Just a case of Trompe L'oeil?

Sally Hansen’s Lip Inflation

In ancient China, ladies with small cherry lips (樱桃小嘴) defined the standards of beauty. How I wish I existed in that era since I am ‘blessed’ with dainty little kissers.
Unfortunately, it’s fast forward several centuries to the 21st century and the most coveted lips are full, bee stung puckers. Think Angelina Jolie and you get the idea. Yes.

So, beauty giants have come up with lip plumping formulas to pump up the volume of our smackers. The original lip plumper called “Lip Venom” from the brand Du Wop was created in 1999 on the set of the hit NBC show “Felicity” to give actresses flushed juicy lips.

Believe me, I don’t think it’s really a great idea to dab suspicious concoctions of cayenne pepper, crushed mustard seeds and possibly chilies on our mouths. The silly things women do to look good. The scary ingredients found in some products.

Blame it on my curiosity. I just needed to know how fat this product can boost my thin lips.

Product Description:

Name: Sally Hansen Lip Inflation (Clear)—comes in tinted colours too
Ingredients: Ginger, Cinnamon and Vitamin A & E
Works by: Using peppermint to stimulate lips and increase blood circulation.
Price: $18.90 SGD for a 0.2 oz tube
Available at: Watsons, Guardian and other departmental stores carrying Sally Hansen products.

My personal opinion:
The peppermint in the formula was so powerful I think it lasted an hour and a half. That was till I ate something and ingested the gloss in the process. It isn’t palatable.
The tingly and refreshing feeling it gave was rather good. Every time I sucked in my breath, I get a whiff of ‘Listerine-like’ freshness.
The gloss is good. It does make the lips look slightly fuller. Ever so slightly. (Because, to be fair, all glossy products create a reflective shiny appearance that will make something appear bigger).
Since I can only verify the results with a pair of vernier callipers, (which I do not have), I would have to conclude that the change is actually imperceptible.

Overall Verdict:
Use it as a gloss. It doubles up as a lip moisturiser. Please don’t expect to get Angelina’s lips. She was born with thick lips, but rumour has it that she augmented them using collagen lip fillers. Nice tingly feeling—good for hot summer days. Value for money. Other similar products cost more and basically give you the same effect.

Will NOT make you look like this:

Lola fish in Shark Tale

FYI: Trompe L'oeil is an art technique used to create optical illusions involving false depth. It literally means "to fool the eye" in French. And yes, I think my small sweet puckers look rather fine on my face, so no collagen fillers for moi! \(^-^)/