostril pierced with a gun on either side, my tongue pierced even though it was too short (which resulted in a slightly receded gumline on my inner bottom teeth) and more recently my septum pierced. I learned the hard way that if you choose the cheaper route in piercing, you will end up losing a ton of quality in the work. Here's what happened:

I went to Forever Ink, which was on Jamaica Ave. I asked the guy who was piercing me whether or not he had done these before (Jamaica is a predominantly black/spanish area) and he said yes. So, he proceeds to pierce my septum. Ok, didn't hurt as much as I thought it would. I FIND OUT THAT HE DOESN'T HAVE SEPTUM JEWELRY. So what he does is he puts a curved barbell in septum and uses clamps to curve the barbell into a circular shape, WHILE IT IS IN MY NOSE. This whole entire process took 30 minutes. Afterwards, I noticed it was extremely sensitive when I bumped into it. Not wanting to take it out because I had already gone through that horrific ordeal I kept it in, knowing that it takes months to heal and maybe the sensitivity would diminish. No. After a year I decided to take it out--he had grazed a nerve and whenever my nose would get bumped it sent a sharp pain. I stupidly did a paid internship there for a week, and a few months after that I stopped going there altogether. When I interned there the stupid guy who pierced my septum confided to me that my septum was the first septum he had ever pierced. Five years later I found the best tattoo/piercing shop, IMO. Lark Tattoo, in Westbury, NY is where I go to get anything done. I have found that they are respectful, clean, well mannered and most importantly HONEST. I refuse to go anywhere else. Are they more expensive? Yes. But I'd rather have the peace of mind knowing I made a smart decision and will get quality as a result.

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 18:04:03 GMT

Hey there. I looked around the memories section of this community, but didn't find anything that would help me exactly.

The only piercings I have are on my ears. I'm a pussy who hates needles (I like piercings and tattoos on other people, though). Bahaha. I got them pierced in April when I was thirteen, almost two years ago. I had them pierced at a dermatologist (my mom's a germaphobe and didn't want "some 16 year old poking holes in your ears and messing up"), and wore the earrings they gave me until I was allowed to change them. I followed that by wearing all sorts of different metal earrings. Sterling silver, surgical steel, and the like are the ones I usually wear.

I noticed, however, that painful lumps will appear in my ear if I don't clean the earring beforehand scrupulously. Recently, I wore a pair of earrings from Forever 21, made from some sort of metal.

The "stones" in my ear are back. On the right side, it feels as if a very small pebble is lodged in there. On the left is much worse. It feels like a small bead is lodged in there, and it's painful. If I "pop out" the piercing, either tissue, watery goo, or little black grains will come out. I don't really know how to take care of it.

Left side.

Right side.

Sorry for the crap quality and also sorry for wasting your time with just simple single ear piercings, but I'd really appreciate it if you could tell me what it is and how to fix it.

winners for the raffle

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 18:50:26 GMT

http://community.livejournal.com/bodmod_raffle/1288.html

Microdermal removal in Honolulu

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 07:27:49 GMT

I want to get my microdermal anchors removed but I don't know where to go. I was originally planning on getting them removed when I was in California for winter break, but I ran out of time and couldn't make it to the piercer I usually go to and trust. I was considering waiting until summer, but I'm really antsy to get them removed. There's no way I could remove them myself because they're on the back of my neck, so I need to find a piercer in honolulu.

Does anyone know of any reputable piercers in or around Honolulu who have some knowledge of microdermal anchors?

Thanks a bunch. Its a long shot, but hopefully someone knows. I've been looking long and hard and still haven't found anyone.

[Edit] I've heard that paragon piercing is pretty good. Has anyone had any experience with them?

diving into surface piercings

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 00:22:34 GMT

So I recently moved from Michigan to California. I say recently, but I've actually been here since September and still haven't found a place to continue my love of tattoos/piercings.

I was all set to head up to Santa Cruz and check out Staircase Tattoo & Body Piercing (I like some of the tattoo artists' portfolios). But as I was browsing the Yelp reviews for this place, I stumbled on this photo: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/j9C-fsdyUpPVDczuytj4EQ?select=WKSzGu3ZgphmLMkKDhNC2w

YIKES.

I've been considering some surface work (specifically, I want a set of vertical labia piercings...I apologize if that's TMI). You can bet I won't be letting Staircase near me with any needles.

I live in the Monterey Bay area. Recommendations for tattoo and piercing artists would be greatly appreciated.

At this point I'm considering just waiting until I visit Michigan (sometime in the next 6 months) and getting pierced by Wendi at Lucky Monkey in Ann Arbor.

So, I got that VCH piercing.

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 02:41:58 GMT

To follow up on the post I made here: http://community.livejournal.com/bodymods/2223200.html

I was recommended a piercing studio that had a lot of great reviews on the city search website.
(http://utah.citysearch.com/profile/10377400/salt_lake_city_ut/koi_piercing_studio.html)

I ended up visiting Koi piercing studio in Salt Lake City, Utah. The website is pretty bare, so I decided to pay them a visit on my day off. I went today, a Tuesday at around 2:30pm.

Actually it was kind of embarassing because I ended up slipping on some ice right before I entered the studio, and I was SURE the receptionist saw me. One of those moments. If she did, she didn't say anything, or acted like she did.

I really liked the lay out of the place, and it was really clean, and classy. The receptionist was really friendly, and really professional. They had some openings, so I decided to get my piercing. While I filled out the paper work, I asked about another piercing I wanted to get, mostly about being able to conceal it since it is a facial piercing, and with me being in the military and all. She answered all my questions, which led to talking about my other piercings, and the difficulties I some times run into while being in the military.

I shared an experience where my tongue piercing started to close up after a surprise dental exam, and she said next time if that happens, they would re-insert my jewelry no charge, despite me not getting the piercing there. Most places only offer services like that if you have been a customer in the past, and got the piercing there.

When it was time for me to get pierced I started to get a little nervous. Patrick, my piercer was really understanding, and really professional, which helped me feel comfortable. I mean, it's hard to take my pants off in front of some one who I just met as they swab one of the more sensitive parts of my vagina with disinfecting stuff. ;D He helped put me at ease by laughing at my corny jokes, and answering my stupid questions.

He told me when, what kind of sensations I would feel, and when it was time for the piercing to take place I was anticipating the count to "3" trick, but instead he had me take a deep breath, and exhale, which surprised me, but is now a method I prefer.

The piercing its self went well. It was over fast, and as soon as it was over, I didn't feel any pain at all, nor have I since. I bled only a tiny bit, and there's only a tiny bit of swelling.

As for the pain during the piercing, I have had shots from military doctors that have been worse (Anthrax). The pain started off low, and started to hit a point where I started to clench my fist, and started to think it was going to be too much if it was to continue, but at that point it was over. This all happened within a second.

As for aesthetics, I chose a plain barbell. I'm not a fan of colors, or "bling", though they did give me an option of some thing a little bit more flashy to go on the top part of the piercing.

I was worried that the piercing wouldn't be very "appealing" in appearance, since my labia protrude outside my lips, but afterwards I was really surprised that it looks pretty good. The reason why I am offering this TMI as part of my experince is because I almost did not get the piercing because some of the photos I saw online.

I am really glad I went with the vertical piercing, it really looks good along with my horizontal nipple piercings.

Overall, I highly recommend Koi Piercing Studio if your are in the Salt Lake City, Utah area. The studio is very professional, very clean, and most of all very knowledgeable. Even if you're some where within good driving distance in the valley, it's worth the 20 minute travel. It's in a great location, between 9th and 9th, and Surgar House. So you can grab a great cup of coffee, or run some errands, or whatever you feel like.

safely moisturizing a healing piercing

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 01:03:18 GMT

well, uhh, I feel like this question should be in the ~~mammaries~~ memories or something but apparently it isn't. so! my boyfriend is new to piercings, and just got his first ones this past week - his earlobes, at 6g. I am so proud. his problem is that his lobes are fairly dry, and since I've never had that problem, I'm not totally sure what is safe to put on or near healing piercings. he is cleaning/soaking his ears 1-2 times a day, and he picked up some jojoba oil to try to combat the dryness but says it isn't really helping. I recommended vitamin E oil, but I don't know if that's safe for unhealed piercings either.

so my question is this: other than cutting back on salt soaks, are there any types of oils or lotions that will help lessen the dryness of his ears that aren't harmful on fresh piercings?

alternately, should he just ~*~tuff it out~*~ since the dryness doesn't seem to be really affecting the piercings?

SW33T 1NK

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 20:02:07 GMT

.
I've been meaning to do this forever but I are procrastinator. But I digress, I got a my first tattoo evar of a rocking chair (placed on my upper back) earlier this month on the 9th at Skull and Sword, a small shop in San Francisco. Unlike most shops here, it is NOT on Haight and Ashbury and it is extremely well hidden, I passed it numerous times trying to find it. The studio was extrmely clean, the artists were welcoming and professional, but a bunch of kidders. The arist was Lango, a swell guy and an amazing artist. My coworker and I met with him a month before to talk about what we each had in mind, I gave him a vague picture of a rocking chair and told him to make it his own, adding my own "artistic vision." We later returned and I was graced with a sweet drawing of a rocking chair, very tattoo-style if that makes any damn sense. The tattoo itself took about 3 hours total. I expected god awful terrible pain after what I'd been told, especially due to the placement, but it was slightly enjoyable, not to sound like a creep. I'm tired of typing about it so here are pictures for you:

--edited for bad livejournaling--

Cheeks!

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 18:29:57 GMT

On Friday I got my cheeks pierced by Chuck at Pierced Hearts in Seattle. My favorite piercer evar! Just wanted to throw that out there. I was freaking out, because I figured since cheeks are pretty thick that the piercing would hurt a lot. Chuck made a few marks, and I picked how far I wanted the dots to be from my mouth. She shined a light through each cheek to make sure she wasn't going to pierce through a vein. This made me happy, because I have a tendency to bleed a lot. Then came the needles, and to my surprise the first and second were both relatively pain free and easy. Hands down the most manageable oral piercings I've had done so far. There has been hardly any blood, but lots of swelling as Chuck said would happen. My cheeks are still chubby today. :(

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:10:29 GMT

Hello everyone! I'm Laura - 20yrs old - Baltimore, MD.
I've got some freshly done ink to share.

This was done Thursday evening at Ghost Town in Ellicott City, MD.
The amazing artist would be Jon Glessner.

I'll be getting the color done in about a month.

T
.

my face isn't doing it's job lately.

lol

I would post my older tattoo... but I really don't feel like digging through my photobucket account right at this moment. sorry for being lazy.

xoxo

P.S. Please don't post me on that bad eyebrows community. I am aware that I've let myself go. Teehee.

x-posted in a few different tattoo communities - with some variation in pictures.

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 03:14:34 GMT

Science time... ready.... GO!

View Poll: #1338182

I'm Lovin' It!

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 15:31:24 GMT

I got my right conch pierced a couple weeks ago by Jesica at Saint Tattoo in Knoxville, TN, while I was up there visiting friends from school since I've taken the semester off. It was kinda on a whim. I had been planning on doing it for a long time, but hadn't decided when. But when my friends and I started talking about piercings and tattoos, I said, "Let's go." I had never been pierced by Jesica, though I have been pierced at Saint and I trust the shop as a whole, so I went for it. She was super nice, very talkative (in a good way) and knowledgeable. I got it done with a 14g surgical internally threaded barbell cause I'm a vet tech and the last thing I need is for it ot get bumped all the time at work. I plan on stretching it to about a 10g or so, but we'll see. So, here it is. :)

It's been going great so far. It was only sore for a couple days. It's still a tiny bit sore if I bump it or something, but that's about it. I love it!!!

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 19:40:34 GMT

Can anyone recommend me some amazing tattoo artists preferably in FL?
Anywhere in florida is fine.
If it makes any difference i'm looking to start a sleeve of new school versions of old cartoons.

Although if anyone can recommend a more then amazing artist in any state that would be wonderful since traveling isn't a problem for me.

Thanks in advance.

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 19:11:05 GMT

I had my second holes in my ears pierced at an 8g on Friday.

It's pretty fresh in the picture so it's swollen.
It was actually pierced with a 10g needle, and immediately tapered to an 8g.
The pain factor was nothing like I expected it to be, seriously not much worse than a normal ear piercing. If you're planning on stretching your lobes anyway, I would definitely say get them pierced at a larger gauge. An hour after being done I had forgot about getting them at all.
My boy Billi did them for me. He isn't a piercer anymore but still does guest spots sometimes. He also made my plugs for me as a surprise and I absolutely love them. (www.myspace.com/blackheartorganics)
My friend had her bridge and nostril done friday, also, but I don't have any photos as of yet.

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 19:10:49 GMT

Someone, in some tattoo community, recently posted a picture of some work she'd had done on the back of her neck. It was simple -- three circles of gradiating sizes, each on top of the other, stacked vertically. I believe the largest was on top. I was very intrigued by this symbol and wanted to ask what it meant, and/or meant to the OP. However, I've searched memories and tags and recent back entries of all the communities I'm a member of and can't for the life of me find it! :-\ I believe the pic was behind an LJ-cut that read "Circle Love!"

Could someone please direct me to that original post, and/or if you are the OP I would love to hear your reason for getting this interesting tattoo!

X-posted to ihearttattoos , tattooed , bodymods , and girls_with_ink .

Thanks for your time! I appreciate your help.

Belly button piercing.

Sat, 24 Jan 2009 00:42:55 GMT

Hey guys, I looked through the tags and didn't really find anything that was particularly about my situation, so I'm sorry if I'm asking a stupid question!

I got my belly button done in September and it's looking a little irritated. I got it pierced out of town so I went to a friend's shop where she gets her piercings done to get it looked at. They said I had a bit of a "salt burn" and a minor infection; nothing really that serious. I was using H2Ocean and just spraying it on the piercing itself, and that's all I was told to do when I got it done. My friend's piercer told me to quit and use q-tips instead of directly spraying it on my skin and to come back in a week. I did it for a couple nights and nothing really changed. I started to forget to do it everyday and it started getting less red so I figured that was it. It was looking better and when I went back the guy said it looked good and once the redness was gone it would be fine. Anyways, it started to get irritated again somehow and that's where I am now.

I'm wondering if it would be safe for me to take out the ring, clean it and the hole itself really well and leave it out for the night and put it back in tomorrow. Is this a horrible idea? Nothing else really seems to be working for me. I've never taken out the jewelry before and I'm just wondering if it's safe to do so at this point.

A picture was requested, so here you go. It's not the greatest picture, but you can see how it's a bit red.

Lip piercing is having a problem.

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 20:01:31 GMT

I really hope I don't get chewed-out for this; I've been reading through the memories for the past day or so and have been reading BME's wiki all morning but I am at the end of my rope at this point. Please help me out if you can.

Last Saturday, I got my lip pierced for the fifth time. I had had snakebites twice before, done in the same place both times (took out once for work, got re-done, had to take out again for another job later). So, this fifth piercing I got farther to the side of my lip, away from the last piercings, and only one. Right away, I noticed the swelling was a lot worse than my previous piercings. The swelling was not going down, no matter what I did. And eventually, the piercing was just constantly hurting all the time and was very red on the outside. Despite the redness, there wasn't any pus or what I'd think are signs of infection. I think the redness was just because the jewelry was so damn TIGHT.

Anyway, I went back to my piercer yesterday and he told me, indeed, I was very swollen, but that it did not look infected to him. He also told me that my jewelry was NOT extra long to accomodate for swelling, even though I had been told it was. So he told me he was going to put a longer barbell in. Cool. He takes my old one out, and what do I find? He has put a fucking barbell with a ball on both sides in. Like a tongue barbell. What the fuck? I told him this was NOT okay, because I wasn't about to risk ripping my teeth out with that. So, he says he'll put a ring in. He then puts a huge ring in. Too huge to function with. At that point, I just asked him to take it out completely.

Now, here's my problem: It's been a day now since I've had the piercing completely removed. There's now a huge bump around the top of the piercing, on the inside of my lip. Not to mention the hole on the outside still looks pretty red, but I expect that to take a while to go away. But this bump? The swelling has already gone away since taking the jewelry out. What IS this bump? I sincerely hope this is not scarring and will not stay here my whole life. None of my other lip piercings left scarring at all, except for being able to see a tiny hole on the outside, where they used to be.

What the hell is going on? I'm thinking maybe I was allergic to the jewelry, but for some reason I was not told what I was pierced with. I've never had a reaction like this before, and I don't know if this is different from anything I was pierced with before. What can I do about this bump? What can I do if it's scarring?

Just please tell me what I should do. Thank you.

Tattoo Progress

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 09:36:55 GMT

Just a progress shot of a cross that I got done today. If anyone is looking for an artist in Southern California (riverside county area) I loved how Carlos did my most recent piece! Now, I asked him to leave some room in case I wanted to add some flowers or something, I was thinking of a Lotus since it represents struggle.

I have dealt with that the most in my life, especially since my mother passed away. The butterfly to the left is in memory of her and I am also thinking of adding another on the right side.

P.S: Sorry for the phone shot, I've lost my camera. :(

edit: forgot to add the place name hehe it was called Essential Ink Body Art in Murrieta.

Nipple Piercing Issues

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 21:30:54 GMT

Hello everybody.

I'm having an issue with my right nipple piercing...

I've had it for a little over a year now, and while my left piercing is all healed up, the right one is still tender & hurts to be played with, sometimes hurts when I clean it, and gets sore easily. Not just that, but the crusties sometimes have blood in them. A few weeks ago, when I was moving my CBR around, I noticed a tiny blister on one side of the ring, inside the hole itself. The blister thing (not sure what else to call it) pokes out when I lift the ring upwards, but is otherwise unnoticeable. & I'm sure it's not dried blood. Then last week I noticed that my nipple has a small purple bruise-ish discoloration above where the blister is. I've never bumped or ripped it in the time that I've had it, either.

The piercing was done professionally by Jay Zukas at Ink Addiction in Stuart Florida. He's done just about all of my other piecings & I haven't had an issue with his work yet. & I would go to him to ask whats up but he moved to Ohio a couple months back. =(

So I'm thinking I'm gonna just take the piercing out & let it heal. Is this a good idea? Or is there some kind of infection or something I need to heal first so I don't trap it in when I take the CBR out?

I clean all my piercings regularly with Dial, & do sea salt soaks when they're overly crusty or a little tender.

Any help/advice would be appreciated muchos!! =D

& I checked the memories, but I didn't find anything specific towards this...

Looking for a tattoo artist

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 15:29:56 GMT

I'm looking for a tattoo artist in SE Michigan who does good lettering work.

If anyone can direct me to someone, I'd greatly appreciate it!
And if you have pictures of some lettering by the artist you're referring, I'd love to see them.

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 07:40:48 GMT

Finally had my philtrum pierced today at a 14g. I really wasnt sure at first but it is growing on me fast.

Tattoo convention

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 04:47:56 GMT

I'm going to a tattoo convention for the first time this weekend. I'm just curious what to expect and what is typical of conventions. I plan on getting a tattoo as long as my chosen artist is still going to be there. (He was recently in a car accident and may not be able to make it) Is it safe to assume prices are the same as they would be in a shop or would being at a convention make them more expensive/cheaper for any reason?

Anything I should watch for or need to know?

Also, is anyone else planning on going to the Shades of Blue convention in La Crosse, WI? Or has anyone ever been to it before and have anything to say?

Thanks!