Long before the advent of "the scene," when the monroe piercing was still pretty uncommon I suddenly decided I needed one. I was nineteen and feeling rebellious, and my mostly liberal family that had allowed me to dye my hair whatever color I wished and dress however I liked expressly forbade facial piercings.
At A Glance Author twileen Contact twileen@bme.anon When Five years ago Artist Brad Location Berkeley, MI The parlor I picked out on a whim as well. It was called Electric Circus or Masquerade or some such and was on the corner of 12 mile and Woodward if you know the area, I hear it isn't there anymore. I initially picked it because you could see the lime green decor from a mile away, but I knew it was the place when I talked to Brad. Now, a lot of folks in that area swear by Royal Oak Tattoo, which I've heard wonderful things about, but the people there were very haughty toward me. When I tried to discuss the metals they pierce with (I'm very sensitive to impure metals and have a hard time with most steel) they treated me like I didn't know what I was talking about. Not so with Brad! Brad knew his metals and knew his jewelry. He could have listed off the composition of the metal he was going to use, but I said that wasn't necessary if he could assure me that it wouldn't cause a terrible reaction. I set an appointment for myself and two friends (they were getting nose and nipple piercings) and we got an awesome group rate.
I was a little nervous, as my only other piercings were a bunch of holes I put in my ears with safety pins back in the days when that was really edgy. After seeing my friend's nose get pierced my adrenaline was really pumping, which is naturally part of the fun. When my turn came around there was a little scrambling to find a good ball for the jewelry, as the one I picked out didn't fit the post that I needed. Alas. Brad helped pick the placement, explaining that a lot of girls like the monroe too low- in a spot that rubs the gums and can cause recession, but that a responsible piercer will guide you away from that. We picked a good spot right where there is a little cavity between the lip and gums and in went the needle like nothing at all. Of course, then Brad accidentally tugged it really hard reaching for the ball, and that hurt a lot but I got over it.
The inside healed in a couple of days and I kept the whole thing clean with sea salt. Basically I had very few problems in the healing, just normal seepage.
When it was a month or so old something very strange started to happen. On the inside part a sort of cushion of skin grew around the post. If I messed with it a lot (which I shouldn't have done, but I did) it would rip off and bleed a fair bit. Then it would grow back, at a rather disturbing rate. This went on for about six months which was how long it took me to get jewelry with a shorter post.
Like magic the odd cushion disappeared with the switch to shorter jewelry. It hasn't grown back since.
One of the big concerns they had was that it would hinder my chances on stage: I sing opera and there aren't very many roles in opera for facially pierced sopranos, unfortunately. Also, I moved to a much more conservative location to finish up college, where my chances at finding employment were much limited by my monroe. The monroe is a little more difficult to hide with a retainer than, say, a labret. Those labret retainers are still pretty obvious when they aren't hidden by the shadow of your lower lip. What I did was this: get a silicon labret retainer (not an expensive one), put it in and trim it so it just pokes out. It's completely invisible when you're on stage and in makeup and it is very hard to see when you're waitressing or working at an H&R block in central Illinois. Most of the time I keep a titanium post with an AB crystal in it, and by the way- go for titanium, it rocks.
More advice: some people don't realize this, but even after it's been healed for years you still NEED to clean this piercing (really, any piercing) on a regular basis. But if you wear makeup this is doubly important as makeup WILL get trapped around the post. This can cause unpleasant smells, infection and jewelry deterioration. Oils and skin cells will collect there as well.
So now it's going on four years, and even my family have learned to love it. My only complaints: the influx of idiot scene girls with the piercing who either think we're brethren or that I'm a poser (whatever), and the stupidest question: "Is that thing real?"