story of my pierced lip

I've wanted my lip pierced since I was 16 years old, when I had a dream that my lip was pierced and the sensation of the ring was very life like. At the time I had recently had my eyebrow pierced, and there was no way my parents would have given me permission to have another piercing, so it never happened. Eventually a friend of mine got her lip pierced, and that sort of killed the idea for me, as I didn't want to be seen as a copycat. Years went by, I moved and got a job. I had already had to negotiate with my manager about keeping my eyebrow piercing in, and as I was 100% reliant on that job I had no plans on jeopardising it with a lip ring.

Fast-forward another few years, and September 2006 rolls along. After three years of working as a dead-end shop assistant, I had finally managed to enrol at university. Full-time work got replaced by afternoons in the library and I felt better about myself than ever. I had managed to turn my life around (well that's what it feels like, even thought it sounds very pretentious!) and I wanted to celebrate this with a new mod. I've had a tattoo in the pipeline for over a year, but I still wasn't quite happy with the design so that wasn't an option. This is where the notion of a pierced lip slowly crept back into my consciousness.

This was it – my one opportunity to get it done. I had no need to worry about close-minded employers, and could fulfil my old dream. The one thing that held me back was, maybe surprisingly, myself.

I felt that, at 22, I was too old for another facial piercing. How ridiculous, I know! I felt like kicking myself; if I'd only got the piercing when I was younger it wouldn't have made a difference. I felt like I was expected to have "grown out" of the piercing phase, and I felt like by having this urge to pierce my lip I was letting down everyone; my boyfriend, his family, my family, everyone. I felt like they thought that my current piercings were "one of those things" I had done when I was young and stupid. I couldn't reason this thinking with myself – I'd like to think of myself as far from close minded, and I definitely have never looked at anyone else thinking they'd be "too old" for their mods, and here I was thinking this about myself! Also I'm a firm believer in doing your own thing and not really giving a hoot what others may think. Many sleepless nights followed, and eventually I managed to face the fact that my fears were all rooted in my self-esteem.

I wasn't too pleased to realise just how much I clearly let other's influence myself, and decided that this piercing was definitely going ahead! It wasn't to mark my new life at university any longer, it was more about me remembering what I stood for.

After modelling my lip with an old BCR and a phonecall to Cold Steel, dialled with trembling fingers, I decided on a date. As soon as I had my mind set, I couldn't wait. I didn't tell anyone about my plans, as this piercing was just for me.

On Saturday morning I got up early, showered and headed out the door. Straight to the ATM to withdraw Ј30, then to the train. Off at Camden Town, turn right, push past the tourists and weekend shopper, and up the familiar stairs to Cold Steel. This is by far the best piercing studio I have ever had the pleasure to do business with. All the staff are extremely friendly and accommodating, they patiently answer all questions you could ever think of and the atmosphere is relaxed.

After a lot of thinking and discussion with Julie (that's what I think she was called), I decided to go for a stud and change it to a BCR later, as I wanted a really snug fit and obviously that would not be possible straight away. When asked how old I was I got a temporary brain-freeze and made a guy laugh when I had to think long and hard about such a simple question. I paid, was shown the jewellery and was asked to sit down and wait while Julie was setting everything up.

After what seemed like hours, but was probably about five minutes, Julie popped her head round and informed me she was ready to go. She was really great, and explained everything she was going to do, showed me the needle and other equipment and how they were all still sealed away in bags, all the good stuff. She was also smart enough to tell me all about the aftercare before the actual procedure, which was good as I have a tendency to not be able think about anything except for my new shiny bit of metal for half an hour or so after the piercing is done. She lowered the back of the seat so I was laying down, and told me to close my eyes. She told me to take a couple of deep breaths and before I knew, the needle was going through my lip. It was a weird sensation, like the power of a punch concentrated to the size of a pinhead. Also having seen my friend get her lip pierced, I could somehow visualise it even with my eyes closed, which added to the sensation. Soon it was all over, jewellery inserted, and Julie was continuing to be awesomely nice, telling me to come and see her or give the shop a call if I had any questions or worries whatsoever.

Julie had warned me that as with any facial piercing, my new adornment would look huge before I got used to it. Well let's just say she wasn't wrong! I spent the whole journey back home trying to catch my face in any reflective surface I passed, hoping the stud would look smaller than I remembered. Needless to say – it didn't.

It's now been 5 days since I had it done, and healing is going well. As I was instructed, I've used non-alcoholic mouthwash every time after eating or drinking, and I've been swabbing the outside with antiseptic solution. My lip was quite swollen for the first two days, but it's gone down by now. Whether this is normal or extra quick thanks to me constantly sucking on ice I don't know. I have also got used to the piercing and it no longer seems like the size of a second head.

I'm very pleased I did go through with the process; I love my new piercing and have already forgotten all about my irrational fears.

To anyone considering getting pierced in the London area, I would definitely recommend Cold Steel in Camden. They really are the nicest people, and all piercings I have got done there look awesome.