This is how I got my very first piercing, a lip ring on my left lower lip. If you're looking for a story about a botched, messed up piercing from hell, stop now, because I know nobody with stories like that.
At A Glance Author isaac the killer Contact isaac the killer@bme.anon When Six months ago Artist no idea Studio ace tattoo Location golden valley, mn Alright, it was June of last year, school had just ended for me, and for a while I had been trying to convince my parents into letting me get my lip pierced. Since I was only 17, I legally needed their permission. I had toyed with the idea since I had seen members of band's I listen to with lip piercings, and I loved every photo I'd seen. OK, I won't lie, it was in 6th grade when I noticed Tom Delonge from Blink 182 had one. It was 6th grade, and I have since changed my mind about the guy.
So one afternoon, my two friends were over at my house talking about the idea of it, and they talked me into talking to my mom about it. I made my way up the stairs, and brought it up, and to my surprise, she had no problem with it. Better yet, she said I could go with my dad that week. STOKED! My dad was all for it, he loves the idea of tattoos and piercings for making somebody unique, and since he had never gotten either of those things as a kid and regretted that quite a bit, he was gun ho, balls to the walls "go for it kid".
At that point I started doing extensive research, calling local shops, asking prices, aftercare, that sort of thing, and they all replied with the standard stuff, you know the bit. I narrowed potential shops down to one, Ace Tattoo, a little place not three miles from my house, making it perfect in case I wussed out (which I didn't by the way). We went out and bough all the aftercare materials before the actual piercing, so I was ready the second I got home. These supplies included non alcoholic mouthwash, bactine disinfectant spray, and ibuprofen. Do NOT take aspirin, because it thins your blood, and you'll probably bleed, and then you'll probably get messy and perhaps miserable, and nobody wants that. Also, no alcohol, because it will also thin your blood. Remember that.
The first couple of times I had visited the parlor, I wasn't able to get it done for one reason or another, but I guess third time's a charm. Their piercer was a bigger guy, lots of seemingly random tattoos that didn't really go together strewn around him, but I felt like I should completely trust the guy. I went in one evening, nobody was there, my piercer was eating dinner, and we were good to go. We signed the forms, paid him the $50 (well worth the price), rinsed with listerine and I sat down in the chair. The first pen mark I thought was too low, so he changed it once and it was much better. "Take a deep breath," he said, clamping my lip. He had lined the needle up from the inside of my lip, which isn't exactly the way I thought it would go, but i suppose it makes sense. I've been told that the inside is that toughest to get through, and when people pierce their own lips, that's the part they have the most trouble with. Plus, after he stuck the needle through, I wasn't worried at all about it stabbing me in the face and making a huge mess of the shop.
He sterilized my lip with some yellowish liquid and put his gloves one, and took the ring and needle out of their plastic wrappers. The sight of a 14g needle and thinking of it being shoved through my face was a little creepy, but I soon got over it. Before I knew it, the needle was through and my CBR was through. It honestly didn't hurt too bad, it was more of a pinch, and that was my main concern, because pain and I, not so good. I was probably in and out in about 10 minutes.
I had no complications due to the piercing, no infections. All I had to do was clean it with bactine twice per day and rinse with non alcoholic mouthwash after I ate and before bed. I actually spent the next two weeks in California, and I was worried something would go wrong with it during my vacation, but I was very wrong. Nothing happened. Now I just want more. I'm thinking about going for snakebites, because I love the look of them, and on my 18th birthday in September I'll go in for matching star tattoos on my inner forearms. To this day, I love my lip ring, and if you're looking into it yourself, do it!