This past Wednesday, Sept. 23 I decided to get two facial piercings.

Upon hearing about an extra credit book reading event my English professor mentioned would be at “The Booksmith” in the Haight, the close proximity was what made me decide to get my piercings. I then “yelped” several of the best user-rated and sanitary piercing shops in the Bay area. Conveniently, the top five shops were located on Haight Street.

I decided to go to “Braindrops” because they list all of their piercing prices online, accept credit cards, and have great reviews based on the quality of their work. I decided to get my eyebrow and lip pierced at the same time in order to take advantage of their five dollar off special upon getting any two piercings at once.

My piercer, Paul, made sure my jewelry fit properly, changed his gloves (for sanitation purposes) at least seven times, and maintained great casual banter to take my mind off of the three-inch needle about to go through my eyebrow/lip. Braindrops was very professional and I am glad that I chose the shop that I did.

Piercings actually teach people responsibility and to keep faith in their commitments. I say this because if the piercee does not wash their piercings at least twice daily and perform their weekly salt soaks to keep the open wound clean, the piercing will get infected. This will cause a lot of unnecessary pain and discomfort for the piercee and the piercing will eventually have to be removed, anyway. This will result in an average $60 loss for every piercing they would lose (costing about $25 for the piercing and $35 for the jewelry).

Also, piercings provide for individual expression. Different people are offered the option to get a variety of different piercings where ever they want on their body. These piercings would thus help to define who/what the client is or wants to be seen as.

It took me over a year to muster up the courage to go to Braindrops. But, in retrospect, a second’s worth of pain really did pay off in the end. After looking for the best piercing shop in town, researching various piercings, and reading over several after care procedures, I love the two piercings that I have now.

Overall I think piercings are great and I advise anyone thinking of getting one to seriously consider getting one. Take the plunge.