Best lip plumpers: 5 to try as you get older
Lips can lose volume and become drier with age. Beauty expert Emily Dean shares her favourite lip plumpers for a fuller, smoother-looking pout.
Saga
Lips can lose volume and become drier with age. Beauty expert Emily Dean shares her favourite lip plumpers for a fuller, smoother-looking pout.
One of the strangest compliments I’ve ever received was when a man once told me I looked like "someone from the Tudor period". In fairness, I’ve had worse reviews over the years – like that time when a cab driver told me I looked like the Tin Man. But all the same, being told you resemble someone who was alive when dentistry involved a pair of pliers, and face powder involved lead, is hardly up there with being mistaken for Margot Robbie.
I reluctantly have to concede there is something of the 16th century about me. And it’s probably not unrelated to my unusually petite lips. (There may well have been some stone-cold foxes wandering around Hampton Court, but if there’s one feature that screams potential future wife of Henry VIII it’s a pair of tiny lips.)
"They’re not small, they’re rosebud lips, like Snow White," my mother would always attempt to reassure me. Weirdly, though, I didn’t want to resemble a cartoon character from 1937. I wanted to look like Kim Basinger. I soon discovered lip liner and mastered colouring very much outside the lines, and my precision lip artwork went on to fool the world.
But age, annoyingly, is no friend to the already lip-challenged. The decline of collagen and elastin as we get older leads to a loss of volume, and a good measure of dryness. So, recently, I decided to try lip plumpers. They’ve been around for years but thankfully the latest gen has come a long way, with more effective plumping formulas and a healthy dose of hydrating ingredients too.
The brand Too Faced was a pioneer of lip plumping when it launched a mass market version more than 20 years ago. And if Too Faced Lip Injection Extreme (1),RRP £26, Look Fantastic, is anything to go by, I’m sold.
The gloss uses blood vessel dilating technology to add a generous amount of volume to lips, but do prepare for a strong tingling sensation.
Enriched with avocado oil and vitamin E to smooth and soften, this one also comes in a handy ‘doll size’ for touch ups on the go. If you’re after a high-end lip plumping experience, and an impressive choice of 39 shades, you’ll get on famously with Dior Addict Lip Maximiser (2), RRP £38, John Lewis.
Formulated with hyaluronic acid and cherry oil to keep lips shiny and hydrated, it also does the business on the plumping front – but without any fierce stinging – think more minty fresh sensation. It’s available in intense, shine, shimmer or holographic finishes.
Most lip plumpers focus on instant results, but Charlotte Tilbury Plumpgasm (3), RRP £28, SpaceNK, has gone one better, claiming to make lips look 25% fuller over time thanks to the unique formula.
I love the two uber-flattering pink shades in berry and nude, and the super glossy finish, and am seriously impressed by how well it delivers on the pout front.
If you’re looking for a more purse-friendly lip plumper, you can’t go wrong with Sephora Collection Outrageous Plump Effect Gloss (4), RRP £13.99, Sephora. The gel liquid formula glides on without a hint of stickiness and with peppermint oil and capsicum doing plumping duties, it’s a lot less "oh wow! My lips are on fire" than some but still gives lips a noticeable boost.
Finally, if you’re keen to also tackle vertical mouth lines I may have found your new best friend in StriVectin Double Fix For Lips (5), £28.99, StriVectin. The dual-ended tube features a plumping treatment on one end, and a vertical lines treatment at the other, which aims to reduce lines within just four weeks.
Non-drying and non-stinging, it’s also infused with moisturising raspberry seed oil, which gives a beautifully natural looking shine. I hope your freshly plumped lips make you smile.
And as the late great Dolly Parton one said, "If you see someone without a smile, just give ’em yours."
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