I I found BME through my best friend. I perused the site, as any typical, inquisitive teenager would do, and immediately fell in love. Now, as you can imagine, a few seeds planted themselves in my brain.
At A Glance Author citricacid Contact citricacid@bme.anon When A month ago Artist T.J. Studio Body Designs Location Bay Shore, NY.
A labret was a relatively "mild" piercing, so I thought that my dad would agree.
Boy, was I wrong.
My dad was adverse to the idea from the start. He refused to allow me to get the piercing, because the thought of newly-made holes in my face squicked him out. He insisted I ask him again in June.
I don't forget things easily, so, when June came along, so did the question. Again, he declined my proposal. It was time to take drastic, sneaky measures to get what I wanted. I knew my dad had always wanted a tattoo. He's talked about it since I was a child.
So, the end of July rolls about, and as my dad quietly ambles through the living room, I inquire about the tattoo he's always wanted. The idea stuck with him, and he decided to make plans to get the tattoo. (Have no fear, I'm not digressing terribly. I do, in fact, have a point I'm getting to. )
My dad can't possibly get a tattoo and not let me get a piercing! So, I bring this up. Again, and again, and again and again. He finally relented.
So, a week or so passes. During a boring Monday afternoon, talking to my best friend while we were painting the walls in the local gay-straight youth-center (PFY, for all who may or may not be curious), she told me her mother was taking her to get her side-lip ring done that night.
I immediately jumped on an idea and called my father. I begged him to bring me that night to go with my best friend, and he agreed.
Later that evening, my best friend and I walked to my house, and waited for her mother to show up. When she did, my father, her mother, my best friend, her sister, and I all huddled into the car and went to get the consent forms my best friend's mother brought, notarized.
After that mess, we hit the road and went to Bay Shore. After going through some forms and ID-checking, we were all ready. The piercer (T.J.) told my best friend and me to go gargle with some Listerine.
Now, if you've never had an oral piercing, let me tell you. They don't give you the nice minty-green Listerine. This is hardcore stuff. This is what I'm going to affectionately name.. "battery-acid Listerine".
We swish for a minute, and hobble back to piercing room. I volunteer to go first.
The piercer marks the spot, I agree on the placement, and he clamps. Now, I'm not so sure why so many people bitch about the clamps. It's not that bad. What came next was worse.
Alright, so, he takes out this gargantuan (alright, not gargantuan. I'm just a wimp) 14g needle. He pierces me.. and I'll just say this, ow. He had to go kind of slow to keep the needle straight, and I won't lie. It hurt. It wasn't anything unbearable, until all the blood in my body relocated to my head.
Woozy!
I whine a bit and go sit down on a bench outside the room. The piercer hands me some jawbreakers to suck on (though, isn't it kind of cruel to hand someone jawbreakers when they're afraid to move their lips?). The jawbreakers helped a lot, and I got up to watch my best friend get her lip done.
We paid, got aftercare instructions, and hopped on home. For a little while after, it hurt to talk or laugh. That subsided gradually, and an hour after I got home, I was talking rather normally.
The next morning, it was awkward trying to eat. The post got caught on my teeth many times, but I ate the full sandwich! That was an achievement in itself.
Since then, I've cleaned my piercing religiously. I rinse with Listerine after every single time after I eat or drink something beside water. I use gly-oxide twice a day (sometimes three times, if I've been particularly harsh to the piercing).
At one point, I was using Dial to clean the piercing. I realized that it's drying it out, and have since stopped. I now just clean the crusties off with a swab and some warm water, and it's fine.
The piercing is healing beautifully. I can now change between a ring and a post.
If you're thinking about getting a labret, be prepared to carry mouthwash with you everywhere. I recommend the piercing to anyone with pouty-lips, since it draws positive attention to them. The piercing is very easy to heal, and it looks good on a lot of people. :)