I can't remember a time when I wasn't impressed by the relative size difference of my inner labia. The right one is considerably larger than the left one, and I've been wanting to get a ring for it for years, ever since I realized that such things were possible. Thus, about two weeks ago, I became the proud caretaker of a 14 gauge surgical steel captive bead ring placed about halfway along my right labia minora.
At A Glance Author Scarlet When A week ago Artist Brycee Studio Chicago Piercing Company Location Chicago, IL I started seriously doing my homework on the subject of acquiring a labia piercing about six months ago. For a while, I had planned to go down to New Orleans to get pierced, and I do still plan to go there some day for the triangle piercing I want. However, it's expensive to get there from here, and the schedule I had planned for when to go didn't work out, so I bailed on that plan. Instead, I started perusing the availability of body piercers in Chicago and got a basic idea of who was here. At one point I found a female piercer in Chicago, and I noted this fact, read her bio and liked it, and continued my research.
Fast forward to when I called up my favorite feminist sex toy shop and asked them if they had a recommendation for a piercer. They recommended Brycee, the same piercer that I remembered from the internet. I called the number they gave me to see if she was still working there and got a confirm that she was not only working there but was in on Sunday nights, so I figured that would be a good time.
The day of, I had about two hours of major nervousness around the whole decision, having never done something like this before. (I had six piercings, but they were all in my earlobes -- certainly nothing below the neck. Now I have seven.) I had asked one of my friends if she would come with, but while I was eating dinner she called and bowed out, and that was okay. By then I had gotten my blood sugar in line with the meal and had drunk a cup of chamomile tea, which is a sure-fire destresser for me, and I wasn't so nervous any more.
I had planned to head to the piercing place around 7:30, but since I finished my dinner at 7 I decided to wander around and look for a bookstore. After I'd walked for about 20 minutes, I found a Borders that had a book I'd been looking for, and by the time I had found the book, paid for it, and walked back to the piercing place, it was about 8:10. I walked in, got the appropriate papers signed and the jewelry picked out, and waited for Brycee to be ready for me.
I wasn't really prepared to be at ease, but Brycee was very pleasant and positive in her manner, and I imagine that she deals with enough nervous first-timers that I was nothing exceptional. She handed me an aftercare sheet straight away, told me exactly what she needed me to do for her and what she was going to do, and answered all of my questions. The piercing itself wasn't so bad; it did hurt, but it was over very quickly, and she got it placed right where I had asked her to, which is great. After she got an okay from me, she took a couple of pictures of her work with her digital camera, and she showed them to me so that I could confirm that she had just photographed the jewelry and the surrounding skin. She also handed me a pair of gloves when I asked for them so that I could poke at the new ring myself.
I think I spent about half an hour behind the curtain, and most of that was prep work and then making sure I wasn't going to react immediately and adversely to something. I can't complain with how any part of it was executed, and I tipped Brycee before I left for being so considerate in addition to being a knowledgeable professional.
I went to the store the next morning for sea salt so that I could soak my newly pierced anatomy, and all has been well. I am a little grumpy about not being able to go in a hot tub for the next few months, but by summertime I bet everything will be healed enough for me to soak with no worries. One of the other things that might have been a source of irritation is the restriction on bodily fluid contact for the next few weeks, but I laughed when she mentioned this and told her that I wished that were a problem.
If you've ever had a vision for exactly what you want done with your piercings, I highly recommend looking up Brycee at the Chicago Piercing Company. She took my dream and made it real.