Lip piercing – how to choose the best jewelry?

Lip shape and your character

Thanks a million! The labret I ordered from your store is amazing! It’s simple but at the same time extremely elegant and it perfectly suits for every day wear. There was no doubt this very nice suspension, looks great in a set with earrings. And the consultants met the challenge! They recommended me earrings of the same color and material as the labret. You won’t believe but even the gems in both decorations are absolutely identical! The patience and politeness of the consultants deserve the highest possible praise! Thanks again and wish you the best customers ever! And let me tell you some interesting facts I learnt about lip piercing and jewelry for it.
Of all the face parts lip piercing makes the image of its owner more attractive and tempting.
The art of piercing came to Europe in the Medieval period. For the first time scientists faced with this unusual way of body decoration while studying African countries.

Lips and character - is there any relation?

There is an opinion that lips can tell about our character more than any other part of the body. Of course, physiognomic can’t give all our secrets away, but it can tell lots of interesting things about any of us.

• Plush lips. Plush lips are often associated with women’s sensitivity. Ladies with plush lips are beautiful and they enjoy listening to compliments and getting attention from men. The attention they get from people make them capricious and selfish. However, don’t forget that every rule has an exception. Women with plush lips can choose any lipstick: matte, glossy or even pearly depending on the time of day.
• Thin lips. The most common stereotype about women with thin lips is that they are angry. But it’s only a stereotype! Girls with thin lips are usually more self-reserved and calm. At the same time they are incredibly charming and caring. Women with thin lips shouldn’t use lipstick of dark colors; however pastel or pink shades can make their lips more delicate and emphasize their femininity and elegance.
• Thin lips and large mouth. Girls who have thin lips and large mouth are usually very passionate and adore adventures. They are energetic and risky and these features of character make them attractive to people. However, thin lips shouldn’t be considered as a serious lack of appearance. This disadvantage can be easily eliminated with the help of make up.
• Small mouth. Small mouth speaks about punctuality, accuracy and responsibility of an owner. Girls with a small mouth are very demanding to themselves and to people around them. Small mouth makes any face look tender. The effect of this might be intensified by choosing pastel shades of a lipstick. Lip gloss might also visually enlarge lips.

But not only lipstick can make girls look beautiful and attractive. Lip piercing is an excellent kind of body decoration which can make your image stylish and unusual.

Lip piercing is a simple and almost painless procedure which attracts thousand of young girls and women all around the world. Many young men and women choose it because it looks elegant and unusual, focusing attention on the most beautiful part of the face. It is also considered to be the safest of all types of piercing, as there are no nerve endings and large blood vessels that can be damaged. It’s up to you to decide how your lip piercing will look like. You can do a single piercing just outside the perimeter of the upper or lower lip and decorate it with a barbell or labret stud. Or you can do multiple piercings and in this case you’ll need more than one pieces of jewelry. This kind of piercing will not look as elegant as a single decoration, but in general it’s more original.

Types of lip piercings

The most popular lip piercing types are:

Monroe style piercing.This type of lip piercing is usually placed above the upper lip on the left-hand side. Have you ever seen Marilyn Monroe’s beauty spot? If your answer is “yes”, then you can easily imagine how it looks like. This type of piercing is the best idea for girls with plush lips. Women who have Monroe piercing usually wear a metal ball, rings or labret studs on the outer-end of their lips.
Monroe piercing – is probably one of the most stylish and beautiful type of lip piercings. It’s usually made on the right side of face like Marilyn Monro’s mole. It’s some kind of imitation of the popular movie star of 1950s. In some cases, it’s made on both sides and the absolute symmetry is usually observed but this type of piercings has a different name and I’m going to tell you about it later.

Madonna piercing.This type of piercings is similar to Monro but it’s made on the different side. In some sources it’s called Crawford. Theoretically it can be made on both sides of mouth but it’s a rare case and like Monroe piercing it has another name which will be the topic of our discussion later.

Smile piercing.It’s a puncture of an upper bridle. This procedure is almost painless. But this is the only advantage of it. The disadvantages include uncomfortable feeling while wearing it and mechanic damage of teeth. Despite this, those who have opted for this type of piercing make puncture of this area. Pay attention to this detail – this type of piercing is seen while you smile.

Medusa piercing.Another popular name of this type of piercing is Philtrum piercing. This type of piercing implies puncturing the center of nasolabial groove. It is placed in the philtrum right under the septum of the nose. The most popular jewelry for this type of piercing is a labret stud. Labret studs differ in color, material and design. Special rings with flat pins are used for classical style. In the beginning of 2000 vertical and horizontal medusa piercings became popular. This type of piercing is made on the straight line in the direction you choose. The best idea for jewelry is a bar or a banana shaped barbell.

Ashley piercing.Piercing is carried out in the center of the lower lip (on the outside or inside of the lip). This type is not very popular as it is rather painful but it looks perfect!
No doubts this type of piercing is unusually beautiful and attractive but at the same time it’s very painful and problematic in a way of healing type of body art. It’s made in the middle of the bottom lip. It’s one of those rare types of piercings which can be made on the inner or outer sides and both. One more distinctive feature of this piercing is that after you stop wearing jewelry some ugly large scars might remain (and in the majority of cases they really remain).

Lowbret piercing.This type implies piercing of the lower lip and chin. The most accurate description is that it’s made under your lip. It can be both vertical and horizontal. This type of piercing is referred to plane stylistics. Unlike a common labret the jewelry is almost on chin.

Horizontal lip piercing (sometimes this type of piercing is called extreme either-or astrum). It is characterized by horizontal position of a ring. This type of piercing is not only painful but also dangerous. If a wrong depth of puncture is chosen jewelry might be rejected by a human body or the process of healing might take too long and jewelry can be taken by its wearer.

Labret piercing. It is probably the most common type of piercing in the world and unlike the other types of lip piercing it has lots of variations. The exact type depends on the position of piercing on the lower lip. The most popular type of labret piercing is a vertical one (pierced with a curved barbell through the top of the lower lip rather than in front of the lip tissue).
In other words, it’s a puncture of a bottom lip. For the sake of safety, it’s made lower than the gum level and it allows to minimize teeth damage. They recommend to wear bananas, though rings, semi-rings and thorn - eyebrow curved barbells – for brows are also ok.

As I promised, now I’ll tell you about the types of piercings which can have the same names as the ones described before but only in case they are made symmetrically on both sides (in the majority of cases).
Well, in addition to all of the mentioned above types of lip modifications, there are so called "bites". For example: a snake bite, spider bite, dolphin bite and so on. The most original in the world of body artists of all existing bites is the dahlia bite. This type is carried out by puncturing the corners of the mouth and as a result jewelry is put into the corners of the mouth. Special attention is paid to the shape of the bananas. They can be in a shape of a ball, thorn or others.
The initial piercing is usually done at 1.2mm, 1.6mm or 2.0mm diameter. After healing, initial piercing can be further stretched. You can replace jewelry a month after the procedure when the process of healing is over.

How to make bridal piercing of your upper lip or a smiley:

1. While having your nipple, ear, nose or other parts of body pierced you don’t need these manipulations. But the most important thing while making piercing of this area is to reduce salivation. To achieve this before starting the procedure piercer puts cotton pads into the area of main glands (they are situated under tongue and next to jaws). In dentist’s surgeries they also use special pads – they can be bought in a drug store;
2. The area of the future puncture should be applied with some antiseptic. After this the upper lip is stretched so that piercer is able to get to thin areas;
3. This type of piercing is quite easy to make at home due to the fact it’s absolutely painless. To make a smiley puncture you should find the white area on the bridle and put a needle there. If bridle is large enough you can make some experiments with the level of jewelry. If it’s put in the lower level - it will be noticeable while speaking and vise versa.;
4. After the procedure cotton pads are taken away and mouth is rinsed. There is no blood, that’s why cotton pads are not needed anymore.

To pierce any other part of lip or peri-oral area you will need special clips. They are needed not only for fixation but also for preventing moving beautiful piercing to one of the sides creating asymmetry. You can buy them in any specialized shops.

If you are scared of piercing your lips you can opt for fake piercing (another name for this kind of jewelry – cuff). It’s a fake or an imitation of piercing. Such types of piercings exist for those who don’t want to pierce their bodies, who are not sure they will wear this jewelry all the time and don’t want to have any scars. Cuffs are also a good idea for those who have some contra indications to punctures – for those who are forbidden to make piercing because of some individual characteristics of organism. This artificial decoration makes your image beautiful for some period of time and shows “informal” side of a personality without any physical damage.

Earrings and jewelry for piercing

For lip piercings different kinds of jewelry are used:

• Microbananas. These are small curved barbells traditionally decorated with multicolored balls. They are mostly used for Monro, Madonna and some other types of piercings;
• Segmented rings. They are suitable only for oral region piercings; they are not used for flat piercings as they are not comfortable in use. They look like ordinary rings which can be divided into parts (segments);
• Circulars. This jewelry looks like rings but instead of segments they have threaded joints on the edges. They can have different shapes (snakes look especially original). They are made of titanium, steel and gold;
• Labrets. Jewelry peculiar to lip piercings. Jewelry consists of a flat surface which is in the labial mucosa, barbell and ornamental top. The top side of labret is decorated with diamonds or crystals.

Lip piercing aftercare

Depending on the area chosen for piercing you’ll need special care. Any type of piercing can fester if you bathe only the outer side of it. Special attention should be paid to rinsing your mouth with different kinds of antiseptics and regenerating solutions.

How to treat lip piercing:

1. Treat mucosa with the antiseptic recommended by your doctor; consult your doctor before, it’s very important. To make the process of healing faster you should rinse your mouth with medical antiseptics;
2. Under jewelry lots of dirt can be found. During the first several weeks it should be regularly cleaned. The most convenient way is to use an antiseptic-wetted cotton bud.
   
3. It’s not allowed to wet puncture during the first 24 hours. If it’s not possible - cover your jewelry with a thick layer of cream (anyway, the best recommendation you can get from your doctor, all drugs are very specific!)
4. During the first several days some reddening around lip piercing is normal, swelling can also appear after puncturing of soft tissues. If there is some swelling, make application with antiseptic;
5. It goes without saying that you can’t use make up and you should try to avoid getting mechanic damages.

Contra indications

Any kind of body art might be dangerous for your health. There are some contra indications for piercing. First of all, it’s herpetic fever and other skin diseases. You are not recommended to pierce your body while having a flu.

Other contra indications of lip piercing:

• Pregnancy. It’s not absolutely forbidden but during the period of lactation and pregnancy it’s better not to interfere with the work of your body;
• Blood diseases. If the process of healing takes too long – the reason might be in blood composition. If the time of forming blood plates is too short or there are some other diseases, it’s recommended to take the jewelry out;
• Piercing can’t be made if you have low immune function (e.g., after trauma or disease or during of them even if they are not serious).

The main consequences lip piercing wearers face are swelling, fester or inflammation. If a girl or a boy experience some inflammation of their piercings they should take jewelry out, make application and take care of the puncture more carefully.

Sometimes inflammation processes start not because of poor care but because of wrong material or weight of jewelry. For example, if labret is too heavy it might pull skin and prevent from healing. In this case it’s better to replace jewelry with the one made of gold or silver which are much lighter and thinner.