So, it's the Christmas holidays and I was craving metal. A month or so beforehand, I'd taken my friend Rob to Metal Fatigue, and watched Sarge put a hole through his tongue like it was the easiest, most painless thing in the world. I wanted so bad to get one of my own, as I unfortunately am one of those annoying people who will invariably see something on somebody else and then decide I simply must have it. But by some fluke, I have ended up with a steady boyfriend. Anyone who's been bored enough to read my other BME experiences will know how strange this is, considering that at least four of my existing piercings have been tributes to lost love. So, although finally dating someone who isn't a ginormous tosser is lovely and everything, he has understandably vetoed most of the piercings on my hit list, because in his words, "I'm the one who has to put up with you pissing and moaning when you remember that piercings hurt."
At A Glance Author Jen Contact Jen@bme.anon When A week ago Artist Sarge Studio Metal Fatigue Location Bournemouth, UK So the tongue stud (and other things that would've put me, er, out of action, to put it delicately) would have to wait. Also, by the time I came wheezing and puffing up the stairs of Metal Fatigue for a routine jewellery change, it was about three days before Christmas and this is a time of year when you really need full use of your mouth for all those important family dinners. Sarge confirmed he'd already turned away a couple of people seeking oral piercings that day. I was sadly resigning myself to leaving with just the nine man-made holes I'd walked in with, when a flash of inspiration struck. "What about this one?" I pointed to my upper lip. Yeah, I knew what the name was, but I didn't want to say it because "scrumper" sounds quite rude.
"A smiley? Yeah, that one would probably be okay. Want to go for it?"
Amazingly, I didn't need a great deal of convincing. I filled out a form and rinsed with mouthwash whilst Sarge amused himself on Google (hee!) and then I sat for about five minutes holding my top lip up and feeling like a complete prat, whilst he picked out the cutest, tiniest little ring ever. I kept losing hold of my lip and we both kept giggling, but he managed to get a good angle and whammed the needle through with minimal bloodshed. It was more awkward than painful, as the ball on the ring was very tiny and I'm not very good at keeping still either, but he got it on without too much hassle and I bounced over to the mirror to admire my new pretty.
The sensation of having something in your top lip is a little bit weird but not unpleasant and it didn't seem to hurt at all afterwards. I was eating within about five minutes of having it done, albeit very gingerly. Within a few hours, I'd become completely accustomed to it and when I woke up the next morning, I completely forgot I had it. (But luckily remembered just in time, seconds before I was about to vigorously brush my teeth and probably rip it out by accident). I've been dabbing it gently with cotton wool soaked in a salt solution as I do with all my pretties, but generally I've just left it alone completely and it seems to have settled in fine and become a part of me already. I know it's not the most unusual or shocking piercing ever, but at the minute, I'm the only person I know who has one, and everyone who's seen it has been fascinated, saying they've never seen one before, so that's always fun to hear. Despite my best efforts to be gloomy and aloof, I'm quite a naturally smiley person, so my scrumper ring gets a lot of exposure. On a night out a couple of days ago, a barman who served me was so charmed by it that he gave me a discount on shots. (Although this also may have been to do with my tiny skirt, which was, in my mum's words, 'rather indecent'. She thinks the piercing is cute though. I'd imagine this is a piercing you could very easily hide too, if your parents weren't so accepting of it, though you'd probably need to have it done with a barbell as opposed to a ring.)
I thoroughly recommend this piercing, it's an absolute dream to heal and very disarming to people who've never seen one before. Haven't told the boyfriend yet, I'm tempted to just let him discover it in his own sweet time. I'd imagine I'll get a telling-off for getting it but never mind. It's my little Christmas present to myself, and I'm thrilled with it. Cheers, Sarge! :)