I had my ears stretched to 7/8" and 14 gauge CBRs in both tragus and I wanted something in the center of my face to sort of tie it all together (for lack of a better way to explain it). I just looked in the mirror and it always seemed there was a piece missing.
At A Glance Author brian johnson Contact brian.johnson@apisource.com IAM brian.johnson When Three months ago Artist Michael Studio Full Color Coverage Location Annapolis, MD I decided on lip because bridge never appealed to me. Anytime I get something in my face and can see it, it drives me insane so I figured a bridge would make me nuts. I am strangely addicted to blowing my nose so I thought a septum might be problematic. I liked the idea of a thicker ring but it would have to be centered - I wanted something centered to balance out the look of things.
I went to Full Color coverage in Annapolis where I'd bought jewelry and been tattooed but had never been pierced there. The senior piercer there is a guy named Spanky and I'd talked to him quite a lot and he seems, aside from being a very nice person, very aware of his limits as a piercer- which impresses me. He's not going to do it unless he's comfortable with his ability to do it right and he turns people away if they want something done he's not capable of doing (instead of just "giving it a shot"). Spanky wasn't there but the person he apprenticed, Michael, was working and since a center lip is far from a radical procedure I figured I'd just get it done rather than waste a trip. I talked to him for a while and he seemed to be on the same page as me so I went ahead and had him pierce it. The thing about piercing shops that has always turned me off is that when you go to a new shop there is often a sort of "too cool for school" vibe in there. You get the feeling tha t you have to earn their respect and if you're not heavily tattooed and pierced when you walk through the door they don't take you seriously. This is a very friendly shop and there's none of that kind of attitude.
I asked him for a 10 gauge and he said he would ordinarily do it with 14 gauge but if that's what I wanted and he had a small enough diameter 10 gauge (I wanted it fairly tight against my lip) it would be no problem. He had the jewelry so he went ahead and marked it for me to take a look at. I wanted it as close to the bottom of my bottom lip as possible and I guess he was used to using larger diameter rings, but I had him raise the dot a few times so it was where I wanted it.
He clamped it and pierced it without incident - about as painless as a piercing can be I suppose. He pierced it from the bottom up which would essentially be from the outside in. I got a bit uneasy when he just held the needle out at an angle away from my lip while he set the ring in the back of the needle and it slipped and came real close to heading for my gums. I grabbed the needle and we got everything back where it needed to be. I guess that would freak some people out but the guy's hand just slipped - it was a mistake - I make mistakes at work all the time - it's no big deal. He got the ring in and closed it without a snag - and usually that's where you feel the snag - when the ring goes through. I guess anytime a needle goes through your skin it hurts but it wasn't enough pain to make you flinch or even tear up your eye. The ring went in, I hung around for a bit so he could photograph it (he said with all the labret piercings they almost never get anyone who w ants a lip ring and especially not at 10 gauge to start) and was on my way.
It healed nicely enough. I had a small bump on the exterior hole and I got a scratch in the ring, which kept irritating it but I got the ring switched to a new one and some Tea Tree Oil for the bump and it all cleared itself up in about 10 days.
All in all I'd say young Michael did a fine job and would recommend him gladly to anyone looking for something in his range of ability. It's hard to throw a rock anymore without hitting a piercing studio and I've been to a lot of them in the area that just left a bad taste in my mouth but Full Color Coverage left a ring in my mouth - and I'd go back there anytime.