New Lip Piercing! :D

[Monophobia]

Okay, sooo~ I got my first piercing today. It's on the left side of my bottom lip, and I adore it.

After the four-week healing period I plan to change out the ball with a ring. I was gonna buy it online, but I have no idea where to turn to! I can't wear anything fake (my family line has an issue with our skin turning green). Plastic is fine, but I'd prefer surgical steel.

Anyone willing to recommend a website?

Also, should I keep the ball in it when I go to bed, or...?

I attached a photo if you're interested in my face.

 

[Shining Raichu]

First might I say, dapper young man, that that lip piercing is awesome and will change your life.

Secondly, instead of going to a specialised website why don't you try the good old basics like eBay or Craigslist? You can get some really good stuff on there. It'll generally say things like 'surgical steel' in the item title so it'll be easy to sift through and find what you want.

 

[Goo]

Just because you can change your piercing in 4 weeks does not mean it will be healed by then. You should get steel or some other safe metal instead of acrylic for a while. It took several months before my septum could handle acrylic and I still don't think my tongue can. You get what feels like dry socket. It's itchy painful and uncomfortable and its no fun. Acrylic is porous and very challenging to clean which is why its not recommended for new piercings.

 

[Monophobia]

First might I say, dapper young man, that that lip piercing is awesome and will change your life.

Secondly, instead of going to a specialised website why don't you try the good old basics like eBay or Craigslist? You can get some really good stuff on there. It'll generally say things like 'surgical steel' in the item title so it'll be easy to sift through and find what you want.

Makes sense. Thanks for the compliment and advice! :P

Just because you can change your piercing in 4 weeks does not mean it will be healed by then. You should get steel or some other safe metal instead of acrylic for a while. It took several months before my septum could handle acrylic and I still don't think my tongue can. You get what feels like dry socket. It's itchy painful and uncomfortable and its no fun. Acrylic is porous and very challenging to clean which is why its not recommended for new piercings.

Doesn't sound too nice. >.< Arigato for the advice as well!

 

[Monophobia]

UPDATE: It's been about three days and there's a medium-to small sized reddish circle around my jewelry. It kinda itched earlier, but that passed. I've been cleansing it as instructed by my piercer.

Is it infected or just swollen? I heard swelling was normal, but nothing on my paper says redness.

 

[King Kū]

It is quite cool. You should take that as a compliment considering I'm not generally a big fan of male bodily piercings (especially face.)

I have to admit I want to get two really small stretchers put in my ear. But I have to think that through.

When I'm 20 in two years my mom agreed that I can go to her friend's and get a traditional tribal Hawaiian tattoo done the native way.

For those that don't know: this is both petrifying and exciting. The traditional way a Hawaiian tattoo is done is by chiseling into the skin with a special knife and filling it with a unique permanent blend of various substances. The benefit of this that the ink won't fade - as opposed to the western way of inking. The downside is that it will definitely hurt and will definitely be susceptible to infections while healing. This is how warriors used to do it - no anesthetic, no crying. Just man-up and do it.

The reason it is terrifying isn't the pain, though. The traditional way that Hawaiians would be tattooed is to have a Shaman-Artist, a man who would essentially objectively reason who you are as a person and he would decide the design for you. You aren't allowed to know what it is, or consult on what it should be, until it is done.