I had wanted a vertical labret done ever since I saw them on BME a few months ago. My Dad HATES piercings, so I got my inverse navel in November/December (easily hidden, you see), but by January, the piercing bug had bitten once again and I knew it was time for my vertical labret- my very first facial piercing!
At A Glance Author Nia Contact opheliawannabe@gmail.com When It just happened Artist Maxx Studio The Maxx Tattoo Studio Location Bromsgrove, Worcs, UK I went into town and psyched myself up. First stop was the piercing shop, and I asked how much a vertical labret was and the answer- £25. Not bad! So I got £30 out of the bank, grabbed a chocolate brownie and some coke to eat and drink before my piercing, and headed back to the studio. I had a look at the jewellery, and I was disappointed that they didn't have the jewellery (1.2mm curved barbell) in pink, so I went for a purpley- blue colour instead.
I payed first, which was unusual, then went upstairs and waited while the assistant (Carl) set up the things in the piercing room. There was some guy getting a tattoo that seemed like a bit of an arse, and I felt sorry for the tattooist having to work with him. When Carl had finished setting up the clamps and jewellery, Maxx led me into the room and sat me down on the little bed/bench thing. She put gloves on and then applied some numbing gel to my lip before marking me up. This part took forever- like any good piercer she checked the placement when I was relaxed, then got me to smile, which pulled the top mark over to one side, despite the markings being perfectly straight. She re-marked, but the top kept leaning to one side whenever I smiled, which was odd- I never thought I had a wonky smile until then. She kept re-marking and we figured that it'd have to be very slightly off- centre for it to be straight when I smiled. When she told me that, I got slightly worried, but I checked the dots and you could barely see any wonkiness!
Maxx wiped the excess gel off my lip, and then wiped my lip with a surgical swab (I thought the gel was nasty when I accidentally licked my lips, but this was just icky!). She put the clamp on my lip, which was a little bit sore, but not that bad. Then the needle- I could feel it pushing past layers of lip, which wasn't exactly unpleasant (I think the numbing gel took away the pain part of the sensation), but it was certainly odd. As the needle came through the top of my lip, it went 'pop' and my eyes watered a little. I thought it'd be much more painful than it was, I really did! The jewellery slid in nicely, but because of the small balls on the ends, Maxx had a little bit of trouble screwing the top on. When it was done, I looked in the mirror and wow! It looked so perfect, I thought it really enhanced my lips and made me feel really pretty and special. This perfect little blue bar through my lip... I'm hoping to get a pink one when I go back next week to get it changed, though!
Maxx told me to take some ibuprofen as soon as possible to help with the swelling, gave me an aftercare sheet which explained about salt soaks etc, and then I left. I had a quick cigarette whilst waiting for my bus home, which proved a little difficult- lighting up from the side of your mouth is very odd, especially when the lighter only has a tiny flame, so you can't see it properly!
A few people have seen it now, and everyone except my Dad (whose exacts words were "I hate it, it's disgusting") thinks it suits me really well- my fiancé thinks it's super hot. I am so glad they agree with me, I don't generally care what people think, but they have to look at me every day, so yeah.
I'm carrying on with the ibuprofen to try and minimise the swelling, and it's working really well. The piercing is a day old now and so far, so good- barely any soreness or swelling at all! I did my first salt soak today, which was a little tricky until I figured out that I could use cotton balls soaked in saline to soak it, then I used a cotton bud (a Q- tip for all you Americans) to get the few crusties that had formed overnight off the jewellery- yay for clean, shiny piercings.
I think that this piercing is definitely an interesting experience, and it's fairly unusual- I am yet to see someone else with it done (other than the pictures on BME). As I said, I was surprised at how little it hurt- my inverse navel was much worse!