Thursday August 14th, 2008 @ 1:19 AM
I work at a Hot Topic in the Midwest and lately (I think because of back to school) I’ve had a high number of parents asking me or my associates about piercing rights almost??
Basically I am hearing that some PUBLIC schools are banning piercings and for boys to have pierced ears.
For some reason this really doesn’t rub me the right way and it seems to be mainly located in smaller towns where piercings and gauges are seen as something that common criminal would have.
I mean I understand the reasoning and legality of a work dress code (you are being paid) but schools aren’t the same. It is required by law (in most states) that students go.
How can a public institution can both overrule parents decision making? Not to mention continue the stigma that anyone with a nose piercing must be a druggie or hoodlum?
So I guess my question is do the pierced have rights??
(By “gauges” do mean stretched piercings wearing larger gauge jewelry? 
)
I think it’s pretty unfair to ask guys not to wear jewelry in their lobes while girls can. AND I think that if someone had the time to kick up a fuss about it, a fair conclusion could come of it (ie: guys are allowed to wear earrings like girls - or no one’s allowed to wear earrings at ALL!)
I think since the beginning of schools, students have felt oppressed and hard done by by their teachers and that establishment. The best way to change the rules is approach with an educated, level-headed case for your cause.
+14 / 14 votes 
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Posted by Lexci Million | Permalink | 2 Comments
Thursday August 14th, 2008 @ 1:15 AM
I’ve had my lip pierced for about 6 months now; I had it pierced with a bigger ring for swelling purposes and I haven’t changed it since. It tore a bit so I went to the place that I got it done at and they said it could possibly heal although it had migrated as well as torn. I’m wondering if I should try to wait it and out and see how it feels, or if I the irritation could be from having such a large ring still?
I don’t pierce center placed lip piercings with CBRs for this reason.
Your irritation could definitely be from wearing a large ring in the piercing.
I would suggest you put in a longer flatback labret barbell and heal it with that. Once the piercing settles down you can begin to downsize the barbell until all the residual swelling subsides. From here you should be able to comfortably wear a CBR in it.
+2 / 2 votes
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Posted by Lexci Million | Permalink | 4 Comments
Thursday August 14th, 2008 @ 1:09 AM
Hello guys, i was looking into getting my first tattoo,
and i want the words
“every act which has no heart will be found out in the end. every gesture”
From my all time favouritebook, cities of the plains by Cormac Mccarthy.
And i wanted it on my wrist in three lines going across, but want a quite small size and id heard that small font is likely to blend and end up looking like a blob.
I was thinking around size 19 font for Kunstler Script on MS word.
Any advice would be awesome.
Thanks alot!!!!
I don’t know a lot of artists who would be pumped on tattooing a teeny tiny font on your wrist.
It’s true that tattoos tend to settle with age and will fuzz out slightly. This requires fine detail in tattoos to be applied large enough that they will still be readable after 1, 5, 10, 50 years. The amount of letters you’re wanting on an area as small as your wrist just won’t age very well, truth be told.
Maybe consider having your tattoo done lengthwise down your forearm to ensure that none of the letters get lost with age?
+6 / 6 votes
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Posted by Lexci Million | Permalink | Comments
Thursday August 14th, 2008 @ 1:04 AM
Filed under: Ear
Hello! I’ve had my ears stretched at a 0g for years. Recently I bought some wood tunnels on a trip to Seattle almost a month ago. I had worn them just about every day since I got them with no issues, taking them out only for showering. Yesterday morning I took them out to shower and rushed out of the house for work without them… as the day went on they became very swollen, red, itchy, hard, and warm to the touch. Though my ears hardly look anything like the picture above, they are still very swollen, itchy, and starting to peal this morning.
I was unaware of allergies and dangers of wood body jewelry, and was not informed by the seller; most likely because I did not purchase these from a Tattoo / Piercing shop. Is there a way to tell what kind of wood they are made out of just by looking at them?
Is there anything I can do to help reduce the swelling and dryness. Any Oils? or if sea salt soaks would be appropriate. Any information would be great.
Thanks!
If you had an allergy to the wood you’ve been wearing for the last month, I’d think you’d have seen it very quickly.
Wood jewelry must be maintained regularly to keep your lobes happy about wearing it. Regular oiling is a must to keep the jewelry hydrated.
Why your lobes became swollen and red after not wearing jewelry for the day may just simply be a result of them being able to breathe and have some circulation pumping to them.
In the meantime, you should keep your earlobes clean and moisturized - I like jojoba oil, personally. Try wearing a more biocompatible material like implant grade steel, titanium or glass and see if that makes them feel better.
+2 / 2 votes
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Posted by Lexci Million | Permalink | Comments
Thursday August 14th, 2008 @ 12:54 AM
Filed under: Nose
Hi,
I am wanting to get my nostril pierced and have read some about it online. I found a place around here that does it, but they use a nose bone and I have read that it is bad to put that in a new piercing. I’ve heard that nose screws are better. I just wanted to get some advice from someone who knows. Also, how do you change a nose screw? I have been wondering that since I saw the jewelry on a website. Thanks!
I don’t even offer jewelry insertions of nose bones should someone bring one in to me at my studio to have their nostril jewelry changed.
Many nose bones are made of low (low!!) quality mystery metal that tarnishes terribly in the piercing. I’ve seen some that cost $3.00 and must have cost half a cent to make for whatever they’re made of.
Jewelry quality aside, wearing a nose bone (a straight piece of jewelry for the nostril with a small ball that sits inside the nostril to plug it in place) will cause the piercing to shrink around the very thin post which will make the jewelry very difficult and very traumatizing to remove. That little ball is going to be bigger than the healed piercing the jewelry is sitting in and, as a result, will need to be torn out of the piercing by force OR the head of the jewelry (what you see on the surface of the nostril) will need to be snipped off, the remainder of the jewelry removed from the inside of the nostril backwards and the piercing tapered back open to accommodate a new piece of jewelry.
That hurts! It will also make for a very angry piercing.
Nose bones are the devil!! I hate them!
A nostril screw is a VERY comfortable and very common design for nostril jewelry. The end of the curve that makes for the backing of the screw is inserted straight into the piercing and the rest of the jewelry is gently pushed and turned to follow. Once you understand the concept of the jewelry and the anatomy of your actual nostril piercing, changing the jewelry is simple.
Many piercers opt to purchase their nostril screws unbent (which means the jewelry comes like a gem or ball, etc on a long straight stem.) He or she will examine your nostril and determine the length you’ll need for the initial piercing and anticipate any swelling and custom bend your nostril screw to fit your nose.
You also have the option of using either a flatback threaded labret barbell or a press-fit labret barbell which leaves you with a flat disc on the inside of your nostril rather than the hook of a nostril screw.
I hope that helps!
+15 / 17 votes 
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Posted by Lexci Million | Permalink | Comments
Thursday August 14th, 2008 @ 12:49 AM
Filed under: Nose
I got my left nostril done about a week and a half ago and since then the tip of my nose and a bit of the left side has been numb. Is this normal?
Some people do experience a bit of numbness around an area after being pierced. Personally, the tip of my nose and a portion of my gums directly underneath experienced some numbness for several days. A consultation with my doctor concluded that the swelling was putting some pressure on the nerves in the area and causing some pinching that did subside after a while (a week or two)
Be sure that the jewelry you’re wearing is allowing for adequate swelling and practice a really gentle aftercare regime in the meantime.
If the numbness doesn’t go away as the piercing begins to settle down, check in with your piercer and your doctor to decide the best option to take. I’d be pretty confident it will start to feel better pretty soon.
+4 / 4 votes
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Posted by Lexci Million | Permalink | Comments
Thursday August 14th, 2008 @ 12:44 AM
Hi there,
Ive got an appointment in 3 days to get microdermals in my nape and Ive come down with a pretty bad cold.
Ive been taking multi vitamins for 2 weeks now (in preparation for the piercing) an have loaded up on cold and flu tablets to fight the cold and it seems to be going ok.
My question is, should i postpone my appointment until after my cold is gone?
or will it be ok to go ahead with??
cheeeeeeers!!
Wow! Good for you for taking extra precautions in actually planning to have this procedure done!
You’re right to assume that while your body is under stress as a result of your illness your immune system may take a toll after having a dermal anchor done.
If you have the option (and patience!) to ride out your cold and postpone your appointment, that would definitely be your best route to take.
That said, many people don’t have the same patience you do and will opt to have the piercing done anyway and will likely be fine after the fact.
Ensuring your body is in prime physical and mental condition will always make for a better piercing procedure and healing experience.
+6 / 6 votes
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Posted by Lexci Million | Permalink | Comments
Tuesday August 12th, 2008 @ 4:19 PM
I have a 7 month old cautery brand on my forearm, down by my wrist. It has healed to the point where it has all turned white.
Except for a few random purple splotches. Sometimes they’re really evident, sometimes they’re almost gone. They are also not open wounds, or raised up - they’re flush with the rest of the scar.
My best guess is that blood pooled underneath the scar?
I’m going to see my artist ASAP, in two weeks, to see what he thinks, but I just wanted to get another opinion.
I have a five-year-old cautery brand on MY forearm, funnily enough, and it looked exactly the same for awhile during the healing! By the time it was a 12-18 months old, it had pretty much all settled down into the same colour of white scarring. I’m really not sure why it healed so unevenly - like you, there was no rhyme or reason to it, just the odd splotch of high-coloured scar tissue amidst the rest of the white scar tissue - but if I had to guess, I’d say yours will probably settle down over time, too. Seven months is really not long enough to assume that your scar will look like that forever, it’s pretty early days yet! 
+5 / 5 votes
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Posted by Lori St.Leone | Permalink | 1 Comment
Tuesday August 12th, 2008 @ 4:13 PM
I was just wondering if a retainer would be okay as initial jewelry for a bridge piercing. I would love to have this piercing and my job doesn’t mind wearing retainers, but they won’t let me have any metal jewelry in it. Thanks!
I prefer to use straight jewellery such as barbells in bridge piercings (and I do not place them as surface piercings, like some piercers seem to do), so if a client came to me with this request I’d be happy to do the piercing with a quartz glass tongue-style retainer. If your piercer uses glass retainers as initial jewellery for piercings (and honestly, we’ve done lots of them at my shop and never had any problems other than the occasional client losing their jewellery - retainers are NEVER as secure as threaded jewellery!), I can’t imagine why they would mind doing this for you.
+3 / 5 votes
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Posted by Lori St.Leone | Permalink | 2 Comments
Tuesday August 12th, 2008 @ 4:08 PM
I am pregnant and need to change my triangle jewellery for something non-metal. Can you recommend PTFE or Bioplast, straight or curved barbell or captive (what I have now).
Are you talking about just changing the jewellery over prior to birth, per the hospital’s requirements? I’d suggest a PTFE barbell of appropriate gauge and length would be fine, if you’re concerned about the piercing closing. I actually removed all the jewellery from my genital piercings in early labour as a precaution and was really glad I did, I didn’t tear at all but certainly feel that having jewellery of any sort to resist against the stretching tissue wouldn’t have improved my chances of staying intact!
Congratulations and good luck to you and your baby, too!
+8 / 10 votes
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Posted by Lori St.Leone | Permalink | Comments
