Lip Piercings 101: The Top 8 Lip Piercings Explained
As clothing, music, and style trends change, so too do piercing trends. Lately, there’s been an uptick in early 2000s style, with the resurgence of low-cut jeans, butterfly hair clips, chokers, and more. With this overhaul comes the return of lip piercings.
Lip piercings are one of the most versatile kinds of piercings out there. Not only are there several placements to choose from, but the jewelry options are seemingly endless, too. It’s no wonder why they’re coming back into style.
In this blog, we’ll discuss eight popular lip piercing names and their placements so that you can start choosing what’s best for your lip and face shape.
Upper Lip Piercings
There are three separate piercing all placed on the top lip using labret posts. We felt the need to include them together because they are so similar, except they are positioned on different sides of the face.
The Monroe
Named after the famous Marilyn Monroe, the Monroe piercing is placed on the left side of the upper lip, matching where Ms. Monroe’s iconic mole was.
The Madonna
Similarly to the Monroe, the Madonna piercing is placed on the right side of the upper lip. This piercing’s namesake is after pop and fashion queen, Madonna, and the mole on the right side of her upper lip.
Angel Bites
The angel bites piercing is actually two piercings—the Monroe and the Madonna piercings combined, piercing both sides of your upper lip.
Philtrum (Medusa)
The philtrum is the vertical groove between the bottom of your nose and the top of your upper lip. The philtrum piercing, also called a Medusa, is pierced straight through the philtrum using a labret stud. It can sit snugly against your lip or right in the middle of your cupid’s bow—it’s piercee’s choice.
Jestrum (vertical philtrum)
The jestrum piercing, also called the vertical philtrum, is similar to a philtrum piercing in that it sits primarily in the cupid’s bow of your upper lip. Except with the jestrum, it is pierced downward through to the bottom of the top lip. Another difference is that it uses a curved barbell so that it’s visible from both the top and bottom of the lip.
Lower Lip Piercings
Ashley Piercing
Otherwise known as inverted vertical labret piercings, the Ashley piercing is pierced through the center of the bottom lip to the back, leaving one visible point. The jewelry used for an Ashley piercing is typically a labret stud.
Labret Piercing
Opposite of the Philtrum, the labret piercing is pierced just below your bottom lip, right in the center. This is a popular piercing because labret studs, hoop rings, and captive rings can be worn in this piercing placement.
There are several variations of the labret piercing. The horizontal labret is two separate piercings, both pierced through the right and left sides of the bottom lip. The vertical labret is another popular style, and it’s basically the opposite of the jestrum piercing. It’s pierced downward through the center of your bottom lip, allowing you to see both sides of the piercing.
Additionally, if you wanted both your labret (bottom lip) and philtrum (top lip) pierced, you could ask for cyber bites.
Snakebites
The snakebites piercing is similar to angel bites in that it’s two separate piercings. Except with snakebites, they’re pierced just below your bottom lip on the right and left sides. And just like the labret piercing, snakebites can accommodate labret studs, hoop rings, and captive rings.
The Bottom Line
Whether you’re leaning toward a Madonna or a labret, we know you’ll rock the piercing. And while there are seemingly endless styles of lip piercings to choose from, Urban Body Jewelry can provide the high-quality and trendy jewelry styles you need to make it shine.