At A Glance
Author	anonymous
Contact	anonymous@bme.anon
When	A month ago
Studio	Museum of Living Arts
Location	Charleston, SC

I originally went to my usual piercing parlor in hopes of a uvula (the hangy ball in the back of your throat) and a triangle piercing. My usual piercer was out of town at some piercing convention so I asked another guy there. He told me absolutely not and hell no to the uvula piercing. He basically said I would swallow the needle and die. And he didn't know what I was talking about when I said triangle. Between him being rude and inexperienced, I decided there was no way I'd let him touch me so I left and called another place I'd heard only good things about, The Museum of Living Arts. The receptionist told me she had a guy who could maybe do those piercings and she'd call me back. When I didn't get a phone call, I drove down to the shop to ask. I was told that with them both being risky piercings, he was going to think about it, but that it definitely wasn't going to happen that day.

I was disappointed and didn't want to leave without something new so, remembering a really pretty picture I'd seen on BME, I opted for two outer labia rings on one labia. I liked how it wasn't symmetrical.

I really wanted rings, like in the picture, but the piercer recommended curved barbells for healing because with rings, there was more of a risk of bacteria getting in the hole. I was told I could change them out after a month anyways so I went with his advice.

I was asked if a girl could watch. I'm assuming she was an apprentice. I didn't ask. It didn't really matter. Either way, it was one more person getting a spread eagle view of my vag, which isn't normal for me. Not to be a prude, I said she could watch.

We decided on half inch curved barbell in a 12 gauge. He said it would hold better than a 14 gauge would. He (I think his name was Mike, but I'm not sure.) said not to be concerned with the size because a needle is a needle and it's gonna hurt about the same. Fair enough.

So he asks me to undress from the waist down (the most painful part I think). And I do, slightly more uncomfortable than it would've been without the chick observer.

I sit on the chair (lined with the crinkly paper) and he starts looking and poking around. After cleaning the area, he dips a toothpick in ink to mark dots for the piercing. He wanted me to point out where I wanted the rings. I was no longer uncomfortable about being so exposed but I definitely didn't want to touch myself in front of an audience, even if it wasn't sexual. So I told him to just mark it himself, kinda in the middle.

The top set of dots were too high up, I thought. I asked if it would cause more rubbing/irritation being so high up. He agreed the piercings should go lower. He made new marks and I was satisfied.

By the way, I'm talking about my right one, not that it really matters.

So anyway, he puts on the clamp. All I've ever heard about clamps is that they are horrible and painful. That has never been the case for me. Maybe I've just been fortunate enough to not be clamped too hard.

After a bit of pulling and maneuvering to get the clamps in the perfect spot, he tells me I can rest my foot of his leg if I wanted. My other leg was just chillin out. It was like half a spread eagle. Then, he gives me the usual speech about how to breathe and what to expect.

So I breathe in, and breathe out, and breathe in, and PIERCE. That exhale was kinda like if someone punched you in the stomach. No outbursts or tears, just a heavy manly breath. But it was quick and the pain was moderate. I could feel the needle enter, run through, and exit, kinda like with my belly button piercing. Then, he pushes the jewelry through and he pulls the needle out and that's one down.

Same process repeated for the second one. It really wasn't bad. I definitely could've sat through more but I didn't want more at the time. Now, I think I might like one more below the other two, though.

He hands me the mirror and I look. I was pleased to have new piercings and pleased that they were straight. But I didn't like the way they looked with the curved barbells. I'd had my heart set on rings and didn't think it was beautiful without them. But I knew that eventually I could change them out and that maybe I would think differently then.

I put my clothes back on, carefully. No pain whatsoever.

Then, he gives me the aftercare speech. Unscented antibacterial soap. he said to kinda slide the barbell up and down to get the soap inside. He also said that was the only time I should slide the barbell like that. He said to make sure I got all of the soap off when I rinsed. No sexual contact. Normal stuff. I asked about salt soaks and H2Ocean spray. He said it wasn't necessary.

So I paid my ninety something dollars plus tip and left, unsure of how I felt about the new piercings.

I could walk just fine. Driving wasn't a problem. Sitting was slightly uncomfortable, but not painful. I was just scared to harm them.

I looked at them in the mirror every chance I got. And I always felt happy and sad at the same time. Happy to have them but sad that they didn't look like the picture I was imitating, and scared that they wouldn't, even after the jewelry change. I'd seen pictures of labia rings that were really dangly and I didn't like them. In this picture, the rings fit really nicely around her lip, like cupped it. I don't know how to explain it. If you look at the BME encyclopedia entry for outer labia piercing, you can see the picture I'm talking about, and the picture to the right of it which is what I meant by too dangly.

Three weeks into healing, I can't wait anymore and I change the jewelry. I needed to see what they would look like and the curved barbells were getting annoying since they were long and my swelling had gone down. I put in two 12 gauge captive rings. I did it myself because I didn't want a piercer to realize how fresh they were and tell me I'm stupid for not waiting until they'd healed more.

Getting the barbells out and the rings in was easy, but getting the beads to pop in was almost impossible. I couldn't really see what I was doing and the mirror didn't help because everything was backwards but after what I felt like forever, I got the beads in. Instantly, I loved them. I got that feeling you get when you see a piercing for the first time when you have just gotten it done, the feeling I didn't get at the shop.

I don't think they look quite like the picture but I love them anyway. They don't hurt. They do itch a little because technically, they aren't completely healed. Shaving is slightly more complicated. I can't seem to get 100% of the hair directly around the rings but it's not a major issue.

If I touch them, it kinda feels as if it were a clit, not just a labia, nothing too intense but cool.

I can't say they didn't hurt but it was definitely bearable. They're pretty and it was worth it. Definitely recommend The Museum of Living Arts, even though I still haven't gotten a call about my uvula/triangle a month and a half later.