Nose piercings: share your thoughts

[Renee]

@bittersweet

And, with regards to Renee’s idea, here’s a pic of my shnoz. It shows the left side, which is where I’d want to get it done.

I still think it sounds like a PITA, but you have a very pretty nose and I think they do look rather cool if kept small.

[Anaamika]

@ultrafilter

I’ve seen a couple Indian (i.e., from India) women with their nasal piercings on the right-hand side. Any idea why? If it matters, they were very likely Brahmins.

Like Anu says, it’s generally a South Indian thing. In South India, they often have the septum pierced, too. It’s not so much a Brahmin thing - I’m half-Brahmin myself - but more that North and South India culture is very different.

[ultrafilter]

OK, yeah, they were southern (friends of a friend who grew up in Mumbai). Thanks for the info.

[Bridget_Burke]

Yet another non-pierced-nose butting in (nosing in?) with my opinion. I had my ears pierced at 18 & stopped there. (The family doctor did it but my grandmother thought it was “barbaric!”) While I agree everyone has the right to get anything pierced, I’ve been taken aback at times. For example, the sandwich guy at Whole Foods with grommets in his ears made me decided I didn’t want a sandwich that day.

However, I think nose piercings look pretty & graceful–perhaps because several Indian ladies I’ve known had them. The “look” is certainly more classic than trendy. (No matter what a Scots-Irish grandmother from Indiana might say.)Please find a good piercer & follow the maintenance procedures mentioned on this thread.

Now–what kind of jewel will you wear once your nose is ready?

[bittersweet]

I’d like a small stud with either a diamond or pink or blue zircon. Nothing too bright or dark, due to my lighter skin tone.

[Johanna]

@anu-la1979

South Indian women pierce it on the right side (Tamil Nadu/Kerala). I have no idea why. My understanding was that North Indians and Muslims pierce on the left and South Indians pierce on the right. What the origins are of that-I don’t know.

Thanks for explaining that, anu-la! I went and asked Tamil and Andhra Muslim women about it just now. The Tamil woman says the Muslims there pierce on the right, same as Hindus, and the Andhra woman said Muslims there pierce on the left, different from Hindus. But she also said in Andhra Pradesh it depends on the caste. This corresponds with what I know of Andhra history, since the Urdu-speaking Muslim culture there originated in North India and migrated south, which is also true of some of the castes there like the Banjara. However, the Muslim culture of Tamil Nadu and Kerala comes from different origins, and has its own characteristics shared with other Dravidian-speaking peoples.