Ever since I got my ears pierced when I was 9 years old, it began. The craving. For more and more piercings. Every year I would get another on my ear. Then I wanted to get my tongue done, and the parental battle ensued. It finally paid off, all of my begging and pestering, and my father signed the papers. Once I turned 18 I didn't feel any different. I bought cigarettes, went to "those" shops that previously I never could have gone inside, but nothing made me feel older. Turning 18 is supposed to be about growing up, and becoming independent, and I felt like maybe there really wasn't anything so great about "becoming an adult".
At A Glance Author Nikki Contact Nikki@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Bryan Studio The Pin Cushion Location Hyannis, MA
I had been planning on getting pierced since well before my birthday. I started researching, going on BMEzine.com daily, before I went to school, as soon as I got home, sometimes even at school. The website became almost as addicting as the piercings themselves. I studied the different piercings to see what I might want once I could finally sign those papers myself. I contacted different shops, reviewed portfolios, and compared them.
I remembered, one day at work, I had seen a girl with a gorgeous lip piercing that was different from any I had seen before. It at first looked like a labret, but upon further inspection I noticed a tiny jeweled ball resting between her lips. It looked so feminine and accented her lips so nicely. When I found it on BMEzine.com, I also discovered the "inverse vertical labret" which appealed to me much more. After considering the consequences of tooth and gum disruption, I decided to stick with the standard vertical labret.
I had planned on going out of state to a shop in RI that I held with high regard. These plans were foiled, however, by the approaching blizzard. I wanted this piercing so badly, and decided that even though I only had an hour and a half until I had to go to work, I would take the 5 minute drive over to pin cushion, and just DO IT. My friend Vanessa really wanted to come since she was originally going to accompany me to Rhode Island. I had already talked to Bryan about the inverse, and while he still said either could be ripped out easily, I just said "I want to do it". Sadly, he didn't have the right jewelry for it ready, because I wanted a 16g. I was really disappointed, I had wanted to do it so badly and I knew that it was either now or I would have to wait much, much longer until I had money and time, which I never seem to have.
Then he pointed to some small, 16g curved barbells. "Do you want the plain or the one with the gem?". Again, the excitement coursed through my veins. I picked a tiny pink jewel. "Alright, I just gotta sterilize it, it should be ready in about an hour." So Vanessa and myself walked around Mainstreet, met up with my friend Dorothy, and moseyed on back to the shop. I started to get jittery. I had half an hour until I had to be to work. I felt excited, nervous, anxious, and yet I felt the sort of composed calm that you feel when you're waiting to get pierced. One girl was ahead of me getting her eyebrow done, and it seemed to be taking forever! Finally I was up. All three of us girls followed Bryan into the back. I think I was nervous, I was looking all around me at the artwork, and I saw Bryan changing gloves and picking out clamps and other metal things. He swabbed my bottom lip 3 times with some brown .... stuff.
"Uh, Nikki, You've got something on your face.... just about there" Said Vanessa.
Then Bryan grabbed the marking pen and a stick to use to make sure it was even. At first I had told him I wanted the ball more towards the center of my lip, but the clamp fit weird and he didn't feel comfortable doing it like that. He moved the dot back, and after about 5 minutes of trying to hold my face as still as possible while at the same time keeping my lips relaxed, he found a spot that we both agreed on. He clamped me, and when his hand moved over my face I flinched. I must have been more nervous than I had thought. Then the needle. It hurt much more than I had anticipated. I lay with the needle through my lip, while Bryan got the jewelry and Vanessa snapped a picture with her phone. I tried not to laugh, not to move. It hurt, but at the same time it felt liberating. This was me taking control of my body. I signed the papers, I made the decision, I didn't have to go through my parents and this was something I had been waiting for. Then the jewelry. It hurt a lot. My eyes were watering.
Finally, it was done. I sat up. "Damnit that hurt." I stood up and checked the time, 10 minutes to get to work. I looked at my new piercing. It was gorgeous. I thanked Bryan for meticulously placing the dots. He asked me if I was dizzy, lightheaded, etc. I wasn't at all, so I left, happy, glowing, and feeling the rush I feel after I get pierced. Its an amazing natural high. I feel totally optimistic, calm, and everything is sort of muted around me. I just feel something rushing through me that I can't explain.
The fact that I made it on time to work was definitely a plus.
It has been two days since I got my vertical labret piercing. It looks awesome. My lip didn't swell too much. I actually wish my lips were always like this. I can eat, but some things kind of bump it and it's sore, so I'm sticking with little stuff I can put in the side of my mouth. There is only one tiny spot that's sort of red, but no bruising. My lips are starting to get dry, however, and I put a little chap stick on my top lip and the sides of my bottom lip. Hopefully it won't pose any threat to the healing process. I love my piercing a lot more than I thought I would. It already feels like a part of me, like it should be there. Usually it takes a while for that feeling to kick in.
This was the moment it took to feel "different" since turning 18. I feel like I have a better grasp on my life, like I can control a lot more of my own "Stuff". I recommend everyone get some sort of mod on their 18th, and I plan on getting more and more and more and more....