Getting your ears pierced is seen, for some, as a ‘must-do’ thing. All of my female cousins have their ears pierced, and even some of the guys (because they think they’re princesses). One of my cousins recently described a girl getting her ears pierced as a rite of passage; something all girls must go through to prove their girly-ness.

Kind of.

In my family we always get the girls’ ears pierced when they’re about six months old. There’s something so adorable about seeing a baby girl with teeny tiny diamonds in her ear, hidden behind her curly hair. It makes my stony black heart melt just a little bit. I got mine pierced when I was about six months old, and I still have my first ‘real’ pair of earrings – they’re small gold hoops with a gold ball that dangles down. I don’t remember ever wearing them, because I was only a baby, but I still keep them with me amongst all my jewellery.
Because I’m a bit of a prat, I decided not to wear earrings when I was really little and starting school, so the hole closed up and I had to get my ears re-pierced.

I will always remember that day.

I was about 6 years old and went to Claire’s with my mum and my aunts, and they pierced me with a gun. They said they would count to three, but instead pierced me on the two.

I was not impressed with the lies.

One of my cousins said she remembers getting hers pierced. She went to India when she was three, and remembers picking out little pearl earrings. Pretty amazing that she can remember something like I think piercings are great like that – it doesn’t matter how old you are, you’ll always remember something about that moment of sticking a hole in your body. I remember getting my nose pierced last year – I messaged my mum and asked her to meet me and my cousin in town after work, and then took her to the piercing shop so she could watch me get a piercing she didn’t want me to get, and then could pay for it afterwards. It was brilliant!! I wish I filmed mother’s face while I got pierced.

It would have been great for me to re-watch it, because the tears just kept flowing… No I wasn’t crying, just getting a nose piercing makes your eyes water.

My mum’s now warmed up to my nose piercing – she’s even bought me studs to wear!

She’s just not over the moon about my latest addition…

I went to Brighton for my birthday, and when I woke up, hungover and unsure of what planet I had woken up on, I randomly decided to get a scaffold piercing. So, after breakfast, went trekking round Brighton looking for a piercing shop. I found one, and then get pierced. Came home, showed mum, and watched her face get visibly pale. It’s been four days, and she still hates it.

Healing this one is the worst – it’s painful, sore all the time, I can’t sleep properly because I can’t lie on that side, and I keep accidentally knocking it around. I have to do a sea salt soak on it twice a day for it to heal completely and properly, but it’s still painful. I really should have thought this through a lot more! If you have/had a scaffold/industrial piercing – please give me some advice on getting it to heal quickly!

I don’t want to take it out – it’s my permanent memory of my birthday weekend! I love it! And I can very easily hide it from her so she doesn’t have to look at it too much…
I’m sorry mummy, but it’s JUST SO PRETTY!!