If you spend as much time as I have reading lip plumper reviews you can start to get thoroughly disheartened because the holy grail lip plumper that works can seem to be as rare as hen’s teeth.
But when you dig more deeply among the huge number of lip plumping products for sale there are some real gems. And you don’t need to spend an arm and a leg buying them (at least not always) or resort to lip augmentation or fillers.
Having said that, even the best lip plumper reviews are mixed. Not all the products suit everyone all of the time and that’s because our skin is a sensitive area and we all have different reactions to the (sometimes) potent ingredients in these products. So what might work for me may have no effect on you at all or may sting like crazy.
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What I have done then is not just take my personal experience with these products into account but also given a lot of weight to the views of other buyers who have left their opinions on Amazon, Makeup Alley and other places around the web. Where a product has a lot of praise, I have ensured that this comes from a number of reliable sources and that it is not just the manufacturer creating their own reviews. (It happens, a lot!)
I’ve also been trying to find products which are easily available. If the product seems to have been discontinued or you have to wait weeks to get the thing from overseas and pay the shipping costs too, then it’s no fun. If you’re like me when you read a good review you want the stuff quickly so that you can try it out. All these products are available online or from local stores so there’s no need to wait too long.
So what are the best lip plumping products?
First of all you need to decide which kind of product you want. There are lip plumpers which stimulate your lips. These get the blood pumping adding to both the rosiness and volume (but they can irritate as well) and there are those which I call super moisturizing lip treatments which pump up the volume that way. In general, you will get more of an instant effect if you can stand your lips tingling. The others are more the kind of treatments which will improve the condition of your lips over time.
BEST STIMULATING LIP PLUMPERS
The Best Cheap Lip Plumper : Pure Essential Cinnamon Leaf Oil
It’s not often that one of the best cosmetic products costs less than the price of a meal at Big M but this one does. To be fair there’s no big brand advertising behind it, where most of the money goes when you look at pricing of cosmetics but it actually works!
Take care though, this oil is so potent that it will sting if you don’t dilute it properly.
You simply mix a few drops with a neutral base oil such as almond oil or add a drop or two to your lip gloss.
This DIY lip plumper mimics the effect of more expensive products which often use this oil as their active ingredient.
Now I might stop there and just say “case closed” if this homemade lip plumper did not have one drawback – and that’s the smell of cinnamon which will come across quite strongly even after you dilute it.
If you love the smell no problem. If you hate it, then choose one of the other products where the manufacturers have all helpfully neutralized the smell of the active ingredients.
One major benefit with this is that you can vary the strength to suit the sensitivity of your lips. With other products they can be too weak or too strong in terms of active ingredients to have the desired effect.
Available on Amazon.com for just a few dollars here
Too Faced – EXTREME Lip Injection
You either love this or hate it – while it scored an average of 3.4 on Makeup Alley from over 100 buyers, most of them gave it either a very high or very low score. The problem is that the stuff stings (it contain Capsicum Chinense Extract as one of the active ingredients) and if you have sensitive skin, it stings a lot but the “blood vessel dilator technology” does seems to work for up to a few hours and then you have to reapply (like all these products).
The main thing is to take care that you don’t apply the product outside of your lips as it will turn the skin red like it does your lips – not a good look. Also, kissing someone when you’ve just applied this is not recommended. You don’t want to give your beau or your baby a nasty surprise.
Although fans rave about the instant effects, the manufacturers also promise long lasting results as the product contains collagen boosters to get rid of lines and moisturize lips and hydrating oils such as avocado and jojoba to soften and plump them up more.
This lip plumper is quite expensive so it is a bit of a gamble to try it. You can get it here on Amazon though if you want to give it a go.
Stung Lip Plumper
This lip plumper promises to plump lips in 7 seconds and most testers find it does! It gets pretty high marks on Makeup Alley despite some obvious drawbacks ( a high 4 out of 5 from over 20 reviews)
What I like about it is that it has nothing but natural ingredients so if you object to putting a lot of chemicals on your mouth then this may be for you.
It is pretty powerful stuff though so you have to be ready for it to sting and not go too mad with the application on your first go. (I recommend putting a little on a cotton bud and gently patting over your lips and whatever you do don’t use it if you have cracked or sore lips).
The ingredients are all kinds of soothing oils to make your lips softer but it also contains some pretty fierce natural oils such as Capsicum Oil, Clove Oil and Peppermint – they all produce a tingle separately but all together they are something else. You need to apply several times a day to keep up the effect but you need very little so a bottle can last about 4 months. Just use it with caution and don’t apply before kissing or eating! If you want it, you can get it here!
Fusion Beauty – LipFusion XL 2X Micro-Injected Collagen and HA Lip Plumping Therapy
This lip plumper is another one with mixed reviews. Some buyers love it and others hate it. It seems that the lip plumpers that work have such an effect that it means that some of us don’t get on with the active ingredients or they are active on some lips but don’t do much for others.
What we really need are free samples so we can have a go with them all and then choose our favorite but instead we are forced to buy expensive products to find out if we like them.
Just think however, you could buy them all and still have plenty of change from what it would cost you for a single session of Restalyne injections that are painful, may have side effects and last just a few months.
Anyway out of nearly 200 reviews on Makeup Alley this one came out with an average score of 3.7 so on balance it’s a good product. You can buy it here on Amazon if you don’t mind shelling out for the possibility of plumper lips.
BEST PLUMPING LIP GLOSS
Sexy Motherpucker Lip Gloss by soap and Glory
This one is a favorite of many buyers on Makeup Alley with over 200 giving it an average of 3.9 and 75% said they would buy it again.
It works quite well and it tastes and smells delicious (well like chocolate if you like that kind of thing – some buyers didn’t).
Plus it comes in either clear or a few fun subtle colors and gives an enhancing shine to your lips.
The best thing is that it tingles rather than stings so you know it’s working but you don’t feel you’re damaging your lips.
The negative comments were mainly about the stickiness of the product although it is probably that stickiness which means the gloss stays a long time on your lips without wearing off. You can find this one on eBay, Sephora or here on Amazon.
Bare Escentuals Buxom Big & Healthy Full-Color Lip Polish
This lip gloss comes in a multitude of colors (there’s bound to be a few you like so it can be hard to choose between them). It is pretty much universally well liked scoring an average of 4.5 on around 60 reviews at Amazon.
Buyers like the polished high shine look it gives without feeling too sticky and though it does not have a huge volumizing effect on lips (it just has a slight tingle) it did seem to help make lips fuller in many cases.
Many reviewers report that it made their lips soft and smooth too – a real winner of a product.
See more reviews and purchase here.
Hard Candy – Plumping Serum Volumizing Lip Gloss
This lip gloss is very shiny and stays in place a couple of hours.
Buyers like it because it plumps up the lips and has a tingling sensation but it generally doesn’t burn like some lip plumpers do.
There are plenty of colors available.
It scored 3.9 out of 5 on average in over 50 reviews at Makeup alley.
You can easily find this one in local stores such as Walmart or on Amazon here.
BEST LIP PLUMPER FOR MOISTURIZING
Most of the products in this category had disappointing scores from buyers. It seems if we hear volumizing or plumping we want to see the result right away and many of us want to get that feeling with a tingling sensation though we draw the line at stinging!
This product had great reviews though so I included it in case tingling is not for you.
Neutrogena Ageless Intensives Lip Plumping Treatment
This is a fantastic product for plumping up your lips through moisturization and making them both full and smooth, getting rid of any lines and giving you a more youthful look.
It’s excellent for those with dry cracked lips too which would be a nightmare with a product with even smallest amount of stimulating stinging ingredients.
The Neutrogena Lip Plumping treatment scored an average of 4.5 out of 5 in 15 reviews on Makeup Alley with comments such as “the best product I’ve ever used” and “I have been a devout user for 3 tubes now”. A full 86% would buy it again.
Buyers who have been disappointed by it are mainly those who expected an instant tingling effect like other lip plumpers have but there are no tingling ingredients in this one and that may be an excellent reason to buy it if you hate those.
It is a little on the pricey side I think but it does get some great comments from buyers so if your lips need treatment as opposed to being assaulted by a stinging or tingling sensation then this is very well the product for you.
It is pretty difficult to track this one down however. If it is not in your local drugstore, watch for availability here.
If you can’t find this one, maybe the alternatives at How to Make Your Lips Bigger : 8 Ways to Get Fuller Lips would help!
What is Your favorite Lip Plumper?
Do you have a holy grail lip plumper? Is there one that you will not part with? Please, share your discovery below 🙂
