It was the summer of the millennium and I was residing in Montreal Quebec Canada. At this point in my life I was attending many after hour clubs and raves, one of the piercing that seemed to be prevalent was labret piercing, I really took notice to this piercing and found it very attractive, and esthetically pleasing so I was determined to get the procedure done.
At A Glance Author angs When Two years ago Artist pierre Studio blacksun studio Location montreal Living in Montreal, almost everyone knows that the best studio around is Blacksun studio on St Denis street in the Latin quarter of downtown, I have always been very impressed by there professionalism and dedication to customer service. So that being said I jumped in my car with my girlfriend at the time and headed into town for my 1pm appointment.
When we arrived I was feeling a little uneasy due to some issues at work, so I decided to sit down in the waiting room, enjoy some green tea, and read a magazine, before I knew it I was being called into the piercing room (for lack of a better term) by Pierre, my piercer. He saw that I was feeling a little anxious and bummed out, so he talked to me for a little while and lifted my spirits so we could get on with the procedure.
I sat back in the chair and looked at the jewelry that was being used, it was a "fish tail" labret stud, which was new concept to me at the time, most people I knew with this particular piercing had a flat back. Pierre explained the reasoning behind it, and told me that gum recession is usually cut down when a "fishtail" labret is used. I was then sized up and marked for the insertion of the needle, "breath, breath, on the third breath I will insert the needle, and your done". Just like that the needle was in and the jewelry was being placed, the actual insertion of the needle was rather painless, the completion of placing the jewelry was a little uncomfortable, but the pain was minimal.
After the piercing Pierre and I talked about aftercare and he handed me a detailed list of aftercare instructions, he stressed the use of non-alcohol based mouthwash, such as oral-b for the inside and hibidol soaks for the outside of the piercing. I made a second appointment for a month later in order for Pierre to resize the labret jewelry, this due to the fact that the length of the jewelry was sized to compensate for any swelling that may occur.
On the way home I noticed the jewelry felt tight against my skin, it was at that point that I noticed some minor swelling, and redness around my piercing but that soon subsided and the piercing felt comfortable but fresh at the same time which was a odd sensation. When I arrived at work that day, I was the topic of choice around the water cooler, which I found very funny, and annoying because I had to answer those stupid mundane questions such as "did it hurt"? Or the classic "ewwww" comment, a group of trained monkeys could come up with more interesting questions and comments then that!
The healing process was very uneventful, for the exception of a few crusties, and an incident which involves me hitting my chin rather hard against the pelvic bone of a lady friend of mine, everything went very smoothly. The only complaint I have about my labret experience is the jewelry, it is very easily lost in ones sleep or during physical activity which I found to be agitating, but it is very comfortable and easier on the gums then flat backed labret jewelry.
Since then I have had my tongue, and lobes pierced at blacksun, the latter of the two was done by Azl, whom is also working at black sun studio. Azl is an excellent piercer just like Pierre and a great person also; these two are defiantly on the cutting edge of the industry and are at the top of their game.
Recently I have moved to Toronto Canada, and have not really had any piercings done except for some minor lobe stretching which I do on my own. Although I do plan on visiting a few studios in Toronto to see what studio's I like, just incase I decide to get some thing else done in the future.
In closing I would have to say that the most important thing is getting to know your piercer and the studio's in your town. The desision of where to go get pierced is up to the individual, but keep in mind that getting pierced for cheap is never the correct way to go about choosing a location, usually you get what you pay for. Personally i would not feel comfortable getting pierced in a shop that also sells bongs, baggies and any other drug paraphanalia because it is cheaper then a professional studio such as Blacksun.