Two New Body Mods!

Last month, I received two new body modifications! One is a tattoo and the other is a piercing.

The first body modification I received on February 9th, 2017 was my very FIRST tattoo! It is a phoenix, simple, yet elegant, on my side. (Between my hip and slightly on my rib cage.)
It did not hurt that bad and is fully healed now! It didn't hurt too bad to get, especially since I took Ibuprofen before getting it done. Oddly, it was not what I expected, though the healing was an absolute b*tch! The first night was horrid, especially when cleaning in the shower. DO NOT take a hot  shower after getting a tattoo. It will hurt terribly! I was advised not to do it so, while it was healing, I took lukewarm showers.
Each morning, I would partially shower in order to clean it, then apply a bead of ointment. This proceeded for the next four days. After that, I applied Lubriderm lotion, a non-scented and recommended lotion to heal your tattoo, so it would not dry out and would relieve the intense itching sensation.
DO NOT scratch at your tattoo while it is healing, especially while it is healing.This can cause damage to the tattoo and design. DO NOT pick off the scabs, as the skin could still be absorbing the ink in. Just let them fall off naturally.
Also, while it is healing, wear loose clothing where the tattoo is at. Abrasion can cause damage to the tattoo as well.
Overall, I absolutely LOVE my tattoo. I will be actually getting it touched up and may even add some bits of color! I'm so excited! I can't wait to see how it turns out!
I plan to get more tattoos, the ones on my wishlist. They are subject to change though. I will keep you updated!

The next body modification I received was my Tragus piercing. I got it done by Starr, down in NYC at Pure Body Arts!
http://purebodyarts.com/
She's an awesome piercer and very friendly! I was a little nervous, but her positive attitude helped me feel right at home while she pierced me!
It was quite quick and, surprisingly, I did not hear a popping sound, like others who had their tragus done had claimed.
I really love it! It's so cute and in the perfect spot!

So far it has been healing quite well. I've been using H2Ocean and q-tips to clean around the inside, both the outer and inner part. Sometimes I even heat the solution a little and I've found that it feels quite good! The only issue with cleaning is that the water goes down my ear a little if I clean the inner part.
The major downside to this piercing is that you cannot wear earbuds (ones that go in your ear) if you have the tragus piercing, especially if it is healing!
Bacteria can form around the piercing if you use earbuds, especially if you do not clean them or share earbuds, and it can cause an infection, keloids, and a harder time healing the piercing.
Usually what I do is I don't wear the earbud and recently have been hanging the earbud over my ear, rather than inside. I've found that it works quite well!.

UPDATE
After about a few months of having healing issues with my tragus, I changed up the way I clean it. I now use a cup of warm water and 1/4 sea salt. This isn't regular salt from your table. This is salt from the ocean. Iodine is in regular salt and would be bad to use to heal a piercing. You can find the sea salt in almost any grocery store. I got the fine grain because that works best!

My piercing is now mostly healed and I barely have to clean it. I love the way it looks! The only downside is when I lay on the side my piercing is on, the bar is pushed against the piercing and creates unwanted friction that can create keloids, which aren't fun. I had a small one, because of this, but it went away quickly because I lessened how much I cleaned it, which caused the bump to dry out and disappear.
I honestly can't wait to get another piercing. As a result of not being able to get my belly button pierced, I came up with a solution, thanks to an Instagram post I saw.
The solution would be a dermal bar beneath my belly button. It looks so cute! I would need to find a good, reasonable piercer though, to do it.
I hope you guys liked this update. I'm sorry I haven't been keeping up with my blog. I've been busy with life and college as well as many other things. I'm going to write more though!