A few links

Just for Fun

Ya’ll know I’ve been reading personal finance stuff lately. Well, one site not to miss is The Simple Dollar. Very down to earth and useful stuff, which doesn’t ignore the emotional well being and time management we all need.

Look for the 14 Money Rules:

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/

Following The Simple Dollar’s delicious links, here’s a fun one:
20 cheap and Fun Date Ideas. Good ideas for getting out and doing something different for everybody!

http://www.christianpf.com/20-cheap-and-fun-date-ideas/

and finally for an on-topic one, here are some of my body art links on delicious:

http://delicious.com/cloudlb

link pic from Matti Mattila’s photostream.

Thinking about a “clit” piercing?

I want to get my clit pierced!

I hear a ton of inquiries like this from curious women, but the truth is, almost no one gets the clitoris itself pierced. Far, far more sensible, easy, and common is to get the clitoral hood pierced; that is, the thin membrane of skin which covers the actual clit.

Most common is the vertical clitoral hood piercing (a “VCH”). A horizontal clitoral hood piercing (“HCH”) is also common. These are commonly referred to as “hood” piercings (not clit piercings).

A clitoris piercing is possible, but it’s rare for several reasons. First, it’s a pretty extreme piercing, with potential to cause damage to a Very Important and Sensitive Organ! Second, because very few women have clits large enough to accommodate one. Here’s an excerpt from The Piercing Bible* about clit piercings:

Piercing of the clitoral glans (visible beneath the hood) is rare, and it is serious business. A piercing mishap can result in the loss of your clitoral sensation . . . only a highly experienced master should perform this piercing . . . exercise extreme caution before embarking upon a clitoris piercing; this is not an area with which to take risks.

Out of the very small number of women who genuinely desire a clitoris piercing (rather than the much more common hood piercing), approximately 90 to 95 percent are not suitably built to accommodate jewelry through the clitoral head.

So, girls, if you are interested in getting a genital piercing, do yourself a favor. Find the best, most experienced piercer you can find, and ask for a consultation and evaluation of your own anatomy. They don’t all look alike and the piercing that is best for your BFF may not be the best piercing for you. A hood piercing is an easy piercing that can look and feel great, but a clit piercing is something different.

If you’re confused about anatomy, here is a link to Wikip on female genital anatomy:     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clitoris

Playdough vulvas from Dr. Janet Carroll’s photostream at Flickr.
*The book, The Piercing Bible, by Elayne Angel, is the best reference out there. You can buy it from Amazon.com.

Magical Midnight

Since I announced the birth of my grandson, Orion here, I can’t neglect to introduce you to:

Auryn Midnight

A little granddaughtercloud born exactly at midnight.  (My 8th grandkid–can you believe it?) In a tub in the middle of the living room!

“Auryn” is the magical amulet belonging to the Child Empress in the Neverending Story.

In other news, I’m driving to visit my piercer in Albuquerque, so I should have some new piercings and some new blog posts soon!

Body Art in a Galaxy Far, Far Away

The female Jedi of  Star Wars really kick ass.

While watching a recent episode of Star Wars The Clone Wars, I was struck by the abundant body art on many of the characters.  It  had me speculating on the origin and significance.

I don’t know if there is a formal ideology or more explanation for the art; but I wouldn’t be surprised–perhaps someone nerdier than me can tell me.  I can tell you that several of the characters bear obvious tattoos,  brands, body paint, or similar graphic symbols on their skin. Maybe the animators just enjoy drawing them that way.    (Yes, I do realize these are just cartoon characters.).

Barriss Offee

Sparkling like Diamonds

Diamond shaped tattoos seem to be a theme.  Barriss Offee and her mentor, Luminara Unduli, have what appear to be tribal tattoos. (There are good pics of Ashoka Tano and Luminara Unduli on this page.) Barriss has a scattering of diamond-shaped markings across her face and her hands, and Master Unduli has facial markings on her chin similar to a Maori moko. (Moko @ Wikipedia).

Ashoka Tano

Obi-Wan’s padawan, Ahsoka Tano, has very interesting facial markings, but it is unclear to me exactly what they are.  Are they organic, similar to tiger stripes?  Perhaps they are white body paint, or battle paint, but they seem to be inherent.  I wonder if that blue striped and green coiffure is cosmetic or hair or an appendage or what.  She seems to be of the long appendagy-type people like Jabbas’ lieutenant, who appeared to have filed his teeth.  (You can tell this post is really well researched, eh?)  Whether the white markings on the cheeks, above the eyes, and on the forehead are painted on or not, they are very striking.

There are other examples of this predilection for body art in the Star Wars franchse.  In the episode  I saw recently, in which Ahsoka and Barriss try to penetrate a droid factory, at least one of the male characters had a forehead marking (a brand?). Come to think of it, Princess Amidala was fond of elaborate geisha-like makeup with a ritualized markings.  And then there are the markings and horns on Darth Maul.  I haven’t seen any piercings yet on the denizens of that galaxy, but they may be out there.

My poor drawings do not do these much more talented animators justice, so be sure to check out what these characters really look like by going to the official Star Wars site. You can watch episodes of The Clone wars and see for yourself.   You’ll notice that one of the header pictures on this link is of a female character with spiral dot tattoos on her shoulder.

All these dots and diamonds remind me of these awesome dot tattoos I found on Flickr. Dotwork Tattoos by Damian. I’d say there’s a convergence between art and life!

Image above from Crave. Drawings belong to me.  Star Wars and Clone Wars belong to George Lucas.

fin

The Soapbox

Soap Delay

As I mentioned in my post on soap, The Dope on Soap, two antimicrobial soaps made specifically for wound care, Provon and Satin, are often recommended for fresh piercings.  However, Care Tech, the maker of Satin, was ordered to suspend shipping by the FDA while they investigate unauthorized claims.

“The FDA is concerned about Care-Tech’s products because they lack FDA approval, do not conform to any applicable over-the-counter drug monograph, and are not appropriately manufactured.”

Here’s the link to the FDA press release.

In addition, I’ve heard from more than one source that Provon’s manufacturers may be behind in their supply and distribution, so while these situations are no doubt temporary, if you can get your hands on Provon or Satin at your piercing studio or elsewhere, grab ’em!

Meta, Pics & Flicks

Flickr: I’m slowly uploading all my piercing pics to my Flickr Photostream.  I don’t want to upload all of them at once, because the Flickr strip on the blog changes as I upload, and I want a variety for you.

Delicious: Also, I’m working  on moving my bodymod links to my Cloudlb delicious bookmarks account to post all of the links there. In a similar vein as the Flickr pics, they show up on the sidebar as I post them, and there are a lot of them, so keep an eye out for new ones as time goes on. If you have a delicious account, you can add me to your network to get them that way, too.

7000 Years of Jewelry

I’m so excited!  I got this wonderful book — and got a really great bargain on ebay — about the history of jewelry.  It looks to have some great information on body jewelry in history which I hope to share with you once I digest it.  Here’s the link to the Amazon page of the book.

Midnight Baby!

And finally, Welcome to GrandBabyCloud No. 8! BD#2 in Portland had a little girl this morning at midnight.  At home, with a midwife, and in the birthing tub.  Oy.  No name yet, no pics or anything so far, but we are so happy!

fin

Ed./clarity

Orion the Hunter

Please welcome Orion, Grandbabycloud No. 7, to the Earth!

…

Some Meta and a Good Sale:

Yes, it’s snowing on the blog, courtesy of WordPress.  Ho, ho, ho.

And I changed my header once again, although I’m still not satisfied with it. I thought the purple would go well with the blue background, but I like the contrast better.

The pics now showing on my Flickr strip are still Art from My Body–this time taken with the Lolo function on my iphone app.  Still pretty cool, I think! You can see all the piercings pics I’ve posted so far on my Flickr photostream.

BodyArtForms has a sale this month:  Use coupon code LIGHTS2009 at checkout and receive 20% off your entire order for the entire month of December! This sale can not be combined with other coupon codes.

More on Microdermals

Anchors, single point piercings, microdermals–whatever you call them, they are one of the newest big things in body piercing.  Traditional piercing placements are described in the old  maxim, “If It Protrudes, Pierce It.”   Single point piercings are attractive because you don’t need a protrusion, flap, or fold of skin–you can place them anywhere (theoretically.)  So far, the major problems with these cute little things are migration and rejection. Innovative jewelry makers and piercers are still working to refine the concept for viability, versatility, and long-term wear.

Above is a picture of my almost one-year old single point piercing (which I wrote about getting here.)   I’ve been lucky–many don’t make it this long, as they tend to reject.  Here’s a sampling of what I’ve learned about them:

Placement can make or break a piercing.  Lots of ladies are getting “cleavage” piercings, but are finding that the movement of their breasts is causing the piercing distress.  The anchor part that is in your skin must remain flat to the plane of your body.  My piercer placed my anchor higher than I initially wanted, but I believe it has been the key to my success so far.

Aftercare for these piercings consists of keeping them clean, with the occasional sea salt soak or compress.  Compresses (clean gauze or paper towel soaked with hot saltwater solution) are a good option because unlike a normal piercing with a channel and two exit points, there is only one hole.  Therefore, gentle pressure with a hot compress can help expel any lymph or other matter from the piercing.

Rejection and migration are the big problems here.  A messed up piercing must ordinarily be removed by a piercer, and may leave a scar.  Unfortunately, I’m not aware of anything that can be done by the piercee to prevent this.

As good as mine has been doing (no redness, pain, or anything), it has popped out a bit over the course of the year, as you can clearly see in the above pic.  (It looks a little red in this picture, but I think that’s just my pink person skin!) I think it may eventually work itself out and need to be removed.

Contrast my anchor with the two in the pic above, used with permission from PriestessLolo at the BAF forums from this thread. Her two chest anchors have clearly migrated away from the plane they are supposed to be in.  This is a very common consequence, and the piercee is planning to remove at least the bottom one before it can get worse.

I only have one single point piercing, so my thoughts and experience are limited.   They look amazing, but some might feel the piercing is a lot of money spent for pain, with more money, and more pain to remove them.   If you are willing to experiment with your body and accept the risks of rejection or scarring, they are really very rewarding and unique piercings.  Are they worth it?   The jury is still out on this one.

fin

Art from My Body

In honor of The Pierced Consumer’s one-year anniversary, I’ve been doing some cleanup and some tinkering.

I’m excited to add the Flickr widget, which will show the latest photos from myFlickr account.  It’s not very flexible, they seem to be added as I add them.  They show up on the right, under the links and stuff.

Right now I did a series of photos from my own tattoos with my iPhone.  The iPhone is notorious for having a crappy camera, but you can do some really cool things with it regardless.  I think this set came out really fantastic! Check out my Flickr stuff here:

Art from My Body by Cloud.

More Meta

–I’ve also changed my header, as  you can see.  That’s my beautiful Maya Organic “Earn Your Wings” earrings which I’ll probably feature more once I can wear them, lol!

–Edited the About Page and added new  photo of me getting pierced at the bottom.

–Overhauled the Body Piercing Basics Page, with new photos and new blurbs.

–The “Links” and sidebar were getting too cluttered, so all the links are now consolidated under “Click Here.”

–am trying out the cloud tags.  Appropriate, don’t you think?

–finally, I’ve added a widget to my delicious bookmarks.  I’m still tinkering with this!  The first one you’ll see there (right this minute) is a gallery I did of black and white body art that uses other people’s photos.  Since most of these are not using creative commons licenses, please click the link:

Gallery:  Body Art in Black and White

–fin

How to Save Money on Body Jewelry

Bargain Box

I’ve looked and looked for a nice jewelry box to put my jewelry and tools in, to no avail.  I wanted a large compartment below to put tools, tapers, etc. in, and all of the “jewelry” boxes I find are too small, too fancy and weird for body jewelry (I’m not putting my barbells in a cherry veneer armoire).  So I found this box at my local Hobby Lobby on sale for 50% off!  Making it a true bargain  box for $2.50.! You can find bargains on body jewelry, too, if you look.

First, a word of warning:

DO NOT compromise on the quality of your initial piercing jewelry, or jewelry to be worn in unhealed or troubled piercings. This includes when you are in the process of stretching.  You are trying to convince your body to heal around a wound, and therefore you need highly polished, well machined simple jewelry from an appropriate material for your new piercing.  This means high  quality stainless steel, titanium, stainless steel, glass (or gold or platinum, but this post is about saving money.)  For your initial jewelry purchase, ask your piercer what brands and grades of piercing jewelry they carry, and buy the best starter jewelry you can afford! This is very important for healing your piercing, and not a place to be cheap!

Well-healed piercings can usually wear a wider variety of body jewelry. In fact, you can spend quite a bit of money collecting wonderful jewelry for all your holes.  I never recommend cheaply made, inferior quality body jewelry, but in stable piercings you can compromise a bit, if you know what to look for.

In honor of Black Friday, here are some ways to save on body jewelry: (Note:  Some of the specific deals and offers described are time limited, so if you come across this blog post much past Black Friday 2009, they will be gone.)

Ask Your Piercer

Your first piece of jewelry should normally be purchased from your piercer.  You should never compromise on quality, nor should you choose a piercer or studio on price.  However, it never hurts to ask if your piercer is offering any special deals or discounts. For instance, some piercing studios will offer a second piercing or jewelry at a discount.  They may have some jewelry they are willing to let go on sale, too.  Studios generally buy they jewelry wholesale and mark them up in accordance with standard business practice.  This gives them a little wiggle room for negotiating.  If you develop a good relationship with your piercer and are a good customer, they may be willing to discount your jewelry a bit–it never hurts to ask.  Don’t be obnoxious about it–remember that jewelry sales can be an important part of a piercing studio’s income (and we want to keep those good studios in business!).

Comparison Shop

Always check different retailers for the item of jewelry you are shopping for, including shipping!  Look for deals on shipping.  This can be tedious and time-consuming, though:  maybe I’ll feature some discounts in future posts to help you out.  Steel Navel and BodyArtForms offer free shipping (via USPS mail) on orders over $25. Many retailers also offer freebies and perks with orders–free o-rings, stickers, gauge cards, and even free jewelry!.  Those gauge cards come in handy, believe me!

Sales, Clearances & Seconds

Most online retailers will have a sale link or bin.  Jewelry seconds are also offered sometimes, particularly by manufacturers.  These seconds may be mis-sized slightly, or have irregularities or imperfections, but they might be all right for your purpose.

Steet Navel has both a Sale page and a Clearance Page. BAF also has a Sale page and a Clearance page. Clearance deals are limited and go fast, but you just might find the perfect jewelry for your hole.

Body Circle Designs frequently has sales.  Right now they are having a “Huge Holiday Sale” offering 20% everything.  They are also offering deals on overstocked items. Body Circle Designs manufactures and sells awesome, super  polished, extremely  high quality jewelry.  Highly recommended!

BodyArtForms is offering 30% off Anatometal Super Gemmed Eyelets through November 30. Great deal on these coveted and rather expensive pieces!

One Tribe runs Current Specials–always worth a look!

Newsletters, Special Offers, and Contests

Sign up for all the retailer newsletters you can.  To varying degrees, these newsletters will have special offers for loyal customers.  Some online retailers reward loyal customers with “points” earned, early discounts, or contests.

The winner in this category has to be Steel Navel; the great people at SN are creative in thinking up special offers and contests for their customers.  They have a ton of free stuff to choose from when ordering.   Contests, Twitter Fridays, and special surprises if you participate in their forums.

Tribe Rewards: From Tribalectic.com.  Earn points by uploading pictures and participating.  100  points=$5 off

BodyArtForms, one of my favorite all purpose retailers, has: “free basic mail shipping on orders over $25 (for jewelry only in the USA & Canada). We offer Free jewelry on orders over $30, 4 free black o-rings, a free gauge/measurement card, and a free BAF sticker.”  BAF is also running a Print Ad Contest for a $250 jewelry prize.

Used Body Jewelry

People do sell or trade their body jewelry.  As people go up or down in gauge, retire their piercings, or just need to clean out their jewelry box, they put their used body jewelry up for sale.  I myself would never purchase used body jewelry in acrylic, wood, or organic materials that could not be sterilized in an autoclave, though, and I would take any used jewelry to my piercer for autoclaving first.  (Please keep in mind there’s a difference between cleaning, disinfecting, and sterilizing, and protect yourself!)  Steel Navel offers Classified Ads for forum members.  Other sites may have special boards where people discuss trading, bartering, or selling used body jewelry.

Discount Retailers

Type in “save money on body jewelry” and you’re likely to get a score of cheap ads and marketing come ons.  You can find all the inexpensive “belly rings” and acrylic jewelry you want.  You can save money buying cheaply made, imported jewelry by shopping discount retailers, or buying from mall shops, Wal-Mart, etc. You can save money by shopping Ebay–maybe.  I personally don’t buy this kind of stuff unless it’s for limited wear in healed piercings or emergency replacement jewelry. Keep in mind there’s a lot of cheap crap on the market, of uncertain grade and poor finishing.  If it looks cheap, and the price is too good to be true, consider it second tier jewelry; that is, not to be worn long-term or in new or healig piercings.

As you can see, my bargain jewelry box has plenty of room for tools and –oh! Shh!  Someone’s sleeping!

Note:  I am not affiliated with or compensated by any of the jewelry retailers mentioned.

fin

http://www.steelnavel.com/category.asp?Type=CL

Happy Birthday!

The Pierced Consumer is One Year Old!

Wow!  I can’t believe it’s been one whole year this month since I started this blog. Lots of blogs don’t even make it that far. I’ve seen a lot of “bodyart” blogs which are either “buy my jewelry” pitches or “my journey into body art” ramblings, and I’m glad to offer something different, something apart from now-standard experiences and endless photographs of ears and navels.   This isn’t a bullshit blog, and I hope I’ve made some good contributions on body piercing which inform and entertain.

I can’t always say it’s been smooth sailing, like when I made a very unflattering remark about a well-known belly dancer’s tattoo and she responded.  Not everyone agrees with my opinions, either.  That’s fine with me.  Do your own research and come to your own conclusions.  I’m not posting daily like I did in the beginning, which I knew wouldn’t last, and there have been some noticeable gaps when I just can’t think about body piercing; ’cause I’m just that kind of a flake. But I’m still here so I guess I haven’t given up yet.

In honor of this anniversary, here is a recap of some stats:

Top Five Posts:

1. Body Piercing Basics
2. Aftercare in Detail: The Dope on Soap
3. Traditional and historical:  The Nose Piercing
4. Book Review: Kat Von D High Voltage
5. Mayan Body Piercing:  Keeping the Universe Alive

My busiest day was November 17, with 283 views, which is the day the Do’s and Tattoos review was noticed.  I’ve had over 34,400 hits overall, and the average in 2009 is a little over 100 hits per day.  Now, these numbers are pretty pitiful compared to some, but I’m still pretty happy.  Readership has gone steadily up. I’m a slow writer, and it’s a narrow topic.  I’m not trying to sell anything here except for better body piercing practices.

There are some important posts which I’ve yet to write:  a risks post, for example, since there are indeed serious risks to consider and avoid in body piercing; another is a piece on Aztec body piercing, which should be coming up shortly.  Historical posts seem to be popular hits, and it’s an area that interests me, so you’ll probably see more.  My choice of things to write is sometimes impulsive, and I’ve made no effort to completely cover every area of body piercing.  For that, we now have The Piercing Bible, by Elayne Angel, and for that reason, it’s been a very important year for The Pierced Consumer.

I would like to thank everybody who is reading.

For those of you who have been fans, commented on my posts. tolerated my self-promotion, here’s a little something for you.  I was fooling around trying to get a birthday shot, and this one came out, well . . . completely inappropriate!

fin

Ed.