Wednesday, May 4, 2011

A Piercing Dilemma

As you may have noticed in my previous posts, I have two facial piercings.  There's a diamond nose ring I've had for about 5 years and an eyebrow ring I've had for 10 years.  (Yes, I am aware that *no one* has an eyebrow ring any more.  That's part of my dilemma...)  In general, I am completely oblivous to them.  And just for the record, I think I'm fairly unadventurous in my appearance other than these piercings - no tattoos, no eclecticly fabulous wardrobe, no brightly colored hair or funky/fun haircut.  I work a professional job and no one has ever asked me about them in a job interview or any other work setting (take that, Mom!).  And as an obligatory note, of course there's nothing wrong with having a more adventurous appearance, obviously (says the girl with two piercings... in her face!). 

{both piercings on display, albeit a larger eyebrow ring than I have now}

A few years ago, on a total whim, I decided I'd outgrown my eyebrow ring and I took it out for the very first time ever.  And I freaked the eff out!  I didn't recognize my face anymore.  I started crying, and I called Mr. FW to ask for his help in putting it back in (a story in its own right).  After that experience I've twice decreased the size of the ring to make it less conspicuous, and I'm pretty happy with how it looks now.  (The nose ring is so teensy that most people don't notice it anyway, so I hardly ever think about it.)When I ask my friends about the eyebrow ring, they all tell me that they love it, they can't imagine me without it, and that it's super unique and "Ms. FW-esque" because few other people have eyebrow piercings right now.  But I've always had the nagging sense that someday I'd feel "too old" or "too professional" or "too uninterested in piercings," and I'd take it out for good. 

I never considered that I might feel "too bride-y" for my eyebrow ring - but I kinda do.  Although I have no idea of the kind of image I want to project of myself on our wedding day, I'm not positive that an eyebrow ring will fit that image.  Do I want to look back at pictures of our wedding 50 years from now and see myself with this piercing?  On the other hand, how would I react to having ALL of our wedding pictures feature me without my eyebrow ring?  I honestly can't imagine taking it out and not having that very visible piece of myself present on such a big day.  I mean, I literally don't have a single picture of myself without my eyebrow ring since I was... wait for it...  19 years old! 

Here's a photoshopped before-and-after I did so you can see what my gorgeous mug looks like without my statement piercing:


{left - that's me!; right - who is that girl?!}

So I'm curious what y'all think.  Should I stick with the face I've known for 10 years, or do I take the plunge now so I can get used to it before the wedding? 

And if you've had a similar question for yourself, how did you ultimately decide what to do?

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.