After finding out my friend was coming to the area, and that she had her labret pierced and had a car, I decided to get a piercing of my own. We figured out a time and I made the appointment for 3pm today at Tora Tattoo. At this point in time I felt that I wanted a labret that was immediate under the middle of my lip, in the hopes that I could wear either a lip ring or a labret stud. After waiting my turn for my appointment, which was kind of annoying, but Deacon said he was not impressed with the guy doing the bookings that day either, it was well worth it.
At A Glance Author kater Contact kater@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Deacon Studio Tora Tattoo Location Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Deacon explained to me that if I got the labret stud higher, or put it in after getting my lip pierced with a ring, that it might be more of a problem for my teeth and gums, since it might cause the labret stud to sit on an angle, which would not be good. I then made the quick decision to get the labret instead of the lip ring.
Deacon got out the jewelry and got the room set up; we talked about the jewelry sizes, and then got to work. I washed my mouth out with mouth wash (not as bad as I was informed by other people, but maybe that's just because I'm used to it?) Since I was waiting for so long, my nerves had come and gone, which was probably a good thing. Deacon was very calming, put on some music, and began to clean around my lip. He then made some marks on my face and handed me the mirror to make sure everything was lined up where I wanted it to be, and of course it was.
He then proceeded to take the tools out of their packages and we were underway. He clamped my lip, and made sure it was lined up perfectly. The clamps almost seemed to numb it, which was good based on what was soon about to follow. He prepared me for it, and asked me to breathe steadily through my nose. Then the next thing I knew there was this sharp pain, but before I even realized that I was in pain, it was gone, and replaced with a nice warm burning sensation. I could feel the blood rushing to my lip and it was absolutely AMAZING! He then asked me to stay perfectly still while he screwed the ball on the end (which is apparently the hardest part).
When it was all over and done with, he went to go clean the ink dots off my face (from where we decided the piercing would go) and he realized it was not coming off easily and had a "Oh Shit!" look on is face. He then saw me seeing this look on his face and explained what he was doing, or trying to do. We started to laugh about how worrying it is to look up and see the "Oh Shit!" look on someone's face right after they pierce you. He reassured me that everything was fine, or going to be once he got the ink off me. Eventually he got the ink off, and handed me the mirror. I was so happy, it looked even more wonderful then I expected. My friend that was with me loved it as well, she told me that she was mad because mine looked better then hers did (which she has had for over 2 years), and it's not supposed to happen like that.
Deacon then handed me an information pamphlet informing me about how to keep an oral piercing clean and infection free. We continued to go over the pamphlet in detail, explaining how to clean and what products he would recommend. After about 15-20 minutes of hearing how to clean my piercing I was free to go. I was definitely excited to show it off to the world! We paid the guy at the front desk, who said it looked good, and thanked Deacon. I am to go back in about a week and a half to two weeks to see about getting a short stud, since there shouldn't be much swelling after that point, and it will make it even more comfortable.
I came home, and showed it off to my roommates, they loved it as well. Now it's just after midnight and I haven't had a lot of side affects from it. I had some pizza tonight for dinner. It hurt to take larger bites, because it seemed that the backing got stuck on my teeth and I had to push it down with my tongue before I began to chew. By the end of dinner I had gotten the hang of it. I have cleaned it thoroughly with stuff I purchased at Tora Tattoo and Oral B (alcohol free) mouth wash.
I am so glad that it looks as good as it does, and will look even better after I get a different stud placed in it. Deacon was absolutely wonderful, I wrote my mom an email when I got home to tell her she would have been proud of how informative and thorough my piercer was. I already have some of my roommates that want to come with me when I go back to get the stud changed, because they are thinking about getting something done. I would definitely recommend Tora Tattoo to anyone, and especially Deacon because he made the whole experience better than I ever would have imagined.
Take care,
-Kaitlin