Category Archives: Body Mods

Dec10

New Piercing!!!

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New Piercing!!!

Soooo I got a new piercing today! I’ve been wanting my septum pierced for quite some time now, so I decided that today was a good day to get it done. No better time like the present, and whatever. For all of my tattoo needs I go to my boy Travis at Odd Fellows who you might have read about in my previous Body Mods articles, but for piercings I like to hit up Defiance in Kent, Ohio. My featured image is part of the layout in the shop, and the guy on the left with the dreads, Mike actually pierced me today. He was absolutely fantastic. Let me tell you guys a little about my piercing experience today…

I’m a piercing junkie. I’ve gotten so many that I’ve lost count honestly, and in all of those piercings I’ve never once cried or felt intense pain. Well unfortunately that streak was ruined today. Ha! The clamps used to hold the area being pierced hurt so incredibly badly!! All of the pressure and pain piled on top of each other made me start crying…I felt like such a bitch! After the clamps were on initially, I just couldn’t handle it, so Mike took out the four piercings I already have on my nostrils to give the clamps some more room. He legit had to talk me into getting the clamps put back on, but it worked. I asked him if the piercing was going to hurt as bad as what I was already going through, and he looked right at me and said that the piercing doesn’t hurt at all. I thought he was kidding or just saying it to make me feel better, but he was right. “In and out, right?” I asked. And with that, the clamps were back on and I was ready to go. He gave me to the count of three and pushed the needle through, and I didn’t feel a thing. It was crazy!!! Mike put the horse shoe jewelry in and then put my four studs back into my nostrils. My nose was so sore!!! I bled like a faucet too, which was weird because usually I never bleed an excessive amount during piercings. I’m being dead serious when I say that this piercing experience was probably the most painful one that I’ve ever been through. The clamps felt like they were cutting through my cartilage and my skin felt like it was burning. It was AWFUL. And this is coming from the girl who’s gotten four dermals done at one time, four nose piercings at one time, a six hour tattoo at once, and so much more. I’m really happy with how my piercing turned out, I think it looks super cute. Mike did a great job. However, I don’t really recommend anyone with a low pain tolerance getting their septum pierced…I like to think that my pain tolerance is incredibly high and I could barely handle this one. Here’s a picture of the end result:

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If you’re ever in Kent, Ohio and are in the mood to get a piercing, definitely hit up Mike at Defiance. Here’s their Facebook page as well, so make sure you give it a like!! https://www.facebook.com/DefianceEmpire It’s a fantastic shop with extremely talented artists!

What was the most painful piercing you’ve ever got? What was your favorite piercing you’ve ever got? I’d love to hear from you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Also, make sure you stop by lifewithlilred tonight for my review on episode nine of American Horror Story: Freak Show! Have a fabulous hump day night! -Sarah

Nov25

Unconventional…When did that become a bad thing?

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Unconventional…When did that become a bad thing?

So there’s this deep seeded feeling of extreme bitterness that I really need to get off of my chest. And I’m sure that every person with body modifications has felt this way before. I am SO. FUCKING. SICK. of the judgement that I feel upon me on a daily basis. If you’re unfamiliar with my personal appearance, let me bring you up to speed. I used to have a wide array of piercings… (I’ve gotten pierced and repierced over thirty times!)

  • Four dermals on my collarbones
  • Four dermals on my hips
  • Four piercings on my nose
  • Two piercings on my lip

In 2012 all of my visible piercings had to be removed when I got employed at The Body Shop. Okay. Whatever. A few of my piercings were pretty extreme so I sort of understood it…even though visible tattoos were allowed in the company which I found very unfair. Once I left The Body Shop I decided I wanted to get the four piercings I had on my nose redone, because I absolutely loved them. They made me feel really good about myself and I adored the way they looked on me. A lot of people did. Unfortunately possible employers and random strangers (which I don’t care about) think otherwise. I was lucky enough that at PacSun my piercings and tattoos were never a problem, same with at my current job at Next. (Hurray!) But I can’t tell you the amount of times in job interviews I’ve had where the interviewer will straight up tell me that my beloved nose piercings need to be removed. On a few occasions I’ve also been told that my bright red hair would have to go back to a natural color. I found all of these requests so insulting. Isn’t refusing someone the right to work due to their personal appearance a form of discrimination? It’s almost 2015 and I will be damned if I alter my appearance for an unaccepting company. When did an unconventional appearance become such a bad thing??? My hair color and my body mods make me feel good about myself. They make me feel amazing, actually. They truly have became part of who I am as a person…and I really love who I’ve become. I refuse to be destined to a life time of working at Hot Topic because of the way I look. Honestly, this is another reason why I was so determined to get myself to college. I can’t wait to have a job in the arts where my appearance will be nothing more than a physical reminder of my creativity. I don’t care about the random passerbyers staring at me and I can put up with the dirty looks and constant questioning of “Did that hurt?!”. But when a company that I’m interested in working for refuses to be accepting of others, that’s when I draw the line. I’m sure many of you are thinking that I should just suck it up and take my piercings out or remove the color from my hair. But it’s not that easy. I used to hate who I was before. I reigned victorious over an eight year stint of severe depression and created a new life and image for myself from the ashes. The way I look is a constant reminder that I overcame all of my difficulties with myself once and for all. I finally feel beautiful and confident and I will never ever let anyone take that away from me. The day my nose piercings come out and my hair returns back to brown will be because I wanted it that way – not because a company won’t hire me because of it. And when it comes to jobs, my work ethic will speak for itself…not my personal appearance.

trueee

Public Service Announcement:

There’s a common misconception that modified folks are not the type of people to associate yourselves with. Well, I’m here to tell you that: People with body modifications, whether it be piercings, tattoos, colored hair, or anything else you can possibly think of are not bad people.

*Sigh of relief* I feel so much better now! I’ve had a lot of pent up frustration about this issue for a very long time and I really needed this vent session. Any questions or concerns? Leave me a comment and let’s chat. However, I’m warning you now: any extreme negativity will not be tolerated and deleted immediately. Have a lovely Tuesday! -Sarah

Oct26

A Thank You Letter to my Parents

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A Thank You Letter to my Parents

This is a special thank you letter to my mom and dad. A thank you for them being so accepting of their extremely unique looking daughter. My mother took me to get all of my piercings done from the time I was fifteen until I was eighteen and old enough to get them done on my own. If you’ve read my original post Body Mods, you’ll know that I’ve gotten pierced and repierced over thirty times, and my mom was there for more than half of these. My dad was never really thrilled when I’d come home with a new piercing, however he’d rarely let me know it. And when he did, it was as nice as he possibly could make it, which usually just involved asking me if I was ever going to take any of my metal out. Not only was my parents cool with my body mods when I was younger, they were also fine with taking me to the hair salon to get my hair dyed and styled into my signature bright red semi short hair. Words can’t really express how much this means to me now. The fact that I was only a teenager but my parents were giving me the freedom to express myself and look the way I want is something I don’t thank them for enough. I should really start. My mom and dad treated me like an adult in the sense that I was able to make decisions on my appearance completely on my own. I’ll never forget all of the times my mom and I would come waltzing into the tattoo shop and being greeted by all of the guys working. My piercer absolutely adored my mom and we visited him frequently enough that my mom would drop the classic phrase of “you can be my adopted son” whenever we would see him. It was always so fun for me to see my mom chat and laugh with all of these pierced and tatted up guys as if she was the mother of all of them. Watching her interact with them and pass no judgement on any of them was amazing. My mom is sixty and my dad is sixty-six and I really think its cool that both of them are totally okay with having a daughter who looks like me. Most people my parents’ age are very set in their ways which tend to be more traditional. When I came home with my newest tattoo yesterday (see the article Body Mods! Part 2 for more information on that), my mom was so eager to see it that she was genuinely upset when I told her I couldn’t take the wrapping off for another two hours. My dad was amazed when he found out his little girl sat through five hours worth of pain to get it done, “how in the hell did you do that?!” There’s so many parents in the world who wouldn’t be okay with their kids opting for a more unique look. And there’s probably a lot of parents who don’t agree with my mom and dad’s acceptance of my appearance. But that’s okay, to each their own. My mom and dad accept me for who I am because I’m my own person and I like what I like. And most importantly, nothing will change the fact that I’m their little girl. My gratitude to my parents for everything knows no bounds, and I am so beyond lucky that I have them. If you guys haven’t read my newest Body Mods article, this is my newest tattoo which I got this weekend:

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Take the time to thank your parents for something they did that you really appreciate. Has there ever been a time where your parents shocked you with how cool they are? What was something that your mom or dad did that you’ll never forget? Leave me a comment and let’s chat! Happy Sunday. -Sarah

Oct25

Body Mods – Part 2!

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Body Mods – Part 2!

Welp, it happened. I got my new tattoo yesterday! Making it the fourth one in my collection. Before I begin telling the tale of getting this baby done, let me show you a picture!

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There she is! The goddess, Isis. I got this masterpiece done at Odd Fellows Tattoos in Akron, Ohio. My friend and tattoo artist, Travis made this work of art possible. (And if you’re into heavy metal at all, please check out his band Below The Tide!) Let me tell you guys, this tattoo was a process! It took a little over five hours to complete. Honestly, I’m shocked that I was able to handle getting the entire tattoo done in one sitting. My sister accompanied me for the stencil placing, because I really wanted her opinion on the placement of it. Unfortunately after that, she had to leave me to go volunteer for the rescue group Canine LIfeline. (You can read all about this fantastic group in my article Must Watch Video!) http://caninelifeline.org/

After the tattoo was placed to my liking, we got to work. The outlining of Isis really wasn’t that bad, it was smooth sailing and was completed in an hour or so. After that was done, we took a five minute break for the bathroom, cigarettes, and to stretch out. In the entire five hour process we took three five minute breaks. Travis then called me back to his chair of doom and began to work on all of the black work in the tattoo. At this point I was still doing fine and dandy, I was a little bit tired, but I was still feeling good enough that nothing was really hurting. I’m a trooper 😉 While Travis worked we enjoyed conversing with each other and the other gentlemen working in the shop. All of them were really just fantastic. I told Travis that himself and everyone working at Odd Fellows did a great job of making an uncomfortable situation feel very comfortable. The conversations we had were full of vulgarity and profanity, but it was hysterical and helped take my mind off of the process at hand. Before I knew it, Travis was done with the black work, and it was time for another break. Once again, it was a bathroom, cigarette, and water break. Things took a turn for the worse as far as how I was feeling goes once Travis started on the color, which he called “the fun part”. Ha! Up until the coloring, I didn’t need any of the guys at the shop to hold my hand, and I wasn’t in genuine pain. But once the color began, it was almost too much. My skin was raw and angry, and every stab Travis took at me with the tattoo gun felt like daggers. I told myself that I wouldn’t cry while I got Isis done, but that didn’t happen. Tears started flowing without me even trying. The water works were coming out like my eyes had sprung a leak. That was when the guys at the shop rallied around me to try and help. One of my other friends, Mitch (who you can check out in the band, Fallen Captive) held my feet when I started squirming. Keith was on hand holding patrol for the rest of the session. I was honestly feeling pretty faint at this point, I was in a lot of pain and I was falling in and out of zoning out. To help with that, all of the guys held conversations with me to help take my mind off of the pain. It was very sweet. The last hour of filling in all the color felt like an eternity. I was so zoned out that I didn’t even realize that Travis had finished it once it was done. It was such an amazing moment when he told me I could get up and go take a look at the finished product! I almost thought he was kidding! When I got to look at my completed side piece for the first time, I was blown away. It was better than how I pictured it to be. It looked even better than the picture that I brought in (which is my featured image photo). Travis couldn’t have done a better job if he tried. I am so thankful to him and all the gents at Odd Fellows who helped make my tattoo experience as tolerable as possible! If you’re ever in Akron and feel like getting a tattoo, you know where to go!

Here’s Odd Fellows Facebook page, make sure you give it a like!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Odd-Fellows-Tattoo/667458826660986

And once again, if you’re into heavy metal check out the bands Below The Tide and Fallen Captive!

Happy Saturday! -Sarah

Sep19

Body mods

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If there’s one thing I love, it’s body modifications. The Pic Stitch above is of my three tattoos, “After the flood all the colors came out” is a lyric from Beautiful Day by U2. My favorite song by my favorite band. I got it the day I turned eighteen, much to my parents disapproval ;). I also have “Do I dare?” on my arm, which was my favorite quote in the book Night Film, which I highly recommend to everyone! My newest tattoo I got this month is from Jack White’s song Lazaretto and it says “When I say nothing, I say everything”. I plan on getting the goddess Isis pictured below my Pic Stitch as my major side piece probably this winter. I love her story. I love everything she stands for. As we delve deeper into this blog, I might talk about some of the reasons why her story touches my heart so deeply. She has a very significant meaning in my life and I’m very excited to have her with me for forever. Don’t even get me started on piercings though, because I could go on for DAYS about how much I looooove piercings! They were my first love. After begging my mom to take me to get my belly button pierced at fifteen, I was hooked. I’ve gotten pierced and repierced over thirty times. At the moment I only have my belly button, my ears, and my four piercings on my nostrils. I had to take all of my piercings out when I was the assistant manager at The Body Shop. I was SO pissed! The only ones I’ve gotten redone after that fiasco was my nose piercings. But let me break down everything I’ve ever gotten, just so you guys can see how much of a fanatic I am!!!
2 industrial bars going through my hips
8 dermal anchors on my hips (I had four done at once, and then another four when I got them redone)
8 dermal anchors on my collarbones (I had four done at once, and then, like my hips, got them repierced)
8 piercings on my nose (I had four done at once, then, like my hips and collarbones, got it repierced)
2 on my lip (snakebites)
4 on my ear
1 on my cartilage
1 on my belly button
Now do you believe me when I say how much I love piercings? Haha I would really like to get my septum done soon, and am also playing around with the idea of getting my snakebites redone. So many body mods so little time!!!! If you guys have any piercing or tattoo questions, please shoot me a comment! Also, if you would like to see some pics with my old piercings in, shoot me a friend request on Facebook (Sarah Mushenheim) Sweet dreams! -Sarah