Marilyn, Monroe, Madonna, just damn beautiful, call it what you want. I finally reached my own personal apex of desired piercing.
At A Glance Author Lola514 Contact Lola514@bme.anon When A week ago Artist Benjamin/Chris Studio Adrenaline Piercing Studio Location Montreal, Quebec I started my addiction to piercing nearly 10 years ago, when I got my nose pierced as a sign that, yes, horrible schools were finally over with. And this last Tuesday, I got my final (hehehe, well, maybe not FINAL) piercing, the addition that I've always wanted since that fateful trip to the piercing studio: my Monroe.
I now count a 3 ears, 1 16ga nostril, one old-school navel (small hoop, not the new barbell shtuff...), one tongue, and now my beautiful monroe, my ultimate favorite piercing.
Honestly, my decision to get it done came to me out of nowhere, from pure and simple boredom. I remember the excitement I went through when I got my tongue repierced (I'd removed it 2 years ago for professional reasons) and the ease and comfort I felt at the studio, Adrenaline. So, by chance, the bus I take to go home after work just happens to drive right in front of the place, and I found myself getting off the bus, for no determined reason. And then, turning and facing the old 1900's building, said, 'hmmmmm, why not!?'
So I walked in, did the walk-a-round, grabbed the pad, and signed my lip away to the trusting hands of the youngest piercer I ever met, Ben. The wait was sooooo long... I, of course, had to be 5 minutes later than a scared little 19 year old going in to get her ear cartilage pierced, not knowing about the pain factor, having only her ears traditionally pierced. 30 minutes of her friends consoling her, and Ben calming her down, and, woohoo, it was my turn.
Ben, the hottest little piercer in Montreal, talked me through his shpeil (use Oral-B mouthwash - no alcohol, use the cleaner - I went with their antibacterial surgical soap, the stuff kicks, don't touch it too often, and use hot sea salt water at night to clean it out, etc.), got the drift that I knew what the gig was about, and went ahead with the mouthwash (not that bad, guys) and pointed a little dot where he thought it should go. Got up, saw it, went through 2 or 3 more placement ideas, and it was showtime. (No, I'm not difficult, I just wanted it perfect.)
Ben had the right idea : 'Okay, I'm going to do this according to your breathing. Take your time, find a zone, and let me know when.' Doing yoga and meditation, it didn't take me too long to get comfy. I'm sorry, Ben, if I seemed rude at that point, when I'm in the zone, it's hard to get me out. So the clamps were on, my zone was happening, and it was time to roll. No pain. A little pinch when the needle pierced through the epidermal layer of skin, where your nerves are located, but that was to be expected. No blood, woohoo!
The only down point to the experience, and I do not blame him, but my ball wasn't screwed in enough... More about that later on.
So! I pay, I get compliments, always nice when you're giving someone your cash, and I hop back on my bus. Decide it would be fun to go to my corner lounge and chill a bit with my girls while they worked behind the bar. 25 compliments later, shot after shot after shot, not always suggested by piercers, but I couldn't help it, men were getting turned on by the little shiny stud on my upper lip, so hey, why not, I walked home and went to bed.
The next morning, gotta go to work.... interesting. I go to the bathroom, still a little groggy from the previous night of debauchery, to admire and clean my new facial addition. Hmmmm, I didn't remember it being so small... and why does it keep disappearing into my lip? Meh... I cleaned it up, pushing my lip on it to keep it in place, in a tad bit of expected pain, when it dawns on me. Where's the ball?
Oh no! Run back to the bed, no ball. Look on the floor, no ball. Look in the clothes from the night before, no ball. Not good. I have to go to work as a receptionist in an ad agency, with a disappearing piercing, and I don't want to risk an infection or surface ripping from the post poking through where it's not wanted. Solution : take the ball from my first tongue barbell, disinfect it in the surgical soap that I'd gotten at Adrenaline the night before, and put the huge, heavy ball onto my lip. Heavy... really heavy.... and really big. I couldn't go to work with this massive ball on my face, I was hoping it to be discreet.
Well, I got glammed up for work and called in, explaining that I had to stop off somewhere really quick before coming in to the agency. At 11:15, I walked back into Adrenaline, to gaping stares from the on-duty piercer, Chris. I could only laugh and point at the ball. After explaining that Ben probably had a little difficulty tightening the tiny ball with latex gloves, and that I had to replace it with my own tongue ring ball (big phiew from Chris, thanking god it wasn't a ball sold to me the previous night), he galantly steered me to his chair to give me a replacement ball.
Trust me, he tightened the hell out of that ball, it's not moving anywhere.
Today, I walk back into the studio to bring my friend who had been considering getting a piercing of her own. There's Ben! So I proudly show off the Monroe : it's doing fabulous. I've been cleaning it like a champ (I don't want to lose this wonderful piercing). When I told him that the swelling and the pain from rubbing the flatback on my gum had completely gone away after the first 3 days, he put on his gloves to take a look at the healing under my lip and was astonished. My Monroe is healing really fast, and, yay! I can get the jewelry replaced this upcoming Friday (a whole week and a half later, way ahead of the 3-4 week suggested timeframe) just in time for Thanksgiving dinner at Mom's, who still doesn't know about it. That'll be drama for you!
I'm at the crusties (lymph) point, the only sucky part of getting a facial piercing, but it's endurable. Other than that, no pain, no discomfort. Here's a good trick though : for swelling and pain, you can take an Advil. It works wonders, especially when your job calls for a lot of talking, smiling and laughing.
It's worth it, it's sexy, it's cute, and it adds to anything you wear. And piercing is always a great experience, when done right.
Visit the guys at Adrenaline if you live in or around Montreal, they deserve your visit, and you deserve their care and knowledge.