Getting tattooed/pierced

[KoNeko]

I'm sure there are a few of you out there who have tattoos or piercings (or both!) so I thought we could discuss what we've had done, what you want to have done, any concerns about what you have/want to have done, etc.

What have you had done and why? Does your tattoo or piercing have signifigance for you? If you haven't had anything done, what would you like to have done?

[Trixey]

I haven't done anything...yet. My sister's got a tatto of a green star on her hip and she's gonna take me to get on when i'm 18(in 2 years)

[Nie]

I have my lobes pierced thrice (love that word ;D), the top cartilage of my left ear pierced (i've recently shoved a tongue bar through that to make the hole a little larger), my belly button pireced, my tongue pierced, and a tattoo on the small of my back.

I kinda wish I didn't have the tattoo at times. It needs fixking in a couple of places and everyone I go to says it'll cost like $50 to add a few lines. Rip off!!!

My piercings I like. ;D Cos I get to change the jewellery and stuff.

[KoNeko]

I've got my belly button pierced, three earrings in my left lobe, two in my right and now (da da daaaaa!) an industrial piercing in my left ear as well. For those of you who don't know, an industrial piercing is just the technical name for the thing when you have a bar through two holes at the top of your ear, like, one end sort of close to your head and the other just opposite it on the other side of the curve of your ear. At first you have to get rings in because barbells put too much pressure on the piercing when it's healing but it's pretty nifty with just rings as well.
The only catch is that it's healing, and the crusty stuff is catching in the fold of the cartilage in my ear. Not nice.

My cousin got her ears gauged, which I really want to do, only her holes are big enough to stick my thumb through, and she has to wear these clear plastic bars in them to keep the holes open, and from far away they look like tacky 80s earrings.

Lirael, maybe you should wait a while until you need major fixing done on your tat, and then get it all done in one go? It might save you a bit of money.

[guinevere]

I have two holes in each ear, but I seldom wear earrings anymore...(got my first holes from my auntie who numbed my lobes with ice cubes, put a bar of soap behind the lobe, then pushed a darning needle through the lobe into the soap..and pulled hard).

I have a tattoo--a claddagh on my right thigh about 5" above the knee. It is a fairly large tatt...didn*t mean for it to be quite this big (3" x3") but I love it and I*m glad I got it. I*m thinking about a second.

That*s all the damage I*ve done to my body so far, tho both my girls have tattoos (older one has a daisy on her ankle, a shamrock on her thigh and an evil eye on her back-younger child has ivy around her ankle and is getting a Ganesh on her back) and piercings (both have several ear holes, youngest has upper ear pierced..and oldest has a nip pierced...)...I am not going that far--no way.

[KoNeko]

*grins* Guin, my cousin (with the ear gauging) also has both her nips pierced, she did it because they were free and now she jokes that when she gets older her "children can get breastfed off sprinklers" (pretty tasteless hmmm... ).
She's also got her nose pierced, the bit in between her nostrils pierced, her bottom lip pierced and (this is gross and cringeworthy) the bit of skin that joins your upper lip to your gum pierced. Yikes!

Did it hurt when you got your ears done the first time? Like, not at a piercing place? My sister (who works at my high school's boarding house) sometimes does the ice-and-needle thing for the kids.
I'm really wimpy when it comes to piercings, like, if I really want to get something done, I usually will, but then when I'm in the chair I usually end up crawling up the back of it to avoid the needle. Which is also why I don't know if I could get a tattoo. I'm afraid that they'll do one or two lines of it and then I'd be too wimpy to let them do the rest.

[guinevere]

the soap/ice cube method didn*t really hurt, but I could hear that needle going through what ever makes up my ear lobe. that was freaky.

as for the tattoo--it took me years to build up my courage and the day my youngest drove me to the tatt place in Waikiki, I nearly backed out. my mate told me I*d never go through with it and that was my final incentive! to be honest, it did sting a little, but it didn*t downright hurt. it was far less painful than I anticipated.
after the artist finished, daughter and I went out for ice cream and I wanted to tear the bandage off and show everyone...

[Nie]

I've had two of the piercings in my lobes done with a darning needle. I find it less painful than the piercing guns because the needle is sharp and just slides through, where as with the guns they are shoving the pretty blunt stud through, so it hurts more. I had my cartilage done with a darning needle as well, which hurt a little more cos it had to be shoved through harder, but it was still cool.

I'm proud to say that not one of my piercings have been infected while they've healed. ;D

And....

I found out last night that I might be able to go do a piercing course! I friend knows of someone who teaches piercing one-on-one and she runs an approved course with the proper certificates and all, and seen as I'm on poverty level income () I can even get government assitance while I'm doing it. ;D

So yeah. I'm gonna try get in contact with this lady and see if I can book in for sometime in the next few months. Then I can setup a mobile piercing parlour. ;D When I get my drivers licence that is.

[Natz]

I haven't had anything done yet because i'm terrified of needles. I hate them. I think thats to do with junior school where they injected you and left the needle in for about five minutes.

If i was brave enough i would get my ears piered.

Thats another reason i don't want to get my ears pierced because with most of the family the holes have closed up and they have ended up with ear infections.

Good luck with getting your drivers licence.

[Calantha]

I had my ears pierced a bit ago, but I hardly ever wear earrings, so I feel like if I got more piercings in my ears, or probably anywhere else, I would neglect them after the novelty wore off.

Although, I have been thinking about getting a tattoo, sadly I'm also afraid of needles, and if I got one, I'd want to get it on my ankle, and everyone says that is the most painful place.

Sooo...although I would say, yes I would get a tatoo, chances are I never would.

[keepergirl]

Currently I only have my ears pierced (once each). That's enough of the piercings for me- it appears my body does not react well to having holes put in it, and I had to let my ears close up twice already. So technically, even though I've gone under the needle six times, I only currently have one hole in each ear. (And darnit, this time I'm sticking with the holes even when they get infected- which they have, but not as badly as before.)

I'd like to get a tattoo- a New York Islander logo on my left shoulder. The thing I'm worried about is distorting the tattoo, since it can get distorted if you lose or gain weight. So I don't know if I ever will get it, but I'd like to.

[Dawney]

I have only one peircing: my left cartilage. Its still got about 3 weeks to heal but when it does, I'm getting it a ring instead of a stud. The reason I wanted this peircing is because I think it pulls my look together . My sister got her left cartilage done too on the same day as I did. I don't think I will get another peircing but if I did, it'd be another left earring somewhere, but not the lobe. I don't really like lobe peircings, too common. I wouldn't get the other ear peirced at all.

[KoNeko]

Ooh! Dawn! *points to her two cartilage piercings- well, that's sort of expected with an industrial piercing *
Hey... how come they put a stud in it straight out? Did you get yours pierced with a gun thing or a needle? I heard that with the guns and cartilage piercings, they're more prone to getting those bumps of scar tissue on them when they heal, you know how there's that bit that sort of sticks out the back of your ear?

*grins* Keeps, good luck with the infected ears! That sounds icky, but I'm sure that if you keep them clean (e.g. disinfecting them twice a day and not touching them etc.) then you can sort of force your body not to reject your piercings.

And yeah. The whole distortion thing is a concern with tattoos as well. I want to get one on the inside of my arm, sort of halfway between my shoulder and my elbow but then I'm thinking that when I'm older that's one of the first bits of you to go flabby so it'd go all floppy and wrinkly and... ugh.

[laci]

hmm, tatoos are cool, i don't know if i would get one, the thing is if you get one you keep it forever, freind just got a fish tatooed on her ankle, looks really good, she said it hurt, but wasn't too bad. i don't know if you guys are scared of getting tatoos ao are unsure you might want to try henna tattoos, its just ink applied to the skin in a design that stains, no needle. my freind got a little design around her arm, little armband thing, cute!

[KoNeko]

*grins* Henna is my friend, because I am wimpy. ;D I got a henna tat a couple of years back of a lizard done in tribal style. It was really cute, but I knew it wasn't something I could really think of having permanently (especially if I do end up in the legal profession). Henna tats are also a good way to find out if a particular tattoo would look good on you- for example, you could test out a tat that you want in henna first and have it for a month or something, just to see if you like it etc. like a trial run.