For most of my life, I haven’t felt particularly cool. If I’m completely honest with myself, I’m a bit of a geek. I like books, I still miss the cracks in the pavement, I call my mum to tell her what I’ve cooked for tea, and my radio is firmly tuned to BBC Radio 4. It has never bothered me that my lifestyle is decidedly un-rock n’ roll, but three weeks ago, on a quest for some form of self-expression, I did something a bit cool. I got my nose pierced.
Okay, so getting a nose piercing is not too dramatic. However, an impulsive trip into Leeds city centre one Wednesday was a pretty exciting and out-of-character addition to my week. On Tuesday evening, ‘quids night’ at Dry Dock led to the consumption of too many scarily coloured alcopops, and conversation turned to body piercings. My flatmate and I had talked about the possibility of gaining a few extra bits of metal for a while; planning them for a good few months time when we had probably forgotten about them anyway. With the fourth round of drinks rolling in, she looked at me, eyebrows raised: ‘Tomorrow?’ And of course I agreed – it seemed like the best idea in the world.
The next day, with slightly sore heads, we made our way into Leeds. We headed to the Corn Exchange, and after a brief panic that it wasn’t open, we found Red Tattoo and Piercing, a place we had looked up online. It was inviting and friendly – as much as a place that specialises in stabbing needles through people can be. The whole thing only took a few minutes, and less than an hour later we were sitting outside, nose and ears throbbing, complete with Gregg’s based snacks and a small sense of pride. Truthfully, we were well aware that we had not really done anything that crazy.
Back at uni, everyone seemed to be going a bit ink and metal crazy. That same week, one course mate decided to get her septum (and for all you fact fans, that is the bit in the middle of your nose) pierced. Her plan was that she would easily be able to hide it from her Mum, until she saw the size of the ring protruding from her nostrils. The awkward, post-piercing parental Skype session is never going to be easy. The bad Internet connection from my flat resulted in my Dad asking me if I had a bad spot on my nose – didn’t go down well – and my Mum making me practically press my face against the webcam. Luckily for me though, the new addition to my face was pretty well received.
For the next nine weeks I’ll be making myself a mug of saltwater along with my morning mug of tea – I’m hoping I never get them mixed up – and using a lifetime’s supply of cotton buds in order to keep my nose clean. Red Tattoo and Piercing were amazingly professional, and everything is healing well so far – it is good to do your research! Despite paying a bit more, and having to spend extra time cleaning the new hole in my face, the amount of piercing based horror stories I have heard is enough to reassure me. It is well worth going somewhere with a good reputation – word of mouth speaks volumes so asking around is always a good idea. For me, taking care of the piercing has been part of the fun, with the added incentive that if anything goes wrong I would have to live with the evidence right in the middle of my face.
Overall, my piercing experience was fantastic. I still get a little bit of a thrill when I catch a glint from my nose in a shop window, and now it has stopped stinging whenever I yawn (which is frequently, come on, I’m a student…), I’m fully in love with my stud. We may have done no more than fulfil the ‘typical student’ role even more, but for now, that is fine with me. This week, one friend came into our flat with the announcement that she has just spontaneously got a nipple piercing, leaving our spur-of-the-moment trip feeling slightly less cool, as we peered down at her brand new, very painful looking bit of jewellery. Piercings should not be about being ‘cool’ or about impressing the next person in the queue for Cockpit on a Friday night. Individuality is something we all deserve, and if a bit of metal is going to grant that for you, then by all means it should be done – just do not look too closely at those needles!