Over the course of the Kooky & Creams series, I've tried some weird and wonderful products and treatments. CandyLipz is, without question, the most unusual, effective and aesthetically transformative (with the slightest side-effects).
It's an apple-shaped silicone lip plumper, recently launched in the US and UK and rumoured to be behind Kylie Jenner's chunky chops. By placing your mouth inside and pumping the base, it creates suction that pulls your lips into the hollow and causes temporary swelling. There's a blocker to isolate individual lips, avoiding the Pete Burns symmetry that few naturally plump lips have, and the green apple model has a double lobe - creating the slight ridge in the bottom lip that Angelina Jolie has. I tried the red apple, which plumps the lips evenly.
It retails for £54.99 from UK distributor, Gemma Wright Beauty (the namesake seeming to have a great business nose for pop culture's ramped-up obsession with beauty, also selling waist trainers and contour brushes). By being significantly cheaper - and much less risk - than fillers, CandyLipz is an accessible inroad to the pumped-up pouts that are so in vogue.
I'll admit I was sceptical when it arrived, I've used several lip plumping products over the years (including the last big fad Lip Voltage) all with varying results, but none that compared to the before and after shots users of CandyLipz have posted on Instagram.
Initially, you used the lip pump for four one-minute sessions, with one-minute breaks in between. You build this up to a daily session of three two-minute sessions broken up by ten-minute breaks.
The plumped lips are supposed to last for between one and two hours, but I found my lips started to slowly return to their natural state after half an hour. You can prolong the effects by drinking water, and doing a nightly pump *looks sideways* as that helps stretch the lips and build the collagen fibres that fill the stretched skin.
I found the fleeting nature of my new and completely mesmerising lips a bit like the storyline in The Snowman. You'd have this great adventure, flying around and feeling great, and then immense sadness when your lips melted away, leaving you sitting on the ground making a sad face and clutching at lip liners.
It does advise there will be some bruising, but I found this more of a love bite-style marking. Potentially embarrassing because anyone that has love bites after being able to buy a lottery ticket is generally a bit of a weirdo.
The only unfortunate thing was that my bruising looked like a thin dark line along my upper lip. Looking like a pouty Gomez Adams is definitely too avant-garde for the east end of Glasgow so that had to go. I covered it with some concealer, but it still looked a bit like a 5 o'clock shadow. Luckily I watch a lot of RuPaul's Drag Race, so I know you can still be fierce even with a slight shade.
At most this lasts for a day, and is very slight, so I wouldn't say it put me off using the product. I didn't try using arnica cream, but there are glowing endorsements online for its ability to combat the bruising. The more you use CandyLipz, the less likely it is you'll bruise, and the instructions recommend not using the pump until any marks have subsided.
While I don't see it as sustainable for a lifestyle change, involving constantly nipping off to inflate your lips back up, I can see the appeal for those apparently crucial pre-night out selfies.
I'd also recommend trying CandyLipz if you're considering getting your lips enhanced with Juvederm or Restylane, as you can check the progress after every minute to see if you like the results. You might think you want a massive 'getting your money's worth' gob, but seeing a packed pout in the flesh is much less harrowing if you're not hundreds of pounds down and months away from normality. I found two minutes was my optimum 'I woke up like this' plumpness.
Practically painless and weirdly addictive, the CandyLipz X-Treme Lip Shaper is sure to be a talking point, if you can drag yourself away from the mirror.
CandyLipz X-Treme Lip Shaper sold via www.candylipzuk.bigcartel.com in the UK. For more info on the brand visit www.candylipz.com
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