The Kylie Jenner challenge that’s ruling the internet has been upsetting for all the reasons women doing anything harmful to themselves to look different are. But this was especially crushing to see. Watching the troubling and dangerous story of easy-to-mock impressionable teen girls of different races subjecting themselves to bruises and popped blood vessels in order to get bigger lips really brings on the tears. But some girls are going to yearn for a different mouth, and they’re going to try things no matter what experts tell Seventeen.
Ever since my makeup artist mother told me I didn’t have much to work with in the pout department, I could relate to the desire to have fuller lips. I have to admit, being born with a juicer set would have been nice. I’m hypnotized by women who have perfect angel voluminous lips that allow them to make saying really awful things beautiful.
Trusted beauty leader of women, Michelle Phan, recommends the suction method as the longest lasting way to plump up your lips. But obviously, vacuming your face isn’t the only route. I can’t summon the patience for overdrawn liner so I was intrigued by painless lip-plumping tricks that didn’t involve blood. I decided to test-drive a few tricks to enhance your lips that promise a boost without the bruises. Unlike the Kylie Jenner challenge method, these three alternatives don’t cause injury or a major transformation.
Method 1: Palladio plup ‘n’ shine herbal plumping lip gloss
I dunked the applicator brush into “Palladio’s plump ‘n’ shine herbal plumping lip gloss and covered my “pucker” as directed. The lip plumping glosses I’ve tried usually either hurt a lot and work or they don’t hurt, but they achieve nothing. For this reason, I think makeup artists who brag about life-affirming lip-plumping products are usually about as convincing as publicists who send e-mails about flesh tattoos that will improve your social life.
But this one didn’t hurt, and it worked in a very subtle way. It has “Marine Collagen Atelocollagen spheres” that traps the water and swells to increase the volume of your lips. It tingled a little, but it didn’t sting, and my lips got a very mild upgrade. I liked the fool-proof brush wand because I’m clumsy and sometimes when I put on dark lip gloss, I accidentally give myself the appearance of herpes (sorry.) I loved that it tasted like butterscotch, but my lips were still chapped, and it didn’t stay on for long.
Method 2: Cayenne Pepper
I made a quick exfoliating paste out of olive oil and cayenne pepper and gave my lips a vigorous rubdown by making little circles all over with a toothbrush dipped in the mixture. My lips weren’t burning, just warmer than usual. My mouth felt spicy, but it didn’t hurt and it subsided after two minutes. You leave it on for ten minutes, and the whole process wasn’t so involved compared to other at-home beauty remedies.
As far as effectiveness, they swelled. It definitely tore my lips up enough for them to look fuller than my unfabulous small ones. But I loathe the idea of spending more than ten minutes getting ready in the morning in front of the mirror, so for me, it wasn’t worth the wait. If you’re patient enough for the spicing up your lips approach, you can also use cinnamon.
Method 3: Lip Revival by Glo-therapeutics
I layered my lips with three generous scoops of this business with the world’s tiniest spatula that it comes with. The peptide stimulates collagen and glycosaminogylcan synthesis. Surprisingly, I didn’t feel anything and lips were instantly plumper and even. They also felt soft, and they didn’t deflate until several hours later. My boyfriend said this was the most discernible difference. Best of all, no pain.
My lips were juicier, no duck face needed.
