Im 16 and ever since my first real piercing- my navel, I have been obsessed and can I say addicted with getting piercings. Luckily my parents are ok with it all, they just say that as long as I pay for it, look after it and if it gets infected care for it myself I can do what I want. After my navel, I got my tongue pierced, which did not hurt at all and then I got my nose pierced which was easy, but I still had the piercing bug so I decided that I wanted my lip pierced as not many people had it done at my school and my then boyfriend had it done and I thought it looked really cool.
At A Glance Author angeljbuk Contact angeljbuk@bme.anon When A week ago Artist matt Studio living colour tattooo parlour Location Clevedon, nr Bristol, England So I told my parents I wanted it done and they were ok with it, my dad was a little bit annoyed as I had, had a small problem with my tongue piercing (which was my fault) and he was not too keen on me getting another mouth piercing but agreed and took me to clevedon (a small town near me), and living colour, a piercing/tattoo parlour where I had gotten my navel and my tongue done and where my mum had got her tattoos done. Its an ok place, its quite clean but not overly cleanly and I have never had any problems from there except with my tongue (but that was due to the fact that ibuprofen caused problems for me, not the piercing place).
So I arrived and made my mum come in with me because even though I love piercing's im still a wimp at heart. So I met the piercer, matt (who also pierced my tongue) and told him that I wanted my lip pierced. He is a really nice guy who puts you at ease, even though is comments of saying I was silly for getting my lip pierced, and why did I want it done? Did not go down very well. I told him I wanted a ring and he said that it would be better if I had a labret stud in the beginning and come back and get it changed to a ring after a few weeks. He said that having a labret stud meant that I would not have to have a huge ring in my lip to account for swelling. Even though the piercer is always right I was adamant I wanted a ring as that was how I had always pictured it and matt said ok.
So we moved into the piercing room at the back. By that time I was really really nervous, just like I am with every piercing I get- even my ears!! Matt tried a few rings on my lip to check the sizes and chose the smaller out of the two. Then he put some numbing spray on the inside of my mouth, which tasted awful! And marked my lip with a pen. Then he put the clamp on my lip, which was not painful but just a bit annoying and then he removed the needle from the packet and stuck the needle through my lip, this was the bit I was scared of as I was not sure if It was going to hurt at all or was going to be really painful, well it did hurt, it was probably the most pain I have ever felt in a piercing but it did not hurt that much, then he put the ring in and went through the aftercare, which was to not play with it and clean it with salt water once a day. And then warned that if I woke up in the morning and felt that the ring was pulling at the hole, to come straight in to get it changed to a bigger ring. I paid him his £25 and went home. The pain went away straight away, and when I looked in the mirror I loved my lip ring!!
So the next morning I woke up, and as luck would have it my lip was huge!! So I went back and matt changed my ring for me, free of charge, which was nice and lucky seeing as I had no money left. This was the most pain I have ever experienced and matt had problems getting the bigger ring in so I sat there dribbling and saying owww a lot while matt tried to get the ring in, and after a few minutes it was through! That day my lip ached for the whole day and I lived on cold drinks and ice pops.
The next day it was still swollen but was not as painful and I was starving so tried eating a yoghurt which I got everywhere except my mouth so I broke a bag of crisps into little pieces and ate them.
Now I have had my lip pierced for just over a week and I love it, I can eat properly now, the only thing that is a little awkward is drinking from a glass without a straw but that's only because the ring is really big and gets in the way. I have cleaned it once a day with salt water just like matt said and have had no real problems, its a little red round the hole but its not too noticeable. The swelling has all gone and crusties are appearing.
Hopefully in a few days im going to go back and get a smaller ring because the big one moves about a lot but I may wait until it's a bit more healed. But I know that when it is fully healed im going to get a ring without a ball because that is what I wanted originally!
I cant wait to see what its like to kiss with it in, my boyfriend cheated on me 2 days after I got it done so I never got to see what it was like but I will.
If I have one complaint I think it is a bit low down so looks a bit like a labret piercing but in a way its all good because I can put a labret stud in it if I want to and alternate my jewellery.
I love my lip piercing to bits, and so do my mates. Its something to play with as well as my tongue bar in boring lessons and it is another piercing to add to my collection.
Living colour may not be the cleanest place but they are friendly, helpful and know what they are doing. Next I want an industrial and I want my first and second ear holes stretched. But I think I will wait a little bit.
My advice to everyone out there who wants there lip pierced- GET IT DONE because the pain is minimal and it looks wicked!!