The thought of a labret had always been an appealing one to me, I loved how they looked and they didn't strike me as a piercing that would cause a large amount of pain. (Alright I'm a pussy what can I say?)
At A Glance Author A Wish For Wings That Work Contact A Wish For Wings That Work@bme.anon Artist Brian Studio Freedom Body Piercing Location Vernon, British Columbia, Canada The night before my experience begins I had been sitting around at my house with my good buddy Marty watching some skate movies when he struck me with an opportunity to act upon my desire; "Hey I have to go to Freedom tomorrow after school to ask Brian a question about my lobe, why don't you come with me and get your labret pierced?" I answered with a meek and unsure I don't know, but my friend sealed the deal; "come on man, it'd look awesome on you."
Well I'm one who is easily taken in by cheap flattery, so it was set.
The following day went off as my usual school day would go, arrive at school, sit around bored out of my mind for six and a half hour. But instead of going home as usual Marty and I headed off to Freedom. The drive from our school to Freedom is at most 10 minutes so we arrived just after 3:00. I had not thought about the labret all day, but now I felt my worry catching up to me, I had never been inside Freedom and was not sure what to expect, I had heard nothing but positive comments so my fear was subsided somewhat.
We entered and were greeted with a very clean, pleasant smelling environment; the décor was very modern and hip. Brian (the head piercer) quickly greeted us with a warm smile. He asked what he could do for us and we told him what we wanted, he handed me the normal form you have to fill out (luckily they accept drop ins) and helped Marty while I filled it out. I hastily and excitedly (or maybe it was nervously) filled out the form and handed it to Brian, he told me to come into his studio.
Brian's studio was very nicely kept with a sink, large mirror, tons of piercing supplies and a small stereo quietly playing soothing instrumental music that I can't really remember. He told me to sit down on the dentist-like chair and he informed me how the piercing would be done and told me how to care for it and symptoms to watches out for. I must admit in all my excitement I didn't really retain anything he said. Brian did a terrific job of making me feel secure and good about my decision (though I guess that's his job.) He asked me if I was ready and I gave a nervous "of course."
Brian pulled out a black marker and painstakingly marked where he was going to pierce, I was happy that he was so concerned about the placement of the labret (in this case centred) but it made me a bit anxious. After several failed markings he finally got it how he wanted it, he showed me the dot in a mirror and asked if it looked okay to me. I myself am not what you'd consider a very observant person so it looked just dandy to me. Brian showed me a "Chi" method of breathing (deep breath through the nose and out your mouth I believe it went.) This actually helped my anxiousness and calmed me down substantially. Brian then brought out a small bottle of lavender aromatherapy oil and wafted it by nostrils, the scent calmed even more. I felt in an almost euphoric stage and watched him removed the needle from its unopened packaging. I continued my breathing as Brian walked up to me and clamped my lip. He told me he was going to count to 3 and then push the needle through, he asked if I was ready and I told him very hazily yes. He began his counting, 1, I looked over at Marty and he gave me a reassuring smile. I closed my eyes & continued my deep breathing; excitement and anticipation ran through me. 2, all of a sudden I felt the sensation of the needle going through my lip. I felt no pain, only an odd feeling of pleasure.
I opened my eyes to see Bryon smiling as he inserted the labret stud with its brand new shiny steel shaft & ball. I looked in the mirror and gave a proud smile. Brian handed me aftercare instructions and told me to come back in around 3-6 weeks to downsize the bar. He asked me how it felt and looked. I proudly exclaimed how it didn't hurt and that I loved. He gave me a pat on the back and sent me on my way (after paying the $60.00 of course.)
Well I was driven home and bid Marty farewell, I proudly showed my parents my brand spanking new labret. They were certainly less than thrilled, but they were quite good about it, everyone else seemed to like it so that was nice.
While it healed the only trouble I had with my labret was learning how to chew again. I'm not exactly what you'd call the "sharpest tool in the shed" so it took me about a week and a half to master the art of not catching my labret on my bottom teeth and yanking on it painfully. The healing process was very problem free and quick, I downsized after about 3 weeks, this made eating solid food insanely easier than before. Other than the eating dilemma, my labret caused me very few problems.
It's been over a year now since my labret was pierced and still I've had no problems, I haven't had any substantial gum wear or anything like that. I've developed a strong love of piercing since this experience and plan on several more piercings and other mods.
A labret certainly isn't for everyone, but I certainly love it.
Jesse