If you asked me why I found vertical labrets so pretty, I wouldn't be able to answer you. The small silver bead gently sitting on your lip has a subtle beauty to it, rather elegant I think. I have been aware of vertical labrets for quite sometime now. I had a standard labret a few years ago but I lost it due to gum erosion. My face didn't feel complete without that little bead below my lip. I missed it a great deal.
At A Glance Author Lorelei Contact Lorelei@bme.anon IAM L_o_r_e_l_e_i When A week ago Artist Ted Studio Divine Location Saskatoon, SK After taking it out, I realized the look of my face didn't seem right without it. Then the idea of a vertical labret came to mind. I knew a few people who have had them and thought it was a route worth consideration. I thought about it a lot and after much research, I decided to approach my piercer Ted with the idea. Ted had never done a vertical labret but was eager to try, granted I was willing.
I booked my appointment for a Saturday afternoon and my waiting began. Both Ted and myself were extremely excited for this, yet slightly nervous at the same time. The few days before the appointment are always the worst for me. I get super nervous and have second thoughts every time. Luckily I didn't let my nervousness get the best of me, it just added to the anticipation.
Even though this was Ted's first vertical labret I had complete faith in him. He mentioned to me that he had done quite a bit of research on BME along with talking to a few reputable piercers through IAM.
The big day finally arrived. I headed down to Broadway to meet up with my friend Maggi. We wondered around the shops there for a few hours until it was time to head over to divine for my appointment. We showed up a bit early because I was starting to get really excited and really couldn't handle waiting any longer.
Maggi and I took a seat in the waiting room waiting for Ted to finish up an appointment. We joked around nervously waiting on Ted. He came out and things began.
Ted grabbed a paper and did up the total for the piercing. I took it to the clothing part of the store and paid. I took the receipt back to Ted and he went over the aftercare. I signed the release form and the three of us (Ted, Maggi and myself) headed to the back, to the piercing room.
I hopped on the squeaky table in the middle of the room and sat there as Ted got set up. He washed his hands and put on a pair of gloves. He got out a 16g needle, 2-3/8 16g curved barbells, a clamp and many little packets of iodine and whatnot.
He grabbed a pen to begin marking my skin. It took Ted a few tries to get it perfectly straight. Once it was to his liking he asked me to check it for myself. It looked fine to me, so I sat back down. Ted re-drew the enter and exit points with a different pen. Now my lip was all marked and ready to go. I laid on the table as Ted grabbed the clamp. Ted clamped my lip, but it was a little too tight so he loosened it and re-clamped. It felt really weird, mostly because the clamp was rather heavy but I knew it wouldn't be on for too long so I didn't worry.
Ted grabbed the needle. He told me to take a big breathe in, then as I exhaled he would pierce me. On the count of three I took a big breath in, when I let it out the needle went through. Unfortunately the needle hadn't gone all the way through yet. So as it went through the top of my lip, it really hurt. Now the needle was through my lip. I sat up for a second to blow a kiss to Maggi. She didn't really like to look at me with a needle through my lip, so she sat back down. I laid on the table again and Ted put in the curved barbell and screwed on the beads.
Ted then spent what seemed like forever cleaning the area. I guess I had bled a fair bit because cleaning it took a long time. He then spent a while taking a perfect picture of my brand new piercing. (Which can now be found on my IAM page.) I spent the rest of my day showing it off to as many people as I could. I was really proud of it.
It's now been almost a week since I've had my new vertical labret. It swelled quite a bit, but it's gone down a fair amount by now. I still have a bit of difficulty with eating. Biting into things puts a lot of pressure on the top bead which not only hurts but also gets bits of food stuck to the piercing, which probably isn't the best for my new holes. Drinking from glasses is also a challenge; I'll be using straws for a while. But most of these things only require some getting used to.
I've been using chamomile tea bags as a compress to help reduce the swelling, it works fairly well. I also do two sea salt soaks a day. I have yet to have any real problems healing wise and I'm hopping none will arise.
I am in love with his piercing. I think it really suits my face. I urge anyone planning on getting this piercing to do his or her research. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to contact me.