Healthy Beauty

Tools & Resources

Lip Plumpers: Do They Work?

Can you get fuller lips from a tube?

Font Size

By Shelley Levitt
WebMD Feature

Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD

Call it the pursuit of the padded pucker. In the last decade, scores of over-the-counter products have hit the market, promising to produce puffier, and sexier, lips.

applying lip gloss

Do they work?

"Women need to be realistic in what they can expect from these products," says Paul M. Friedman, MD, a clinical assistant professor of dermatology at the University of Texas Medical School. In other words, none of these products will come close to enlarging your lips the way a $400 injection of a filler such as Restylane or Juvederm will.

But can you skip the needle and still get a prettier pout?

Here's what you need to know.

Can You Get Fuller Lips From a Tube?

Tinted or clear, in the form of a gloss, balm, stick, gel, or pot, traditional lip plumpers fatten the lips -- temporarily -- sometimes by irritating them.

Containing ingredients like cinnamon, ginger mint, wintergreen, or capsicum -- the fiery compound in hot peppers -- they boost blood flow to the lips, leading to mild swelling and redness.

"These can give you a temporary enhancement that might last a couple of hours," says dermatologist Patricia Farris, MD, a clinical assistant professor at Tulane University School of Medicine.

It's these ingredients that also cause the telltale tingle or stinging. Although some people find that sensation uncomfortable, others welcome it as evidence that the plumper is working.

That burn, along with the high shine of many of the plumping products, may be what leads to the illusion of a fuller pout, even if it can't be measured by calipers. Consumer Reports tested 12 popular lip plumpers priced from $3.60 to $36 in November 2007. Their advice: "Kiss these products good-bye." They found that even the best lip plumpers caused lips to bulge only slightly.

But if women find the bulge worth the burn, dermatologists see little risk in using these products, as long as they're not overused.

"In general, I'm not a big fan of any ingredient that irritates the skin," Friedman says. "If you apply too much of these plumpers and use them too frequently they can potentially cause dryness and scaling."

Still, he adds, "I haven't seen any problems in my practice and my wife uses them herself. They can provide a short-lived instant gratification."

Tasha Reiko Brown, a Hollywood makeup artist, says she occasionally uses a lip plumper for special events, layering it as a primer underneath lipstick and gloss. And if a client wants the fullest lips possible, she augments these with a dab of shimmery eye shadow or highlighter dabbed on the center of the lips. "It makes your lips seem just a little more bee-stung," she says.

1 | 2

Next Page >