Nothing says kiss me like smooth, full, pouty lips! Bee stung lips are everywhere, from the red carpet to the covers of the leading fashion magazines.
Julia Roberts, Angelina Jolie, and other top celebrities are showing the world that, when it comes to lips, bigger is always better.
While many women desire a fuller mouth, they may view collagen injections as too painful, expensive, and extreme, and we’ve all seen the disastrous results of going too far with these procedures.
With today’s lip plumpers, women everywhere can get the pouty lips they crave without a trip to the plastic surgeon.
Lip Plumpers – Image/Shutterstock
How Does Lip Plumping Work?
Walkthrough the cosmetics aisle of your favorite store and you’ll likely see an array of lip plumping glosses and creams.
Regardless of their price or their packaging, almost all plumpers will use one or more of the following mechanisms to deliver the lusciously full lips women yearn for.
Some products work by stimulating a mild inflammatory reaction. Users will often experience a slight stinging or tingling sensation immediately after the product is applied. The reaction leads to a swelling of the lips’ blood vessels, causing them to look larger and naturally rosy.
Some ingredients commonly used to create this type of reaction include cinnamon, wintergreen, and capsaicin the substance that gives hot peppers and spicy dishes their kick (source).
Many lip plumpers contain ingredients that can help boost the production of collagen and elastin over time.
Collagen – The same substance that is injected into the lips by many plastic surgeons, is largely responsible for giving lips their volume, and natural production decreases with age. Encouraging tips to create more collagen is one of the best ways to make them appear naturally plump and full.
Elastin – Which also decreases with age, helps to maintain the structure of the skin by letting it revert to its original shape after extending or contracting, something our lips do a lot of in the course of a typical day. Increasing elastin production can play an important role in keeping lips firm and helping to prevent the formation of lines and wrinkles (source).
The third common way lip plumpers work is through the use of microspheres. These dehydrated spheres are small enough to enter the skin folds. Once there, they absorb water in the lips, becoming swelled and enlarged. As microspheres press outward and exert pressure on the surface of the lips, they make them appear fuller and smoother.(Source)
Lip Plumpers – Image/Shutterstock
