A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

Luxury skincare brand Lubatti have released their latest skincare product in the form of Anti-age Wonderlip which has been specifically designed to help increase lip volume whilst reducing fine lines and wrinkles.  I was sent a tube a few weeks ago and have been putting it through its paces thanks to the recent cold snap.

The tiny 10ml tube is filled with a deliciously-light, gently scented balm that promises to nourish lips whilst providing a plumped up pout with less of those pesky fine lines and lip wrinkles.  First things first, it works… really, really well but not in the stinging, lip-irritating way that lip volumisers usually plump.  This is a silicone-heavy lip primer that fills the furrows and smoothes the lip texture, creating the illusion of a prettier pout.  That’s not to say that there are no long-term skincare benefits to help promote lip volume, but first and foremost – think of this as a non-drying lip primer.

And the term non-drying is key here, as most lip primers I’ve tried in the past leave my lips looking good but feeling tight.  The Lubatti Anti-age Wonderlip* manages to prime without any unwanted side-effects.  Except for one.  A great, big dent in your wallet.  Priced at £29, it’s a costly addition to your skincare routine but seeing as it offers a tangible difference – I have visions of this becoming a bit of a cult product among those who can afford such luxuries.

If you suffer from dry lips, I think you’ll probably still need the support of something a little more heavy duty on the moisturisation front and paired with a nightly application of Lanolips 101, this has become a bit of a dream team lip-combo.  Not one that I can afford to sustain… but it’s very, very lovely while it lasts.

Ingredients: Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Isododecane, Cera Alba, Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethiconol, Aluminium Starch Octenylsuccinate, C 18-21 Alkane, Vp/hexadecene Copolymer, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Tribehenin, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Sodium Hyaluronate, Palmitoyl Oligopeptide, Ethylene/Acrylic Acid Copolymer, Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane, Silica Dimethyl Silylate, Aroma, Sorbitan Isostearate, Butylene Glycol, Tocopheryl Nicotinate, Phenoxyethanol, Hexylene Glycol.

Lubatti Anti-age Wonderlip is priced at £29 and available online from lubatti.co.uk

* press sample

I’m digging out my Autumn stuff… move over Summer, bored of you now!

I’ve bought my first pair of ankle boots for the season and I’m concentrating on the good things about the cooler weather.

Surely one of the loveliest is that whole Lorna Doone windswept thing… just in from the cold, pink-flushed cheeks, bitten lips and wild (but still very much under control) hair.

Here’s 5 Lip Plumpers to help you achieve seriously sexy lips this Autumn!

1. Bare Escentuals Buxom Lip Polish in Kanani – £17

They Say: Pout-perfecting Buxom naturally creates the look of fuller, more voluptuous lips.  Infused with 100% pure bareMinerals, it gives a luminous shine with no sticky or tacky feeling. Tingly, cooling sensation reminds you that lips are getting an immediate increase in fullness.

Available online and at counters nationwide.

2. Plump & Shine – £24.95

They Say: Plump & Shine is a multi-functional new lip gloss that instantly and visibly plumps up the lips for a fuller, more sensual and defined pout while coating them with a moisturising liquid shine.

Call 0844 243 9243 for stockist details and mail order

3. Urban Decay Big Fatty Lip Plumper -£12.00

They Say: Urban Decay plumping lip gloss with a gold sheen. Increases lip size for up to a 20% fuller pout.  Starts after 10 minutes & lasts for up to three hours!

Available online at Boots or instore.

4. DuWop Lip Plumping Paste – £15.00

They Say: From the makers of the Original Lip Venom, Plumping Paste is a treatment masque for the lips that conditions, exfoliates, and plumps simultaneously.

Combined with the classic Venom formula, Plumping Paste leaves the lips supple, full and hydrated- the perfect canvas for lipstick or gloss.

Available online at Simple Beauty

5. YSL Top Secrets Re-plumping Lip Concentrate & Contour Shaper – £20

They Say: A targeted treatment for lip and the lip contour, inspired by the beauty tips of professionals.  A volumising concentrate to provide a wonder-full lip result, for smooth, plump, perfectly redefined lips and a glamorous smile.

Available online at Debenhams or on counters nationwide

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What are your favourite lip plumpers and do you prefer the treatment or gloss type?

Multi-use products often don’t provide the results that they claim.  The innovation is there, but the performance generally isn’t.

Not so with Jemma Kidd Pro Lip Perfector I was sent last month.

Jemma Kidd Pro Lip Perfector is a product clearly designed to fulfill three uses: Anti-feather, Prime and Plump… all housed in a single double ended pen-esque container.

I am terribly dubious about most primers (excluding my beloved UDPP) and it wasn’t too long ago that I tried the new Urban Decay Lip Primer Potion, which went a long way to solving my pigmentation issues but was a drag (literally) to apply and left my lips feeling a little dry.

I expected something similar from this.

One end houses the anti-feather ‘nib’.  A waxy translucent lip liner that creates an impenetrable barrier in the same way you would Vaseline your hairline to stop your hair dye from seeping down towards your eyebrows.  The other end holds a concealer-coloured bullet which claims to ‘prime & plump’.  And it does so nicely.

The primer glides on in comparison to the Urban Decay version… it’s a joy.  The concealer colour that it imparts blanks out the colour from my lips and allows for a neutral base.  I would recommend blotting the primer before applying a lipstick ontop just to remove the excess product but keep the neutral colour base.

It does indeed tingle like a true plumper should and doesn’t leave my lips feeling any dryer than normal.  Infact, I applied the primer to one half of my mouth before using a lipstick… and in all honesty, couldn’t see a massive difference in application BUT the primer’ed half felt far more comfortable 10 minutes later, whilst the non primer’ed side began to feel a little dry and tight.

The photo above shows my lips wearing just the Jemma Kidd Pro Lip Perfector with nothing ontop.  You can see that it blanks out all natural pigmentation successfully.  I would recommend this over the Urban Decay Lip Primer Potion because it is so good at creating a blank canvas without drying.  I’m not convinced it gives me any extra wear from my lipsticks, but the addition of the anti-feather product makes this an extremely useful tool to own.

The Jemma Kidd Pro Lip Perfector is £15 and available from QVC online.

I have an embarrassing confession to make.

I’m addicted to lip tingling products.  No, really.  I’ve always liked ’em, I don’t care if they actually plump or not… it’s the tingle that turns me on.

But just recently (about 4 days ago) it’s kinda gotten out of hand.  I picked up a Burts Bees Lip Balm and I just can’t put. it. down.

Is it doing much moisturising? Yeah, it’s alright… not as good as my beloved Lanolips, but it’s got that tingling and cooling thing going on thanks to the peppermint oil…

I’ve just looked and I’ve gone through a quarter of the tube this week, please can someone come prise it out of my fingers before I end up looking like this:

Thanks!

Transformulas tagline reads: Beauty without Surgery.

It’s an ethos that stands out.  It packs a punch… but it better make sure it can deliver the results.

I was sent a couple of Transformula’s products to try and the one that piqued my curiosity the most was their Lip Volume.

I’ve tried many lip-plumping products before, and I used to favour Pout’s Lip Plump before they selfishly went out of business.   These products are mostly based on the same concept.  The Tingle.

The Tingle is an odd thing, some women can’t abide it… other’s kinda like it (kinky).  I actually quite like it… the only one I couldn’t stand was a Boots Time Delay one which had me wiping tears from my eyes and begging Mr. L to point his desk fan at my face.

As fellow beauty addicts, I know you won’t look at me with a mixture of concern and bewilderment when I tell you that my lips have been pissing me off all winter.  You’ll know what I mean.  For you, it may be your skin, your oily eyelids, that blackhead that won’t shift from the end of your nose… Regardless, most women have something on their face that’s troubling them.  For me, this winter… it’s been my lips.  The furrows that map their contours ensure that all lipsticks look like crap on me.  I’ve been resigned to using only the glossiest lippies I have in my collection.  Mattes? Only if I want to look like I’ve been smoking 60-a-day for the past 45 years.

Would Transformulas Lip Volume come to my rescue?

Hmmm… Increase your lip size without needles…

To be fair, my bottom lip is the size of China… it’s hereditary.  My top lip doesn’t match for which I am actually fairly thankful, for if it did I’d surely be able to wipe out whole continents with a lip smack.  So increasing size is not something I’m really looking for… what I want is less fine lines, a smoother palette for lipstick.  That’s not a huge amount to ask when some people really do want the product to deliver trout pouts is it?

Now, the thing I need to make clear about Transformulas Lip Volume is that it claims not be a simple lip plumper.  It promises to deliver cosmeceutical results… semi-permanent results.  It boldly claims to stimulate natural collagen to increase the lip shape within 30 days.

Opening the product, I felt excited!  It reminded me of that scene in “Death Becomes Her” when they’re unveiling that vial containing the secrets to immortality…

You get 10ml of product, which by their reckoning should last you about 6 weeks of daily use.  As I said, I don’t want bigger lips, so apologies if you feel short-changed by my review but I’m not really testing for the claims of increased lip size.  I wanna use this as a lip plumper… but what I am hoping, is that after using it 3 times a day for a prolonged period, I will notice an effect that works beyond that of much cheaper alternatives.  Make sense?

The applicator is a standard doe-foot affair and seems to grab onto just the right amount of product per application.  The product is really nice, it’s non-sticky… smooth to apply, it literally glides on and doesn’t make your lips feel as if they’ve been coated with gunk.

Then comes The Tingle.  It’s niiiiiice, just right.  Not too strong but it’s enough to let you know “Oh hai! I’m here to irritate your lips with a peppermint blast”.  I’m assuming that the peppermint oil it contains is what creates the initial effect of plumping, but that the other (more sciencey ingredients) are what helps to achieve a more semi-permanent result.

As a temporary plumper, I’m liking it a lot… It has the balance just right.  I also appreciate the texture qualities that I mentioned before and the fact that I can still feel it working when I wear it ontop of lipstick.  Oh, I also like the sheen it gives my lips and the fact that it doesn’t appear to dry them out.  If I had noticed any dryness, it would have been in the bin in a flash.

Does it have any more lasting effects after using it for the last 3 weeks?  Well…  I’m pleased to report that my lips seem to be smoother.  The canvas for lipsticks is more velvety and it feels as though I don’t have to ‘drag’ my lipsticks over my lips quite so much.

I know I said that I wasn’t testing for increased lip-size, and that I’ve only used it for 3 weeks so far… but I have to say, I haven’t noticed any increase in my lip size… but perhaps it needs longer testing?

Anyway, would I buy this again?  I would.  But only if I felt that my lips were in trouble yano?  I’d buy it as a treatment rather than an ongoing concern.  It’s not cheap.  10ml of product will set you back £25.50 on their website.  Although, you’d be a fool to pay that.  Half Price Perfumes has it in stock for £7.99 if you wanted to give it a go yourself.