On my trip to France I had already decided before we left that I was getting my lip pierced. So the day after we arrived in Aix en Province my friend and I set off to look for the cleanest piercing shop. After finding about six or seven shops in Aix we came across the Steel Factory. To me it looked the cleanest. When I walked in, they were sweeping and mopping even though it was nothing near closing time. So I walked in and said to both the people working, "Est-ce qu'il y a quelqu'un qui parle Anglais?" The girl that was there was the only one who did so I asked her how much it would cost and if they could put a ring in it. She told me it would be 54 Euros for the regular ball and more for the fancy colored ball and that they also only did barbells the first time because its easier to clean. (I later found out from my best friend that in the states they don't do barbells because its harder to clean. Funky huh?) So I told them that I would be back within the next day or so.
At A Glance Author Bek Contact Bek@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Gerand and Ridrard Studio Steel Factory Location Aix-en-Provence, France The very next day I came back with the right amount of cash and my other best friend who was on the trip with me. I told them I had decided to go though with the piercing. (I have a phobia of needles.) They took me in the back where everything was really clean and sterilized. The girl who spoke English asked me if I wanted the smaller gauge or the larger one. She showed me the difference and I decided on the larger one. She then put on her gloves, and sterilized the barbell that was going in my lip and set it on a tray. Next she took out a pen and asked me where I wanted the hole to go. She showed me what it looked like with a ring because she knew thats what was going to get once it was healed all the way. I decided to put the piercing on the right side between the center of my lip and the very side. She placed a dot where the hole was going to go and then went and got the guy who was going to pierce me. He was also the guy who didn't speak any English. (except for bye)
After having a hard time talking to the guy, he decided to go get the girl because she could translate between us. I had no idea what he was saying and the same when for him when I was talking. I asked a lot of stupid questions so the girl would translate them for him. I told them I was going to close my eyes because I had a phobia of needles and I'd pass out if I saw it. He took out the needle from a drawer that was in a package, and showed it to me. He took out some other things such as the clamp and it was packaged too. He took them out of the packages (he had gloves on) and showed them to me. He showed me the package and then he put the needle and the barbell and such into the bin where it was sterilized again. He then took it out and set it on the tray. This is when I closed my eyes. They numbed my lip with a spray stuff and I asked if I would drool, but I don't think they knew what I was talking about. I didn't drool however. I closed my eyes really tight as I felt the cold needle go into my lip. It didn't hurt at all. The clamp was the only thing that hurt because they put that on before they numbed it. The only part of the needle I felt was a slight sting and some pressure. He stuck the barbell in my lip and took everything off and out and I was finished. I opened my eyes and it was done. He said something in French and walked out of the room.
The girl let me sit there for a bit and made sure that I was okay. She kept asking if I needed to lay down but of course I didn't. When I stood up by myself she got the hint that I was okay, I looked in the mirror and checked how it looked. It wasn't bleeding at all, it was hardly swollen and it was just a bit red. We then headed out into the front part of the store. She told me not to play with it and she got out a card and started to write things down. She wrote that I needed to buy Eludril first. Eludril is pretty much just a French mouth wash only its gross tasting. She told me to use it for 10 days, three times a day -- when I wake up, after I eat lunch and before I go to bed. I ended up doing it for 3 weeks because I forgot about the 10 days thing. but I decided to switch over to Scope after the first week because I didn't like the mouth wash she proscribed. The next thing she wrote was for me to buy Diaseptyl (which is an antibacterial solution). She said to use that twice a day -- once when I woke up and once before I went to bed. She wrote down to do this for four months. One other thing she told me to get was Nureflex (Nurofen) which is pretty much just a French Ibuprofen. She said that would just take care of the swelling and what ever pain I had. The only swelling or pain I had was after I ate because there was a foreign object in my lip and my body wasn't used to it yet. (plus French bread is way hard) She told me that I should come back in 10 days to get a smaller barbell put in. They told me that it wouldn't be healed enough to put in a ring for 1 1/2 months to 2 months. She circled the phone number and told me to call if I had any questions. I paid her, and my friend decided to go back and get her nose done after she saw how painless and easy mine was. I forgot to leave them both tips, I suppose that I should have. After all that was finished and done, we headed back to the dorm.
(Ten days later I came back and they put in the smaller barbell. It was just as easy as it was when they pierced me. The only difference was that there was different people working. They were just as nice though. It kind of hurt because he pulled a bit too hard to get my ball unscrewed, but other than that it was pretty okay.)