It all started with a dream. For a long time I've known that I wanted piercings, but I could never settle on one, or find a place I liked, and so on and so forth. I guess I was content to wait for inspiration to strike, to just wake up one day and KNOW exactly what I wanted; and that's exactly what happened. About 7 days before I got pierced I had a dream, and in the dream I caught a glimpse of myself in a mirror(incidentally I am told that this is a rare occurrence in dreams). In the mirror I saw my reflection, but I was startled to see that I was not me, I had a labret piercing and a horizontal eyebrow.... and I liked it a lot. The next very day I woke up knowing that this was what I wanted.
At A Glance Author BluePhish Contact bluephish28@Hotmail.com When It just happened Artist Stacey Studio Advanced Tattoo/Body Piercing Location Tallahssee I have always been voracious in my pursuit of knowledge regarding subjects that interest me, so I had done quite a bit of piercing research before; but with my new found motivation I jumped back into the pool of piercing knowledge with both feet. I gobbled up every bit of info I could find regarding Labrets and Horizontal eyebrows, every scrap on the internet(or at least very nearly). I talked to all my friends with piercings, I stopped strangers in the streets asking where they had had their's done and what their experience was like. I soaked up all the contradictions, all the stories, all the info I could getting ready to take my plunge. I also scouted around for places to get pierced. I live in Tallahassee which unfortunately isn't a huge place as far as body mod goes. I guess that there are a lot of college kids getting pierced, but even so there are shockingly few well run establishments here. After much deliberating I decided to have my labret done first, mainl y because from what I have read and certain people I have talked to it was made clear that horizontal eyebrows aren't the surest piercing, that they have a tendency to migrate and reject and such... not what I had in mind for my first hole. So with the decision made that the labret was the way to go i set out in earnest to search for a parlor.
A lot of choices ran through my mind. I knew that I could go back home to Tampa, where I knew quite a few great places to get pierced, and actually knew the piercers personally. My only hesitation there was that if i started having trouble with the piercing I'd like to know someone local I could go to for help. With this in mind I started scouting locations. To make a long story short, after seeing a few less than desirable places I got a tip from a friend at a party. She told me to head to Advanced Tattoo because the guy that worked there was a pro, gauntlet trained, good touch, all that stuff, plus he was APP certified and the establishment was immaculate. I was sold, I headed over there the next day to check it out.
Upon first walking in I was impressed with the place, a nice little waiting room with separated rooms for tatts and piercings, very clean, sterile, and friendly. I asked if Bink(the man i was referred to) was in and was told that he was on vacation, but that Stacey could help me. My heart sank a little as I had heard nothing about her, but I agreed to talk to her and she soon came out to speak with me. On a side note I think it's excellent to have an uber-cute(which stacey was) piercer, she put me right at ease instantly. I was armed with my list of questions and such, and we talked about her methods and the parlor's methods for a while. She explained that Bink had apprenticed her and that she had been piercing for about a year. i let her know about my fears of gum erosion and such that come with a labret, and she agreed that it could be a problem, but said she knew to make sure the piercing was at a good angle and such to help minimize the risks. I decided to go for it and told her I'd be back the next day to get it done.
The day dawned and I woke up ready to go, the three hours before my appointment seemed to drag on, but I ran out and got some good antimicrobial soap and such in preparation for my aftercare. Finally I headed over there around 2pm. I was definitely nervous, but in that wonderful excited kind of way. When I walked in she smiled at me and we got down to the paperwork. I read over everything and she gave me my aftercare sheet to go over. Finally we were ready to head into the piercing room and get started. The room was very clean, smelling much like a dentist's office or hospital room, all the instruments were in bags as they should be, and I felt right at ease. She walked me through the procedure as she did it, explaining everything. She painstakingly marked my lip, fawning over it like only a piercer who loves their job could. Then she clamped my lip and lined everything up. Finally she told me to take a short breath and then she would do it. Sure enough just afte r my breath i felt the needle go through. I had never really worried about the pain of piercing, I have a pretty high tolerance for pain and I think that the pain is part of the allure of piercing. I was right not to worry, since I've had much worse pain cutting myself shaving! Once it was done and she put the jewelry in I finally got to admire my new piercing, and I was very happy with it indeed! I thanked stacey and she gave me last minute aftercare instructions and then I walked back out into the world, minus a little bit of flesh and plus a lot of happiness.
So far 9 hours later I have had a little swelling and little else. I am adhering to the aftercare well, and I hope it heals up nicely. My only fear is that the backing might be a little high and might rub my teeth/gums a bit, but im hoping when i go back in to shorten the post that will be better. All and all I am extremely happy with what will probably be the first of many piercings!