Temptation Won

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     Today I got my latest BAF (Body Art Forms) order! I am stretching my 14g seconds up to 12g (actually, they were already ready for the 12g size due to the earrings I had in them for the last month being prominent, and therefore moving around a lot). So that part was easy. Since I didn't really have to stretch my seconds, I decided to stretch my firsts. 8g to 6g is much bigger of an increase than 14g to 12g.

This is one of my ears with 8g tunnels in my first, and a 12g pincer in my second.  I switched from the pincer to a 12g tunnel after this, and then continued with my plans, which I tell below.

     I took my hot shower, and massaged my lobes with oil. I lubricated my taper and started to slowly insert it. Then it stopped, and there was too much resistance to risk pushing it (I could end up with ugly damage that takes a long time to heal if I try to force a stretch). I then remembered that the stretch from 10g to 8g had been similar, and I had to do it gradually over a couple of weeks instead. I have abnormally un-stretchy ears (and they like to shrink down quickly if I don't keep jewelry in them, too). I think most people will not have this problem.

     So... I got out the PTFE tape, and wrapped it around each of my steel plugs a couple of times. I soaked them in jojoba oil and inserted them. No problem. My ears are OK with small increases, but are not stretchy enough to go up a size at a time. (In case you're confused, 8g is smaller than 6g, these are measured like wire gauges). The last time I stretched, I could increase a little bit every 3 or 4 days, and I made it to 8g fairly quickly. I've since learned that I should wait a week between the small increases. I'm hoping I'll have no problem going up to 6g.

     I plan to keep my firsts at 6g over the summer, and then decide about going bigger (I'm thinking of 4g as the possible final size). I plan to stretch my seconds from 12g to 10g after a month. Then I will stay at 10g for the rest of the summer. In the fall I'll stretch my seconds up to 8g. That will be the final size for my seconds, as I think they will look nice at that size, and I have a lot of 8g jewelry. If I get thirds (14g), I'll have them done after I finish stretching my other piercings and they have had time to heal.

:)