| At A Glance | |
| Author | Fallen_Angel |
| Contact | freya.enchanted@gmail.com |
| When | A week ago |
| Studio | Cosmetics Plus |
| Location | Brisbane, Australia |
I went out there and she took me straight into the piercing room of this cosmetics/accessories store. She had a lot of body mods herself, so I thought I would be in good hands. I asked if I could choose the Jewellery and she just said no, it was just a standard one they used.
It ended up being a very tiny ball and also a tiny flat back. Anyway, she spent a bit of time centering the position, and I was quite happy with the position. I wanted the stud exactly next to my lower lip, not lower on my chin.
The place she marked was just what I wanted. So, I lay back and she clamped my lip. I don't tend to get nervous before a piercing or tattoo, I quite enjoy the whole experience. When she pierced me I was shocked at how intense the pain was. It was by far the most painful piercing I ever experienced, and MUCH more painful than being tattooed for hours on end.
I didn't flinch though, just whimpered and lay there with tears rolling down my face from my eyes watering so bad!! When she put the jewellery in, it felt EXTREMELY tight. I mean, I knew it would be a bit swollen, but I have very full lips as is, and I could already feel the flat back was pressed right into my lip.
Now, the BIGGEST contributing factor was that she has pierced on an angle, upwards. The back of the piercing was actually at the TOP of my lip, barely inside my lips. Although I felt it was a botched job, I went home and started doing the SSS, iceing and Ibuprofen.
I thought the placing may settle once swelling went down. After a few days, and the swelling had subsided, yet because the piercing was diagonally through the thickest part of my lip, the 10mm bar was still WAY too tight. It was getting more and more irritating, so I went back after 3 days, and asked what I should do.
The original piercer wasn't there, so another guy saw me and basically said it was too soon to change it. I knew that wasn't true, and I also knew it was becoming embedded. So, he sent me away. 3 More days later I couldn't stand the tightness anymore and I knew it wouldn't heal and was going to get swallowed up very soon.
I returned again, but the store basically had NOTHING to offer as an alternate piece of jewellery. I was considering a curved barbell, and turning it into a vertical labret, even though that wasn't what I had planned. They didn't HAVE any 16g curved barbells however, all they had was a 12mm labret stud with a bigger flat back. So, I agreed to that.
After 5 minutes of almost ripping my lip off trying to unscrew the original stud, he finally got it out and put the new one in. He ended up using some pointed forceps to grip the bar at the front, which was quite hard as the ball had also started to dig in because it was so tight! Now, the new stud was TOO long, and also, I *think* it may be a 14mm not a 12 :(
Anyway, the positioning was absolutely appalling and was heaps more apparent than it had been. The flat back was sitting on top of my lip and you could see it there. It was just totally screwed. I went home feeling really disappointed. I did an SSS then thought about it for about 2 hours.
I couldn't move my mouth without the flat back whacking my teeth. I decided to take the damn thing out and get it re-done at a later time. I have got a hard lump right through my lip now, not sure if its just swelling or if its permanent scar tissue. Anyway, I'm really disappointed :( Here are a few pictures of the various stages: (not sure if I'm allowed to add pics!)
1)Flat back of first stud embedding
2)Second stud, showing just how screwy of an angle the piercing was done at
As you can see, this REALLY was not a correctly placed piercing for a Labret. I was originally considering a vertical labret, but this was neither! It was in between. I feel rather silly for just pulling it out now, I really should have gone back and asked for a refund. Perhaps I still might, with the pics above to show them just what a crappy job they did!
The moral to this story is.........GO TO A REPUTABLE PIERCING STUDIO! Don't fall for the cheap rates of cosmetic and beauty stores that don't give a rat's about you or your piercing. Ive just wasted my money, and now I will be paying to have it done again at a DECENT studio! I also now have to wait until this has healed enough for me to have it done, which is extremely annoying. Another thing is that their Jewellery is cheap....cheap prices equals cheap quality I suspect.
For those people in Australia, I would NOT recommend the "Cosmetics Plus" chain for any piercings. There IS a reason why they are cheap. I am planning on heading to "Puncture" up on the Sunshine Coast to get my Labret re-done.