I had been bugging my dad for ages to get a labret piercing, especially after my eyebrow ring grew out/got ripped out for the second time. I asked him about it every day before my 17th birthday neared, but the answer was still no. So I printed out tons of experiences and pictures from BME and gave it to him in hopes that he would change his mind. Finally, he agreed to let me get pierced, on the condition that I waited until the end of the summer so my mother wouldn't be home all the time to yell at him for it.
At A Glance Author Alison Contact Alison@bme.anon Artist Jim, I think Studio Pleasurable Piercing Location Hawthorne, NJ The end of August rolled around and I reminded him of his promise. He put it off for a few more weeks. By that time, I changed my mind about a regular labret and decided that a vertical labret looked better. The day before school started, he finally took me to get pierced. I called my friend Michele and we left.
At Pleasurable Piercings, I told the guy at the counter what I wanted and my dad and I filled out the forms. He brought back a labret stud, but I told him that wasn't what I wanted. He then went to the back and brought out the guy who would be piercing me and had me explain to him what I wanted. After I explained it, the piercer knew what I was talking about and told me it was called a vertical lip, not a vertical labret. Everyone else on BME calls it a vertical labret, so that's what I'll call it too. I think my piercer for this was the same one who pierced my eyebrow the second time, but I'm not sure.
He told the guy at the counter to get a 1/2" 14 gauge barbell because vertical labrets "swell like crazy". Then he made me open my mouth a little bit so he could see about placement, and told me he couldn't make it completely vertical because of the way my lip was. He told me it would be tilted back slightly. That was fine with me.
After the barbell was ready and soaked in a disinfectant, he called me to the piercing room where I sat on the big purple chair. He made me rinse out my mouth with Tech 2000 and then he put on gloves and opened up the needle and clamps, and put the jewelry on the tray. He got a marker and put the marks on my lip, they looked perfect, so he changed his gloves again and clamped my lip. People have said that the clamps hurt, but I really didn't think they hurt at all. This is the first time I've been pierced where the piercer uses clamps. Then he stuck the needle through. It wasn't painful, but I could definitely feel it more than my eyebrow piercing. I swear, I could already feel my lip swelling at this point. Then he put in the jewelry, which stung a little and made my eyes water a bit. Then he screwed on the bead and I was ready to go. I looked in the mirror and thought it looked great.
My dad wasn't very happy that he could see the upper bead on barbell, but he's getting used to it. I thought it looked really cool, especially since no one else around here has one. It was pretty swollen for about a week. The piercer told me to clean it twice a day on the outside with this solution they gave me, and to rinse with mouthwash every time I eat something and also when I wake up and before I go to bed. I've had it for three weeks now, and it's perfect. It's not sore anymore, but a few times I accidentally pulled on the barbell with my teeth, and that was painful. The top bead sort of sunk into the top of my lip, but I'm the only one that noticed and I guess it's normal. It's probably better this way so the bead isn't as obtrusive.
After the swelling went down, I also noticed that the piercing isn't as straight as I thought it was. When I pull up on the barbell it's perfect, but when the barbell itself is sticking out at the bottom of the piercing, it tilts slightly towards the left, not even a millimeter. I'm probably the only one that notices, because it's so slight and only when the barbell is sticking out on the bottom. I hope it makes sense the way I explained it because it's one of those things that are easier to see than to explain.
All in all, I am very happy with my new piercing and hope I can keep it forever, since I didn't have any luck with either of my eyebrow piercings. Pleasurable Piercings is an amazing shop, I've only had good experiences when I go there and everyone that works there knows a lot. Now all I have to do is wait until I'm 18, and then I plan on going there to get my nipples pierced.