Retiring My Nostril Piercing [3.3.25]

What a bittersweet piercing. This was my 2nd facial piercing out of a total of 3 at one point. I had my eyebrow, nostril, and septum in that order. I took out my brow piercing because I had a bump that never went away. After that, I was determined to keep my other two no matter what. Partly out of liking facial piercing, but also out of the fact that I paid for them and wanted to make them worth it.

Well, my nostril piercing had been a hell of a journey. It was okay at the beginning, and then grew a bump that took a month and a half to go down. After that, it was okay besides the occasional yank here and there. I didn't agree on placement for it though [nor my eyebrow! my piercer sucked ass!], and it became more apparent how much I disliked it as it healed. Before I even changed it, it migrated lower and lower. It was to the point that when I finally changed it to an 8mm hoop 9 MONTHS after getting it pierced, it was already so low that the hoop stuck out and looked terrible. I ordered a 7mm one online, and while it looked slightly better, it was apparent how low the hole was and if I wanted a traditional look [yk, a hoop that hugged the nostril but not too much to the point of cheese-wiring] I would need a 6mm or even smaller than that. What the fuck! I didn't want this! I only kept it for so long and gaslit myself into liking it because I had already mourned a face piercing before and I wanted to hold onto this one. 

Finally, though, I've decided to retire it. It made it past the one-year mark, so that's a plus. Not only was the placement shit, but it started feeling a little juvenile? Idk if that's the word, but it also didn't help that it felt like it was taking away from my masculinity. This is purely just a me issue, as plenty of guys have nostril piercings and it doesn't take away from nothing nor look bad. It's just in my mind, as I'm still pre-T and I've already had such a shitty experience with it.

I asked my best friend about it and they agreed I should take it out if I didn't like it. I held out for as long as I could with it, but taking it out has been very relieving. Now I'm down to just one facial piercing- my septum- and I'm okay with that. It's one of my favorite piercings [out of 3, what a big selection ik] and now that I've started stretching it, it's becoming even cooler. I'm at 14g now but will at least be going up to 12g. With my nostril ring gone, it no longer shares attention with my septum and lets it be it's own thing. Especially since I'll be going up a size later, my septum will be the focus of my face, which I think is cool. 

As I do with my other piercings, I just wanted to write about this one. It was cool when I first got it all things considered, but I've outgrown it. I still think they look cool on other people, but it's not my thing even though I once wanted it to be. If you find yourself falling out of love with a piercing [and after consideration], I think it's totally okay to retire it. It doesn't matter how much you paid for it or how hard it was to heal. If it's not your thing anymore, you aren't obligated to keep it. Shit happens, and that's okay. I know I'll be keeping my septum and lobe piercings forever, but my eyebrow and nostril piercings are a thing of the past now. Going from 5 piercings to 3 seems kinda suckish at first, but it's okay. It's just a number, and I happen to like the number 3. I have been looking into other piercing for the future, but for now I'm content with what I have. It allows me to focus on these 3 as I gauge them, since I want to take proper care of them so that they'll look good as they increase in size. My goal is for my septum to be 12g, and my ears to be 00g [although seeing 9/16ths on Chester is making consider going up to that, but I'll decide once I make it to 00].

Hope you're doing well and appreciating any piercings you have [or making plans to get some]! Remember that you can change your mind about piercings and can remove them if you don't fuck with'em anymore- that's the beauty of 'em!

-Otis 💚