A lip piercing is a type of body piercing that penetrates the lips or the area surrounding the lips, which can be pierced in a variety of ways.

Lip piercings can be placed anywhere around the mouth, but the surface of the lip is not typically pierced itself, except for horizontal lip piercings and canine bites. Piercings in specific positions have certain names.

• Monroe- labret studs worn on the upper lip where Marilyn Monroe had her famous mole.

• Medusa- a piercing through the center of the upper lip (the philtrum), perpendicular to the tissue.

• Labret- A piercing on the lebret, with a labret stud, and can pierced in the center or off-center. A variation of this is the lowbret, a lower labret. Vertical labret piercings go through the center of the bottom lip, parallel to the tissue. The variation is called the vertical lowbret, which starts inside the mouth between the lower lip and the teeth and travels straight down, exiting on the lower edge of the jawline.

• Horizontal- very rare, and include a horizontal bar on the lower lip that goes through the lip surface.

• Dahlia- a piercing by the creases of the mouth.

Also See:

• labret

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