I really don't remember how or why I started thinking about getting my lip pierced, except that I had been fascinated with the idea for some time. Recently I had begun to think of it more than usual. Of course I went through the usual shit, telling myself I shouldn't because of jobs etc... but then on a whim I asked my boss if he would care if I got my lip pierced. To my surprise he said, "Why would I care? It's your body." With this totally cool response and my realization that at 20 I wasn't getting any younger and if I wanted to do it I should do it now, I decided to go ahead with it.
At A Glance Author Andrea Contact Andrea@bme.anon When A week ago Artist Shawn Studio Evolution Location Albuquerque, NM I had actually planned on doing it on a Wednesday, but on Monday I knew that if I didn't get it done ASAP I would chicken out. Mind you, this wouldn't be my first rodeo, it would actually be my tenth piercing, but for some reason I was really nervous about going through with it. More than the pain, I was afraid of the unknown. My only facial piercing to this point was my nostril, so I really had no idea what to gauge it by. Anyway, I called a couple of my friends (both of whom had gotten their piercings at Evolution, and one of them got her Monroe done there like two weeks prior), and they both agreed to go with me. I was chickenshit about it the whole way there, but I knew that whatever the pain might be it would be totally worth it. The girl at the counter was very friendly and thorough and after all the paperwork and aftercare discussion, she had me wait for the piercer, Shawn, who was finishing up with a client ahead of me.
When it was my turn, the three of us trekked to the back. The room appeared to be super organized and super clean. Shawn was also very friendly and nice and definitely made me feel really comfortable about the whole thing. He washed his hands, put on gloves and showed me all the equipment and explained everything that he was going to do. Everything was sterilized and new. I had to swish some special mouthwash around in my mouth and then he cleaned the outside of my lip as well. He marked the dot on my lower lip off to the right side with a sterilized toothpick and some special ink, explaining that using a pen was not a good idea since it would have touched everyone else before me. I said that the dot looked perfect, and he then proceeded to mark the dot on the inside of my lip as well. Then he had me lay down on the doctor's table thing and told me to relax, which of course I wasn't. When he mentioned that some people compared the pain to "a shot" I almost got up and left, because although I can handle piercings, I hate shots. My friend was holding my hand, and I knew the time had finally arrived, and I was so ready for it to be over with. He told me to take deep breaths and relax, and counted to 3 before piercing me. The pain was really minimal, of course I felt the needle going through my lip, but it wasn't even half as bad as I was expecting. He pierced it from the inside out, which I have heard is supposed to be less painful than vice versa. Either way, I was glad he did it that way because I was a little concerned about getting pierced in the gums as well. Haha. The worst by far was putting the jewelry in, and even that felt like a bit of pinching.
When it was all over I was surprised at the big deal I had made it all out to be, and happy that it was behind me. Shawn thoroughly explained aftercare and answered all of my questions, and promised me that in about 6 weeks I could change down to a smaller hoop, but the larger one was, of course, for the swelling. He even took the time to talk to my friend who had just gotten her Monroe and answered her questions, and checked up on her piercing. We didn't feel rushed or anything at all. It was definitely a great experience, I love my piercing, and so far have had no problems with it. It's kind of tricky to eat, but I'm sure that will get a lot easier as the swelling goes down. Of course the most important aftercare, I think, has been the sea salt soaks. I haven't really been too religious with them on past piercings but I can see a noticeable difference in the healing process of this one since I have been doing them regularly. I will only ever get piercings at Evolution, I felt that they were very professional.