Makeup Guru

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You just have to wander around the cosmetic floor and you will see dozens of lip plumping products. The choice is endless in the pursuit of pouting lips. Sure, you won’t get instant ‘Angelina Jolie’ lips but you can maximize what you already have.

There are a few different types of lip plumpers on the market too. One type contains mild irritants like ginger, cinnamon, pepper or peppermint, which dilate blood vessels in the lips and cause a slight swelling.

Another type is supposed to stimulate collagen production over a period of time. Still another just gives you the illusion of fuller lips.

Below are a few samples of the different types to help you with your choice:

If you are after the serious, heavy duty plumper you can’t go past Napoleon’s Love Bite ($25.00). Love Bite Lip Plump contains capsicum pepper and cinnamon to stimulate and swell the lips, while menthol soothes and jojoba smoothes. Be warned ladies. This lip plumper is not for the fainthearted. It has a serious punch to it as the capsicum pepper kicks in. I found it OK, but if you have sensitive skin you might find it just a bit too strong in the sting department. Napoleon aims to inspire ladies “to spice up their lip life with Love Bite Lip Plump” encouraging “big is beautiful and full is fabulous.”

Another of the heavy hitters is Sally Hansen’s Lip Inflation (13.95) This gloss promises that lips become flush and plump instantly for a sexy, pouty look. Containing peppermint, ginger and cinnamon you will instantly feel the effects of it on your lips as they begin some serious tingling. This, I found very distracting. If you don’t mind the hot feel of your lips than the gloss is actually quite nice and shiny adding to the illusion of fatter lips. It also contains vitamins A and E to hydrate the lips.

Moving onto the coloured plumping products, you can’t go past Clinique’s Full Potential Lips Plump and Shine ($37.00). This gloss plumps your lips in three ways. Containing Capsicum Extract and ginger it has a mild tingling sensation and causes the lips to swell. Also contains Magnifying Pearls, consisting of three varying pearl shaped particles, providing an immediate 3-dimensional visual effect. Lips instantly have a fuller appearance. Thirdly it also contains ingredients that boost your natural collagen production, making your lips naturally fuller over time. They also come in 10 different colours. This is one of my favourites.

The other is a new product from YSL Shiny Lip Plumper SPF 10 (45.00). This supple, stretchy, non-sticky gloss contains microspheres that are composed of dehydrated hyaluronic acid, that swell and smooth the lips’ surface, giving them an instant, visible plumper look. There was no tingling sensation with this gloss at all on my lips but they did look nice and full. It also contains mint oil to cool, wheat germ oil and Chilean rose bush oil to treat and give the lips shine. Available in 3 shades.

If you are after something really gentle and non scary, try Joey New York - Super Duper Lips kit. This gel formula’s main ingredient is honey, known to be a natural humectant to plump, hydrate and smooth the skin. The gel will make your lips smoother, softer and more “kiss-able”. I didn’t notice any huge plumping effects from the gel but it did make my lips very soft and moist.

And if you are after something completely benign, without even a hint of tingling, burning or anything even remotely happening to your lips but you still would like the seductive pout, listen up.

ModelCo has the Illusionist Lip Enhancer Kit. Containing an awesome skin colour, soft wax pencil that allows you to create the perfect pout by giving the illusion of natural, fuller lips. All you do is use it as you would your normal lip pencil outlining your natural lip line, then you go outside of your lipline just a fraction. You won’t end up with clown lips but you will be amazed just how full your lips will look with just a fraction of a millimetre added to your lips. Than you apply your favourite lipstick or lip gloss. It comes complete with ModelCo sharpener!

With all these products on the market you could assume that we are all walking around looking extremely seductive with our full and voluptuous lips. Not so. These products will only slightly enhance your natural lips and at most for a few hours. These products also work better on some than others. And even though I was trying lip plumpers all week, not one person asked me if I had anything done to my lips.

Although I assure you I was putting in my best effort pouting. I noticed an increase in the fullness of my lips but it was obviously not enough to alert others to the fact that I now possessed luscious lips. For that I will obviously have to go to my friendly local plastic surgeon.