So here's my story, Ive self-pierced my labret a long time ago and always had trouble finding unique jewelry for it. I bought long spikes, half domes, and whatever else I could find that wasn't some plain steel ball. After so long, I really got tired of my limited options. I had visited BME's website several times and had always had an interest in the subject of Lip stretched/scalpelling but I knew I could never be able to handle scalepelling my labret, and even if i did I would probably have trouble finding a reputable person to help me with this procedure without having to worry about it coming out crooked or too big or infected most importantly. I live in a small town where any piercer his is most likely a dumb ass. With no hopes for scalpelling, I decided to try self-stretching it on my own. I had stretched my lobes, and my navel. While the lobes definitely survived healthier than ever, the navel, however, did not last very long. Thinking about the way I went about my navel and why it didn't last long, I decided to take this process as slowly as possible to avoid ruining my face. I searched around websites looking for a nice 12g labret piece, and all I could find was what I already had, steel labret posts with boring ends. I then searched some more and finally found something that suited me perfectly. The glasswear studios glass labret pieces, and they had the perfect 12g post in black! I purchased this and then waited for it to arrive in the mail, as I was ordering online from the website.
At A Glance Author jessica Contact possessedbyfire5@yahoo.com IAM rottinginmygrave When A week ago Artist Me When I received this piece, it looked a lot better than I was thinking it would! The finish was smooth, and the end was rounded, perfect for what I was about to do! I then got everything I needed set up. I decided not to use a taper, I am completely afraid of stretching it too fast and this was not an option for me. So I washed my face with antibacterial soap, washed my new 12g labret piece with antibacterial soap along with my old 14g Steel post. After removing my 14g post, I then oiled up my 12g GWS labret piece with emu oil, and the outside of my labret as well. I breathed in and when I breathed out I shoved it through. No pain at all! Best dead stretch I had ever gone through with. I felt really excited about this and I fell in love with how much more comfortable and less annoying this piece is! Addiction set in, the 12g didn't look big enough, but this new found jewelry was absolutely amazing. I left my labret alone for a little over a month to let it settle and heal. This is when I purchased some new jewelry.
I was looking around on the internet and found the perfect alternative for labret pieces, Gorilla glass Single Flared plugs!! I bought a few of them in 12g in all sorts of colors for an awesome price. I received these about a week later and attempted to put in my 12g Gorilla glass single flared purple plug that i really liked. Ouch! These pieces weren't exactly 12g, they were more of an in between size, but definitely much larger than my 12g GWS labret post. After a while of rubbing oil on my lip and messing around with my new plug, I finally got the little sucker in. I will not forget that pain, it really did hurt, my labret was much more painful to stretched than anything I had experienced before, the pain was indescribable for me. This was definitely a great alternative, though. Just like a labret post, but 10 times cheaper! My lip swelled a little bit, but the next day it felt perfectly fine. All of them were in between 12g and 10g, so I thought I would purchase a 10g gorilla glass single flared plug again, this time in emerald green!
It was a pre-order so it took about a month and a half to receive it in the mail, by this time my gorilla glass plugs were already healed and begging me to go bigger! I did the same procedure I did every time. Antibacterial soap, wash my face, wash my jewelry, oil up the jewelry as well as the labret area. I used emu oil, it helped ease any irritation. The 10g slid in with minimum resistance, but I still had that weird pain feeling while pushing it in. It seems as if the inside of my lip is what was hurting me so bad, it was a sensitive spot.
After I had the 10g in for about a month, I had an 8g glass colorfront lying around, and decided I would really like the way that size would look in my lip. I oiled my labret everyday in order to make this process much easier, and after about 2 weeks of oiling my labret, I tried to get the 8g piece in. Ouch, duh! It fucking hurt, and wasn't about to go anywhere either. I gave up and left my little labret alone, it was in pain. I was really bothered that I had been waiting about 2 months now to get in this piece, and I wasn't about to give up. It still wasn't about to go in, and I was pissed. I thought about tapering it, but then again, totally against that idea. So i thought to myself, hey! why not try taping it up with Teflon tape like I do with my lobes? So I run in my room and find my stash of PTFE tape rolls. I cut off about an inch of it or more, wrapped it around my 10g plug and then realized, wow! This is way too much tape for such a small little diameter! So then I cut about 1/3 of an inch of tape, and decided this was the perfect amount for a small size. I oiled it up, and stuck it in. It worked! My only problem was that the tape was making my labret really dry, so I had to oil it up with jojoba to keep it nice and moisturized so I could adjust it and move it around a bit. After about a week of having it taped up and daily massages, I could slide in my 8g colorfront! I was very excited about this, and there was no pain this time at all!! I felt like I had cheated, because it only took me a week to stretch to my next size when I started taping it. This was definitely going to be a method I would be using from now on if I wanted to self stretched my labret.
About a month later and a healed 8g labret, i searched the internet some more for some jewelry, I found some awesome labret pieces made by gorilla glass, they were made out of obsidian and on sale for only $7 a piece! I had about $14 in my paypal account, and decided to buy one in 6g and one in 4g. I was stoked about this. My goal size is 4g, and I was really excited to see it in person. In excitement, I taped up my labret with a little bit of tape and oiled it up and stuck it in there. It felt fine, once again I felt like I was cheating. This was way easier than I thought it was at first. In about a week I received my 6g and 4g labret pieces. They were so much more awesome than I had thought they would be, the flat backs were oval and they were the perfect length! I loved how glassy these pieces looked, they were really really neat. I taped up a little bit more this day, oiled it up again and I was ready to go in about a few days. After those few days finished up, I proceeded to try and put in my 6g labret. It went in with a little bit of resistance, but after it was in there it felt great, and looked even better! I definitely loved it, and I definitely love it now.
Comparing my 4g labret piece to my 6g ones, and the whole 1mm jump in between , I'm going to be waiting a long time to be able to fit this one in. A lot of oil massages, a lot of tape, and a lot of special care. And of course, a shitload of antibacterial soap! But it will all be worth it, I just hope that I am satisfied when I get to my goal size of a 4g, or else that will mean more labret pieces and taping in my future! It took me about 5 months to get to 6g, as in my personal opinion I think I stretched too fast, but always remember that you should listen to what your body is telling you to do! Never do anything if you are hesitating the process, re-think it and consider your health!
In conclusion, self stretching/dead stretching your lip is a healthy and great alternative to scalpelling and tapering! Just remember to use a lot of oils(jojoba,emu,vitamin e,naked oil,etc), wash your labret everyday with antibacterial soap, and never ever skip sizes!! Also, PTFE or Bondage tape is your best friend, but use it sparingly! Good luck to you guys, and good luck to me too! I hope you find this experience helpful and may consider your choices on stretching your labret.