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At A Glance
Author	anonymous
Contact	anonymous@bme.anon
When	2006
Artist	Eric
Studio	717.490.1858
Location	Lancaster, PA

I only have two piercings per ear lobe so far. I had wanted another piercing for awhile--maybe a tongue or multiple more ear piercings or something, but I was actually too scared to get my tongue pierced, and I don't really like my ears that much, so I don't know why I would put more holes in it. Then one day I saw a cute boy on myspace with a side lip ring and I really liked it. I went to my mom that day, "Is there any way you'll let me get a lip ring?" And she basically just laughed in my face with a quick, "no." I kind of forgot about it for about a week, then went back to my mom and asked again. Again I received a "no." She basically didn't understand why I wanted a hole put in my face.

Now I was getting a bit more serious about a lip piercing. I searched the web for photos, stories, aftercare, and the process of a lip piercing. I came across www.bmezine.com and went through a couple dozen stories and pictures of various lip piercings. I loved how they looked and continued begging my mom, but I always received a "no." My dad hated the idea even more. I emailed a local piercing studio in my town to see if they would pierce me, but they never responded, so i called them. They said they wouldn't pierce anyone under sixteen. I was devastated. We called another piercer, and they also said they wouldn't pierce under sixteen.

By now, I wasn't very happy, but my mom said that the idea had really grown on her. I waited about another three weeks until discovering another piercer on the internet that was only about ten minutes away from my house, Wade's Tattoo and Body Piercing. I emailed them, and after about a week, got the okay from them that they could pierce my lip if I had a biological parent with me, a birth certificate, and a school I.D [which i had lost during the school year, so I had to bring in a yearbook with my photo and name.] I basically screamed because I was so excited. I told my mom, and she said she'd have to talk to my dad, who still wasn't so fond of the idea. They finally talked, and agreed that I could get it done on Tuesday. That day was only Wednesday. I couldn't believe that I would have to wait an entire week, but that was my Dad's rule. He said that I couldn't get it done that week, incase I would change my mind because now it was really happening, and so we could get more information from Eric, my soon to be piercer. Those were probably the slowest few days of my life.

Tuesday finally came. I would be going sometime between 1 and 2pm. I ate something, so I wouldn't pass out, and because I knew that I might be hungry afterwards, and I didn't know how hard it would be to eat. I was so excited and feeling lightheaded at home already. My mom and I finally drove out to the city and parked about two blocks away from Wade's and we ended up having to walk through the pouring ran, because it started after we started walking. A few minutes later, we arrived at the studio, dripping wet. We asked for Eric, and he came over, gave us a couple papers to sign, and made me feel very comfortable. My mom and I went over the papers, basically talking about aftercare and making sure that I wasn't pregnant, under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and stuff like that. I also gave him my birth certificate and school yearbook, and my mom showed him her driver's license to prove she was my biological mother.

Eric took me into a back room, asking me how I was doing. I was pretty nervous by then. He took out the ring and made sure it was what I wanted. He had me sit down, and rinse my mouth out with mouthwash, and he proceeded to clean the outside of my lip. He marked where he thought it should go, and I looked at it, and we agreed that would work. Eric explained exactly what he would be doing, and then we began. He pulled out my lip and I breathed in, and then exhaled slowly, and that was when he pushed the needle though. It wasn't too bad. It felt like a slight pinch—about as much pain as my DIY second lobe piercing—barely any pain...and I definitely don't take pain very well at all. I closed my eyes and couldn't even feel him pull the needle out and replace it with the ring. Then he closed it a bit with pliers and then screwed the ball on. I rinsed my mouth out again with mouthwash, and he cleaned the outside.

I looked at it in the mirror, and even though it was starting to swell a little and get red, I loved it. He gave us a couple papers and such and talked to us about aftercare, I paid him [which was a lot less than I had expected. It was about $65—and that included the fact that I upgraded the ring to a better medium.] We walked back to the car, and drove out to buy alcohol-free mouth wash, and such. I kept looking at it in the mirror. I love it. My parents still aren't so happy about it, but I definitely wouldn't change it at all if I could. It's perfect, and I definitely recommend Eric at Wade's Tattoo and Body Piercing for any piercing need.