Haven't submitted anythin on BME before but here goes! Hope if anyone or whomever reads this enjoys or finds it informative! :)
At A Glance Author anonymous When A year ago Studio Next Location Vancouver I got my vertical labret in the summer of grade 11. Going into the piercing place, I had only ever had my ears pierced before! Talk about a giant leap... I was really nervous going in and it really was a spur of the moment thing but I had seen inverted vertical labrets on a few people before and thought it was such a hot piercing. When I went in I was surprised as to how expensive it was, so if I get it again I'm definitely going to look for a less expensive place to get it done. That, and I regret not taking more and better photos when I had it, I only have a few and I miss it right now!
So, when I went in during the summer, waited around a while, struggled with whether or not I should get it or not.. then finally decided what the heck why not. Mostly, I was just concerned with how much it would scar when I took it out because I didn't want to ruin my lip! So finally decided to get it... First got my lip clamped with.. giant tongs? It kind of made my lip numb and everything was so surreal that it didn't really hurt. But, I did hear the curved piercing.. stick? I don't want to call it a needle because it seemed a lot thicker though that might just be my memory. Anyways, so when it was actually going through my lip, it kind of sounded like rippin half raw chicken breast... hehe. I remember that the actual piercing part was really quick and pretty painless though I was probably in shock.. But when the piercer pulled the bar through it was a little odd feeling tiiiiniest bit of pain.
Anyways, so gradually because I fiddled with it too much or licked it too much or something, it started to sink into my lip and create a bit of dent. Maybe it was a bit infected too. Another thing I regret - should have taken care of it better! The piercing place gave me... some sort of cleaning liquid and I got a bunch of cleaning salt from a friend of mine. Should definitely used those more often but unfortunately got a bit lazy. Heh.
So yah, fiddled around with it waaay too much so it didn't look all that great for the first little while, as well because of the temporarily longer bar it looked a little too long for the first few months too! I wish that this type of piercing didn't need the temporary bar for the swelling cause it really does ruin the look of it for quite a long time but I suppose it's a much better alternative to having it swell up too much and squish the piercing and possibly reject... Though I don't know because it didn't feel like it swelled that much when I got it... but I dare not defy the warnings of the piercer! Heh...
After a while though, after I got the bar exchanged for a smaller one once the swelling went down it seemed much better.
But, being the idddiiiot that I am, I decided to take out the piercing for my graduation photos in the fall of the same year so I really don't feel like I got my monies worth! Cause I couldn't get it back in afterwards (it was just a few hours) and I was too lazy to go back to the piercing place to get them to put it in. Therefore.... I am now the proud owner of two nice little pale dots on middle of my lip and right underneath.
Now, the question is what I want to pierce next... or if I want to pierce something else too. It's been just over a year now and I really miss my vertical labret, but maybe I'll get it facing the other direction next time and just have the ball in the middle of my lip and not the underside too... Will decide later... Or another possibility is to use the same bar/balls for a piercing on my ear or somewhere that won't swell more so I don't have to pay for another longer temporary bar... Or maybe I'll just get a tattoo...
Yesh. Heh, also don't know if I'll be able to go through with it again cause I was pretty nervous the first time and did it on impulse. The payoff the last month or so when I had the correct length of bar and everthing was great - I just wish I could have kept it for a longer time! The possibilities!