Well my experience actually took place in mid december. I was getting the piercing itch because it had been a while since I had altered my bodily appearance. I had only had fairly common piercings up until this point and decided that it was time to step out of the box and go for something different. It was starting to get chilly here in the South and I figured stabbing a needle in my face would get my blood and adrenaline flowing. After work I decided to stop by the greatest tattoo shop in Hattiesburg and get a piercing that I had considered for a few months. I saw a picture of a vertical labret on a couple girls online and I thought it was incredibly sexy. I thought about the consequences of the piercing (ex- my mom...a crazy korean lady ;) )I figured the worst she could do is probably just rip it out (gulp) and just said "Let's do it!" My boyfriend thought it was a kind of crazy idea. He's not really big into piercings. He's into tattoos. I'm the opposite way. But I guess it all works out. I had to show him tons of pictures to even slightly convince him to take me. Now that I think about it, I should have just taken his advice and not have gotten the ring in the first place.
At A Glance Author Munchkin Contact Munchkin@bme.anon When Three months ago Artist Phil Studio 4th Street Tattoo Location Hattiesburg, MS I went to my local piercing place and talked to my piercer about this amazingly hot piercing that I had to get done...the vertical labret. It was a little hard to convince him because he had heard little about it, but he figured that it could be done. He was afraid of it possibly rejecting if I didn't have enough lip in the piercing. I wanted to go for the sexy pouty effect, but not so much that my lip hangs out all the time.
My piercer had never actually done a vertical labret but he figured "How hard could it be?" So I gave him the go ahead and he started marking some spots with that god awful permanent stain marker. (no offense to those who like not being able to rub that stuff off). It took us at least five tries until I decided that I liked it. That's when the butterflies appeared. And they were ginormous. I am not usually a wimp, considering having my tongue, nose, bellybutton, and hood pierced, but this bar was about to go UP through my lip!
One thing I know we messed up on was the placement because we ended up going through some old scar tissue from when my teeth went through my lip as a kid. As he slid the needle upward flashes were going off from my friend's camera and inside my head I heard my lip pop 4 times! That was incredibly weird. My piercer felt the tension and asked me if I was alright and told me that it looked pretty cool. When we were done my friends were jumping up and down and my boyfriend made a weird face. Now remember I said that my piercer had never done this before. Well he accidentally left my lip a little too high. It was a couple millimeters above the dot that we made on my lip. I was so upset, but I really didn't want to say anything. It was just high enough that when I smiled the top ball went behind my teeth (I have a little bit of an overbite, but I swear my teeth are pretty!). Well I paid the amount...I think it was $40. And headed home...
I stared at that thing all night in the mirror. I licked it quite a few times. It was such a weird feeling. By the next morning I couldn't take it anymore. Not the pain. It didn't really hurt that bad the next day. It was top ball that annoyed me. So 10 hours after my piercing took place I sadly retired it. I guess that piercing just wasn't made for me. Even though that piercing didn't work out like I had hoped, I am glad that I went through it. It kind of proved something to me. Even though I am afraid of altering my appearance so graphically, it showed me that I can take a risk and sometimes it may not turn out the way I like. At least I could take it out in time to not get a scar. Plus going through that other scar helped lessen the appearance. I think that piercings should accentuate your best features so I am glad to say that tomorrow I am looking forward to going to New Orleans and getting my anti-eyebrow done. (Since I'm half asian it might add to my slanted eyes). Wish me luck!!!