So basically I've wanted my lip pierced since 5th grade as far as I can remember. At first it was because the guitarist in one of my favorite bands had his lip pierced then from there on, I started developing my own reasons. Lip piercings are sometimes associated with the punk music scene, which I consider myself to be a part of, it's something that makes you stand out in a crowd, makes you a little more unique, and I just think it really draws attention to where it belongs...my face!
At A Glance Author Jessica Contact Jessica@bme.anon When Six months ago Artist "Old School Jeff" Studio Mark of the Vampire Tattoo Location Burien, WA In the 6th grade I tried to pierce my lip myself in my room with a non-sterilized safety pin, no ring to put in it, and without even numbing it, but once i got it about half way through I panicked and thought of how angry my dad would be and just stopped. But also in 6th grade I started to occasionally, sometimes jokingly, mention how much I wanted my lip pierced to my dad, but he never took me that seriously. Same with 7th grade. Then in 8th grade, when I was 14, I knew it was only one more year until I could legally get it pierced and I started to talk with my dad about it more often.
Once I got a couple months away from my 15th birthday I started talking to my dad about it every chance I got, and only my dad because my mom never has a problem with that kind of stuff. I finally got my dad to realize that while he kept trying to justify his answer of no with all these different reasons, really the only reason he was saying no was because he personally didn't like the way it looked and that's not fair to me. If he doesn't like a shirt I have he doesn't say no, you can't wear that, so why should this be any different? Finally he said yes.
So ever since the beginning of me wanting my lip pierced I had thought I wanted it done on the left side, but once my dad said yes I thought maybe I wanted my labret done instead, but after a lot of thinking and asking of advice from friends, I decided to stay with what I originally had wanted.
Then there was the issue of finding a place that would pierce a 15 year old. I called about 5 or 6 different places and kept getting the same answer. They didn't pierce anyone under 18. Finally I called Mark of the Vampire Tattoos and asked and got the answer that they would pierce me if I had a photo ID, a birth certificate, and a parent present with a photo ID. So I had to wait another week or so. I went back to my dads, got my birth certificate, then the next weekend when I went back to my moms, we went to the place.
When we got there it looked kind of dirty from the outside and was in a not very nice area. And it was behind a McDonalds, had minimal parking and was separated from the McDonalds area by a chain link fence. It made both me and my mom kind of apprehensive and nervous at first, but we decided to check out the inside of it anyways. Once we got inside it was very clean and professional looking. It was like any other regular tattoo place. They had pictures of tattoos and piercings on the walls and photo albums full of pictures and even tattoo magazines. The piercer was with a customer so for a while we sat and waited on their couch until the guy was ready. He took me into the back room along with my mom and younger brother and sister. He explained to me the process and I showed him where I wanted my lip pierced. He made me nervous because he kind of laughed when I pointed to where I wanted the ring to go. Then when I told him I preferred the smaller ring instead of the larger one he answered with "Are you suuuure?" It kind of pissed me off. But anyways...he pulled my lip out a little using some prong things (I have no idea what they're really called) and put the needle through, then put the ring through. It didn't hurt at all..in fact it actually kind of felt good. It was wonderful...and Motley Crues Shout At The Devil was playing while he did it, too. How perfect is that? I even started laughing while he was putting the needle in because he started singing really loud. But overall...it was a good experience. And once you get one piercing...you don't want to stop. I'm waiting desperately for my 18th birthday to get my eyebrow pierced and so on. Once I turn 18 I suppose I'll have to come back and share the stories of how I've modified my body since now.