For months, we’ve been trialing various lip plumping products and none compare to LipMD. Both in its ease of use and the results.
Every time we use it, we’re pleasantly surprised at how much fuller our lips look and we’ve noticed positive changes in our lips and the area around our mouth, following continuous use.
It’s not a long-term or a permanent solution, and doesn’t come cheap – at £99 – but if you compare this to the price, pain and risk of actual fillers, LipMD is a bargain!
You can also buy the serum separately, for £24, if you’d rather give that a go first.
| LipMD | £99 |
As we age, many of us focus on anti-ageing creams and gadgets to prevent wrinkles and fine lines. Yet there’s often a tell-tale sign we fail to consider – our lips.
In the same way the skin on our face and body loses collagen as we age, so too do our lips, causing them to become thinner. What’s more, if you smoke, the situation is made worse. This can lead to vertical lines in which lipstick, foundation, and more can gather.
This is why we associate plump lips with youth and younger-looking appearances. It’s also why fillers have become so popular.
Unlike the lines on your face and neck, though, slowing the signs of ageing on your lips is somewhat trickier. The skin is different so doesn’t react in the same way to anti-ageing creams. Thinning lips are also the result of changes to the structure and strength around the mouth, too.
We’re in our mid-30s and our lips haven’t started to thin yet. We do have wrinkles and fine lines coming in though so we definitely haven’t escaped the signs of ageing! We’ve tried the various types of lip plumping gloss made famous by TikTok. Namely, the Barry M That’s Swell XXL gloss (£4.99) and Too Faced’s Lip Injection Extreme (£22).
While they do make a difference to how plump our lips look, the results aren’t noticeable. So with this in mind, we thought we’d give LipMD a whirl.
LipMD is a lip plumper tool that promises to give you fuller lips without injection. It uses suction, combined with a plumping serum, to make your lips look fuller. It also boosts the amount of collagen in the area to improve their appearance over time.
We’ve been using it for three months and here’s what we think.
FURTHER READING: How to make your lips bigger naturally and apply lipstick like a pro – no fillers required
Pictured is the LipMD lip plumper tool with soft mouth guard
Before we dive into our LipMD review, we should explain how lip plumping tools and serums work.
Although lip-plumping glosses aren’t new, they have become more popular in recent months. This is, in part, because of TikTok trends, and in part because of celebrities like Kylie Jenner. It’s also because brands have jumped on this bandwagon. This means there is more to choose from than there were even a year ago.
Lip gloss, generally, makes your lips look fuller. Yet lip-plumping gloss adds medicated ingredients that make blood rush to the skin. This creates localised swelling on and around your lips.
Depending on the gloss or balm, these ingredients include:
LipMD This step-by-step guide shows how easy LipMD is to use
The amount of irritant is usually small, and mild. This means lip-plumping glosses don’t create a permanent reaction and the effects wear off within an hour or so. This is, of course, unless you are allergic to the ingredients. As a result, it’s worth carrying out a patch test of any new product you put on your skin, just in case.
Lip plumpers that use hyaluronic acid as their active ingredient work by “flooding” the lips from the inside out with moisture. This makes them look plump and full. Despite its harsh-sounding name, the acid is a form of sugar found in our skin cells that holds water. In fact, it has the ability to hold 1,000 times its own weight in moisture.
Lip plumping glosses can create full lips on their own but you can use lip plumper tools to enhance the effect.
The majority use suction-like pressure and vibrations to increase blood flow. This makes your lips swell further and make them more smooth.
LipMD sells two serums, which you can buy on their own or as part of the LipMD kit.
The LipMD Intense Serum (£24) contains peppermint oil and hyaluronate.
The Extreme Serum (£24) adds capsicum, from chillis to this mix, to create a more extreme effect.
You can use any lip plumper gloss with LipMD but the company claims (unsurprisingly) that it works best with the LipMD serum. It also recommends using the tool is on its highest intensity. In our experience, it’s worth trying the lower intensity to start off with and build it up.
Victoria Woollaston-Webber/mamabella LipMD is shown being used
Once you’ve applied the LipMD serum, you press the button on the LipMD to turn it on. Press the button once to create a gentle suction. Press it twice to generate a stronger suction.
You then purse your lips and place them inside the LipMD mouthpiece. The LipMD plumper pulls the lips inside to create a gentle vacuum. One minute later, LipMD switches off.
There is only one size mouthpiece and we found it took a bit of practice to know what position to place our lips in. Once you’ve mastered it, it’s easy and the suction is intense enough to keep your lips in place, but not so intense it’s uncomfortable.
It’s actually quite a pleasant experience. As is the tingling created by the serum.
Victoria Woollaston-Webber/mamabella Before and after photos show the difference LipMD makes after just one minute
The results of the LipMD shocked us, in a good way, after just one use. Our lips looked plumper, smoother, and fuller.
After applying lip liner and lipstick, this accentuated the overall effect. In fact, we absolutely loved how they looked.
It made us look younger and we got a lot of compliments.
The swelling, sadly, only lasts about an hour or so. At which point you can repeat the process. This would be ideal for a special event or occasion but it’s not a long-term solution.
That said, LipMD can have a positive effect over time.
We’ve been using LipMD almost daily for three months. Our lips now look fuller, even without the lip plumper gloss or similar.
We’ve noticed fewer lines around the edges of our mouth and our lips are softer.
This may be because we’re using hyaluronic acid on them more regularly than we were. Or that the vibrations and suction from LipMD help stimulate collagen.
Whatever the cause, we’re delighted.
This also means that when we apply lipstick, it glides on better and the overall finish is better.
We’ve been trialing various lip plumping products for months. None compare to LipMD.
Every time we use it, we’re pleasantly surprised at how much fuller our lips look. We’ve also noticed positive changes in our lips and the area around our mouth.
It’s not a long-term or a permanent solution. It also doesn’t come cheap – at £99 – but if you compare this to the price, pain, and risk of actual fillers, LipMD is a bargain!
Victoria is founder and editor-in-chief of mamabella, freelance journalist and Mum. She has a passion for empowering people to feel beautiful whatever their age, size, skin type and budget
