Well boys and girls, my experience starts as follows. I had my labret pierced like a year ago or something...I can't remember. So there I was, thinking I was all cool. THEN, Christina Aguilera decided she wanted to get her labret pierced too. Suddenly, a whole slew of girls trying to follow in their idol's footsteps did the same thing. That was when I started to consider taking out the labret and replacing it with something else.
At A Glance Author xRuthiex Contact blackeyeslineher@hotmail.com When Three months ago Artist ??? Studio Tattoo Time (how lame) Location Montreal I was at a show when this girl came up to my friends and I to chat. She had a monroe piercing and I was secretly jealous. Well...not SO secretly because right after she left, I asked my boyfriend, Scotty, if one would look good on me. He said no. But I still thought it would be a good idea.
The day I decided to take out my labret was a day in which I was at a Mcdonalds to eat supper. I went to the washroom, and these two girls who looked like Aguilera...and more specifically, like aspiring prostitutes, walked in and one had a labret piercing. I was like, "Ewww, it's like we have something in common or something!" I felt dirty and knew I had to take out the now-trendy piercing.
Sooooo, I kept talking to Scotty about the monroe plan, and he kept telling me he hated the idea. Anyways, I went downtown to go shopping with my friend one day and we ran out of places we wanted to go check out. So I told her I wanted to visit the piercing parlors on Ontario street. By then, I pretty much knew I wanted the monroe, but I wasn't TOTALLY sure. She told me it would look nice, but it was my body and I could do whatever I wanted. Despite my indecisive nature, I decided I'd get it done (even though Scotty was against it[!!!]) So now it was just a question of where. I decided just to go back to the place I got my labret done, Tattoo Time.
My big plan was to get a 16g barbell. But instead of asking for one that was long enough to accommodate for the swelling that would take place, like I was told to do when I got my labret done, I asked for a shorter barbell (you know, the kind you're supposed to get AFTER the piercing heals). So the piercer guy, not knowing much about anything, OK-ed my terrible plan.
So he marked a little dot on the right side of the uhhh...part of my face between my lip and nose. He "froze" the area, pierced it with a needle, put the jewelry in and voilą, instant monroe piercing. When I showed Scotty what I had done, he wasn't very impressed because I went and got it done without telling him...But after, he told me it was sexy. Ohh la la!
So everything was fine...well, it hurt...but I THOUGHT all was well...until the too-short barbell started to literally go INTO my face. Yes, and I mean the ball and the backing (or whatever the term is). I had to use scotch tape to stop it from going any further for a while until I could get to a piercing parlor. Eventually, I went to this one place where they had to cut the barbell with pliers from the inner side of my mouth. Of course they froze the area, and unlike Tattoo Time's freezing stuff, this stuff actually worked. They replaced the now-broken barbell with one that was made of bioplast (they're great cause you can cut them to accommodate you).
At this time, Scotty wanted to get another lip piercing. Because he's a big sweetheart, he offered to get me a new barbell for my monroe, one with a cute little zirconia. So, no longer needing my bioplast barbell, I gave it to him to use for his own piercing. Unfortunately, the cute little ball managed to unscrew itself a few days later and it was gone forever. But now a new problem arose: the barbell could now easily fall without the ball (you like that rhyme?). I tried jamming in the 14g barbell I had used when my labret was pierced. It worked, but it obviously hurt because I was stretching the skin. So I though of a less painful alternative, which included me digging through my old earring collection and find a rubber backing. I found one and used it as a temporary "ball".
So back to the piercing parlor I was to get a brand new bioplast barbell...which incidentally is the very same one that has stayed loyal to me for almost three months now. For a long while, I let it protude out of my face because I was afraid of cutting it too short and having to go back and get yet another barbell. Let my story be a lesson: always get barbells that will accommodate swelling and go to a parlor that knows what they're talking about. The journey I overcame was a long one, but worth it in the name of vanity.