This is the story of my first proper piercing, i.e. not done by a gun! (Yes I know that's bad but I was young and naοve! but never again!)
At A Glance Author abdn_sk8erchic Contact abdn_sk8erchic@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Darryl Studio Retro Rebels Location Aberdeen, Scotland I've been wanting to get a piercing for a long time now, originally I was set on the labret in the centre of my lip, even wore a fake one to see what it was like, but then I saw the snakebites and just fell in love with them! I knew that was the piercing for me!
I spent a long time doing research on BMEzine, reading experiences, looking at pictures....I told myself I would get it done on Nov 3rd however, I fell ill a couple of days before meaning I had to postpone it till I was all better.
Finally I was on the mend and ready to get my piercings, I roped my friend and another guy into coming with me. But I am majorly scared of needles, so I went in early to ask about using my Xylocaine spray, the piercer was adamant I wouldn't need it though, so I said I would see, and went off to the bank to get my money.
As I was walking back, I really wanted to just turn around and go home, but I think my mates may have marched me up the street if I had tried that. Once we got there I was told I could only take one person in with me well, I think Heather was kinda freaked as much as me at the thought of needles, so she jumped at the chance to stay upstairs, and I took Quintos with me (so I could break his fingers hahaha!)
Down we went to the piercing room and it finally hit me that I was getting it done! Darryl (the piercer) asked if I wanted studs or BCR's, and I chose BCR's as I didn't fancy the idea of the discs getting caught on my teeth! He explained that I would need to have larger hoops to start with to accommodate for swelling, but these would be changed in a few days. He spent ages looking at my lips to decide the best placement of them, the first mark was sorted straight away, the second one took a bit longer to get just right but I liked the fact he was so precise about placement, made me feel confident about his skills as a piercer. So second mark made, I lay back on the couch and he placed the clamps on, and I asked if I could hold Quintos' hand, which I got to do. Clamps were placed, and I was told to take as much air into my lungs as I could, then breathe out when told...."ok breathe in"....."and out" and the first one was done! My reaction was "is that it?!? Seriously?!?" I honestly thought it would be 10 times worse and I'd be screaming in agony, but it was just the tiniest of nips! Such a pleasant surprise!
He put the BCR in and I got up to look at it and I LOVED IT!! He asked if I wanted to go ahead with the second one and I was like "are you kidding?! Hell yeah?!" so I lay back down and he said the second one would probably be a bit worse, so I asked to hold hands again. Everyone in position, breathe like last time.....and pop! It was done, just slid in the hoop and voila! Snakebites!!! The second one WAS slightly worse, but only slightly, and definitely bearable it only lasts a second! I got up slowly because I felt a tiny bit dizzy (might be because I had no sleep all night and hadn't eaten all day which I don't recommend), then Darryl went through the aftercare routines, and said to come back and get the jewellery changed once the swelling has gone down.
It's been less than four hours but I am totally in love with the new additions to my lip, planning on getting my central labret done as well once these have healed. I am away on holiday next week so will need to wait till the week after to go back and get smaller BCR's. If anyone is thinking of getting a lip piercing but is worried about the pain then let me say don't! Seriously, I was TERRIFIED, and I have a severe needle phobia plus a very very low pain threshold, and I didn't even scream the place down like I thought I would. I would definitely recommend Darryl at Retro Rebels; he is really friendly and puts you at ease, which definitely helps with any nervousness! And he was right, I never needed the anaesthetic spray after all!