With all the holiday parties coming up you will probably be getting all dressed up and when doing your makeup you may be considering using a lip plumper for that fuller, pouty lip look.
Lip plumper’s make the lips appear fuller and come either clear or colored and can be applied on their own or under another gloss or lipstick. These may seem like a great idea if you have thin lips but there are some downsides to them.
There are many formulations out there and some do work better than others but tests have shown that none of them last longer than a few hours, so you will need to constantly reapply them in order to maintain the lips plumpness. Some formulas do seem to work well but in others testers report noticing no difference in the plumpness of their lips. There has to be something in the gloss in order to make the lips plump up and these ingredients range from cinnamon and menthol, to chilies. The way these work is that the extra ingredient added to the gloss works to irritate and redden the lips so that they look plumper. Quite often you will feel your lips tingle or in some cases burn quite badly. If you have extremely sensitive or dry lips – this can damage them even further. And lip plumper’s are not recommended for anyone who has cold sores or any other wounds on their mouth.
If your lips are in good shape and you are only going to use a lip plumper once in a while this should not be a problem, otherwise stay away. Exfoliating your lips gently either with a toothbrush or a gentle scrub with brown sugar will increase the circulation and make the lips appear plumper without too much irritation.