Sunday, January 31, 2010

9. Facial Anchors

Well, I did some anchors in my face a few weeks ago (three weeks last Friday) and I thought I would share a little update about them.

They're healing great, so everyone knows! They're laying nice and flat, and even minor bumping from time to time doesn't affect them. Sometimes the left one has some little crusties when I wake up in the morning, but I think it's because I sleep on that side the most...probably just some extra pressure it doesn't like. However, it hasn't been red, even in the morning! I'm really into these piercings, and I even just ordered some micro-gems for them in peridot, cause I just love green!!

Here's what they're looking like. :)



Friday, January 29, 2010

8. Star Wars Tattoos

My boss Russ tattooed my toes two days ago, since my birthday was yesterday. It's a cool little gift! Thanks buddy!

It took about 30 minutes. Pain wise, it was comparable to the lower fingers. I didn't like it but it went by quickly. It's been a couple days now, but healing hasn't been bad. There is still some swelling going on, but otherwise they feel great!

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

7. Finger Surface Piercings

I'm a piercer who especially enjoys doing surface piercing, but I'm not one to just pierce any place..if I know it isn't going to work out, it's likely I won't do it. I prefer to not pierce the finger area too, due to the fact that the few things I have done on a finger have lasted less than two months (snags are a big cause of loosing a little finger piercing).

I agreed to do this set of piercings, even though I was wary. I just didn't want her to have problems, more so because I've done surface piercings on her that have healed, and I didn't want her to have something that would fail. She talked me into it, and since she takes extreme care with her surface work, I decided to do this set of fingers. These aren't just a piercing you can get and then forget about, you know?? Ultimately, I did them the best I could, gave her a strict aftercare regiment, and sent her off into the world. Since she is a regular, I would see her often to check up on them.

Here is a photo of the day I pierced them.



I used 16g curved barbells, and I flattened them out a little so they didn't have such a sharp curve. I chose curved barbels because I've tried tygon before and there were problems. My main concern was the first two weeks. It's a high motion area and there was a bit of swelling. Generally for piercings like this, the swelling would be minor for days and possibly prolonged due to so much movement, and redness around the holes probably for most of the healing time. Any snag or a couple missed cleanings in the first few weeks could have done these piercings in.

But she knew that it wouldn't be easy, and took extremely great care of them. Here is what they looked like at just over 5 weeks old.



She followed the regiment I gave to her exactly, and look at how lovely they are healing! These are quite possibly the best looking finger surface piercings I have seen at 5-6 weeks old. The redness is minor around the holes, and there has been no migration whatsoever. I was expecting to see at least some migration, but she seems to not be experiencing any at all. She's had a couple little snags, but otherwise no soreness and little crusting.

Well, I saw her again yesterday, so here they are at 10 weeks.



It's hard to believe that they look this good and have lasted this long. Still some minor redness around the holes (it hasn't changed in a few weeks) but no real scarring, and it looks like the jewelry is still sitting well with no signs of migration or rejection so far. She told me there has still been very little crusting and they never seem to get irritated, even if they get tugged on every now and again. At this rate, she may be able to actually heal these things.... if all goes well!

I will post more photos as time goes on. Even if these piercings do begin to have problems or fail, I will still document the process. I hope you come back for more in the future. :)

Sunday, January 17, 2010

6. Apprentice. :)

I hadn't planned on it, but I did take on an apprentice recently, and she started this last week. Here she is, the lovely Becca! She's been doing well so far, and I have her doing simple things now like setting me up, cleaning up after procedures, and changing beads and jewelry when people come in. I hope she continues to enjoy her education and this ever-changing industry. :)

Monday, January 11, 2010

5. Betta lovin'.

I've had him for over a week now, but I thought I'd introduce him. Say hello to my new shop fish, Prince Albert! He lives in the window in my piercing room, and I really think he likes his new home. :) Prince Albert was the best piercing name I could think of for him....it seemed appropriate.

Friday, January 8, 2010

4. Microdermals!

Sometimes even a piercer gets pierced. :)

Though I usually go see someone for when I get pierced, this time I did it to myself. I've thought on it for awhile, but I decided to land some anchors in my face. Personally, I don't think the dermal anchors are like getting a normal piercing and are a lot less painful. I also have been thinking about trying a new technique for dermal anchor pocketing, and since I don't like to practice on clients, I did the new technique on myself. Turns out it works MUCH BETTER than my old technique, and it knocks about 4 - 5 seconds off the entire procedure. Awesome, right? And I have two new anchors, and I'm really starting to dig them. I'm still at work and my husband hasn't seen them yet, so I hope he loves them too!

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

3. Oral Dermal Anchor

This was my first dermal anchor in the oral area other than a set of cheek anchors. I don't especially like doing them in high motion areas because they don't seem to work out (I've had a microdermal in my philtrum a few times now, and the current one I have is the longest it has lasted, about 6 months, and there is a lot of migration already). I decided to give it a try since she wanted it, and I made sure to land it deep in hopes it won't migrate as much. If she wears bandaids as often as she can and over-night for the first two weeks, I think it may be okay. I will update a photo at 4 weeks, but otherwise, here is the anchor installed. She looks super adorable with it. :)

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

2. Glass Retainers

I did a nostril piercing today with a quartz glass retainer. This type of jewelry has the misconception of being able to shatter, but it's actually quite durable and a lot more invisible than an acrylic retainer. Glass is a non-porous material and it's impossible to have an allergic reaction to it, so it's great for initial piercing. Very discreet, and a super alternative for those who can't have facial piercings at work, but want a piercing. Here's the glass nostril retainer.



And here it is installed.



After 24-72 hours (when the blood clears out and redness dissipates), this will be virtually invisible in the nose.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

1. New Year Resolution

As part of my 2010 resolution, I've decided to begin documenting my piercing work and self modification. Not only do I want to document what I do, but I also wanted to give something to people who don't know much about piercing, and help educate others about safe piercing. I'm very technical and into my work! So here goes my piercing/modification blog! Yay! :)

Here's a bit about me:

I'm Cale, 27 years old this month, and I live with my husband in a cool house outside of Denver. I have a kitty named Kakarot and a spider named Rex. I also have a bunch of tropical fishies. :) My husband is a tattoo artist and we hope to own our own place one day. :)

I've been piercing professionally for just about 3 years. I've been in my current shop, True Blue Tattoo, as the sole piercer for about 6 months now and it's lovely. :) I'm skilled in a wide variety of piercing as well as dermal punching, minor scalpelling procedures, and I'm experienced in suspensions. I specialize in genital piercing and surface work/dermal anchors, but I also very much enjoy doing corsets/temporary piercing and custom ear work. I use industry standard 316LVM surgical steel and titanium jewelry, and can also pierce with glass or 24k gold. I offer glass retainer piercing for those who can't have visible piercings and wants one, and I make/bend a variety of custom industrial barbells here in the shop. My shop has one of the largest jewelry selections on this side of town as well. :)

I'm very friendly and professional. I love to help out people with their piercings, even if I didn't pierce them. :) My booth isn't very big, but it's cozy and I love hanging up gifts and cards that I receive from my clients. I love it. :D

I have a lot of my own modifications, and though I don't have time to write it out at this moment, I will in the near future. I hope this blog helps inspire those to understand piercing a little better. :) Keep an eye out for more posts and photos!