I woke up the morning of December 23, knowing that I would be getting a piercing later that day. No one else knew, not even Bryan, my fiance. I had asked him the day before if we could go to the tattoo shop to have my nautical star touched up, but I was also planning on getting something pierced. I spent most of the day debating on whether or not I wanted my bits to be out of commission on New Year's Eve if I got my outer labia pierced. I decided against that, and then considered my nostril. After looking at pictures on BME all day, up until ten minutes before we left for the tattoo shop, I finally settled on the piercing that I didn't have yet that I'd wanted the longest-a labret piercing.
At A Glance Author Bunny Contact Bunny@bme.anon When A week ago Artist Robbie Studio 4th Street Tattoo and Body Piercing. Location Hattiesburg, Mississippi I was surprisingly not at all nervous as we walked into the shop and were greeted by the awesome group of guys at 4th Street Tattoo and Body Piercing. Ever since our first meeting, they've been the most friendly and helpful people I've met. I was a little disappointed to hear that Phil, the guy who redid and added onto my nautical star, was at home with the flu. I decided to wait until he was back rather than ask someone else to touch it up. I quickly told Jason that I would like to get my labret pierced. He nodded and had Robbie start getting everything together for me. Jason made a copy of my driver's license and then handed me the consent form that had the copy at the top for me to fill out. "You're in luck," he said as I was writing. "This is the last day of our Christmas special. It's only going to be twenty dollars." I thought that their regular price of thirty dollars was awesome, so I was ecstatic about this.
A few moments later, Robbie ushered me into the back and had me sit down in the chair. I knew that I had gone to high school with his younger sister, but other than that, I didn't know him well, so I was a little wary, as I am with anyone new doing work on me. This was quickly forgotten when I saw how nice he is. He explained to me that the procedure would be much like a tongue piercing: he would put the clamps on, pull down on my lip, and pierce from the inside down through the outside. He had me rinse with Tech2000 for about thirty seconds, and then I carefully spit the rinse back into the little cup. Once that was done, I watched as he opened all the little sterile packages and sat his tools out. I always love watching this and imagining that I'm the one that's doing the piercing. Robbie told me that he was about to mark me for the piercing, so I needed to sit still. I tried not to move as he made the marks, and then I looked in mirror on the wall in front of me a nd nodded my approval of the placement.
My fiance sat in a chair next to me as Robbie put the clamps on. He apologized for it, saying he knew how uncomfortable they tend to be. I giggled a little and then he had the needle barely touching the inside of my lip. "Alright, this is going to be fine. Take a couple deep breaths for me and just relax." After about three or four breaths, I felt a pinch and a hard pressure. I had my eyes closed, so I assumed that when I felt the pressure, he had just begun pushing the needle through. In actuality, by the time I felt anything, it was over. Robbie quickly put the jewelry in and then took a step back so the three of us could see it. I saw Robbie's face fall and his nose wrinkle before I looked in the mirror. I looked up and saw what the problem was just as he said it. "It's crooked as hell." I agreed with him, and he began apologizing profusely. He scampered off. When he returned, he told me that if I'd allow it and thought I'd be okay, he wanted to redo the pie rcing. I told him that I appreciated him being so willing to correct it, and that I was totally fine with him doing so.
After he removed the labret post, I was once again clamped and had the needle ready to be entered. I began breathing deeply, just as I had the first time. The only difference was that this time, since I knew what to expect, I kept my eyes open and watched the needle push through. I felt strangely detached from this as it happened. It was like I was watching someone else get pierced. The jewelry was inserted and the clamps were removed. This time it was perfect. I smiled happily as Robbie washed his hands. It was beautiful. I felt like it really accentuated my bottom lip, which I've always particularly liked.
Robbie came back, and I handed him the twenty dollars for the piercing, plus a ten dollar tip. My fiance and I followed him back into the lobby, and Robbie handed me a huge 4th Street sticker, a pen, a book of matches, and two bottles of H2Ocean. I remember telling him on our previous visit that I'd like to try it, since I usually care for my piercings with Saline Wound Wash, but I didn't remember him saying I was going to buy it. Before I could ask, he explained that I could have them since he had to pierce my labret twice. I tried to tell him that it wasn't necessary, but he insisted. I left very happy. As we were leaving, my fiance playfully thwaped me on the arm and told me I really should have waited until I got a job and knew their rules before I got a facial piercing. I hadn't thought about it. Sure enough, I got a call from Back Yard Burgers (a job that I actually wanted, so hush!) asking if I still wanted a job. Luckily at my interview when I apologized for not removing my jewelry, I was given a funny look and told that they didn't mind employees having visible piercings and tattoos. My first two days went extremely well, and everyone up there wanted to ask about my septum piercing. Yay for piercing friendly establishments!
I've had my piercing for a week now. The H2Ocean works just as well as my normal aftercare procedure. My only complaint about it is that the bottles are so small. There's not enough in them to spray some in a cup to do soaks to help remove crusties and daily icky stuff that lands on the piercing, which is what I do with the Saline Wound Wash, as well as occasionally spraying it throughout the day whenever I eat, drink, or anything else that I feel makes it need to be cleaned. It has surprised me by how well behaved it's been, aside from one thing. About three times since I've had the piercing, it's just suddenly began bleeding. It's not a substantial amount, but enough to be annoying. However, I still love my piercing, and I can't wait for it to heal so that I can experiment with all the different types of labret jewelry.