I had too. I really did ~ when I saw this, I thought I wonder if this does taste like wasabi? I mean, I wasn’t sure if that is WHAT I wanted in a lip plumper, but I knew I had to give this a try! Jolse, a premier K-Beauty online store, offers me a chance to review products that I find interesting, brand new or cult favorites and this was one of my picks for a brand new and interesting product!
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I was not born with full, lush lips. My upper lip disappears when I smile and my lower lip is normal in size but my lips are also crooked. I do use lip plumpers, those products that use pepper and other “hot” ingredients to temporarily cause a reaction with your lips to “puff” them up a bit. Certainly a LOT safer than that stupid lip cupping thing that people are doing (STOP IT!!)
This super fun lip plumper makes your lips noticeably full and reduces fine lines. The plumping formula contains Wasabia Japonica Root Extract, the main ingredient of wasabi, and Maxi-Lip complex allowing natural looking plumped up lips!
A’Pieu Wasabiya Lip Plumper comes in two colors ~ clear and pink and I decided to go with clear as I could use this as a gloss over a lip color too. It contains 1000ppm wasabia japonica root ~ that is the spicy veg that is also called the green Japanese horseradish ~ and it has antioxidant and antimicrobial benefits and is actually a great skincare ingredient as it is an anti-inflammatory and helps fight blemishes. Now, wasabi is also has warming properties, so it can cause temporary plumping and swelling on your skin. Sounds like a conflicted plant ingredient! This also has a patented complex called Maxi-Lip™ , a natural anti-aging peptide consisting of ethylhexyl palmitate, tribehenin and palmitoyl oligopeptide (aka palmitoyl tripeptide-1). It helps aid in the production of collagen and GAGs (glycosaminoglycans). Glycosaminoglycans contain glucosamine and glucuronic acid and this ingredient increases hydration as it effectively bind itself to water, helping to firm and pump your skin, reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Maxi-Lip™ moisturizes and smooths lips so they are better defined. (source on Maxi-Lip™)
This lip plumper also has some very moisturizing ingredients such as murumuru seed butter, meadowfoam, birrea and macadamia seed oils ~ with all of the moisture locked in with the occlusive vaseline. To add more to the warming sensation, there is vanillyl butyl ether
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Ingredients: polybutene, ethylhexyl stearate, vaseline, microcrystalline wax, methyl hydrogenated rosinate, diisostearyl malate, menthol, wasabia japonica root extract(1000ppm), astrocaryum murumuru seed butter, limnanthes alba (meadowfoam) seed oil, sclerocarya birrea seed oil, macadamia ternifolia seed oil, hydroxystearic acid, metnthyl lactate, tocopheryl acetate, vanillyl butyl ether, dehydroacetic acid, polyglyceryl-2 triisostearate, ethylhexyl palmitate, tribehenin, sorbitan isostearate, palmitoyl tripeptide-1, vitamin E, phenoxyehtanol, fragrance, hydrated ferric oxide (CI 77492), titanium dioxide (CI 77891), Acid Blue 9 (CI 42090) cosDNA analysis
This lip plumper comes in a cute bright wasabi green tube and has a slanted curved tip applicator. Just squeeze and go! The lip product is a green gel and kinda has the look of a wasabi! It spreads out to a clear glossy finish
Now, the truth of it ~ does it taste like wasabi or not? Its not so much a taste, but this has more of peppery citrus scent that permeates into my taste buds. I don’t know if this make sense, but the scent seems to trigger my taste buds and I can also taste it, but when I lick my lips, there is no taste there ~ just a warming feeling. I guess I am not sure if I am relieved or massively disappointed that this doesn’t taste like wasabi!! lol. Please note, I did airbrush the skin around my lips as I didn’t want you to be distracted by my HUGE pores and hair on the closeup!! haha My skin isn’t that smooth. These are my lips before the lip plumper ~ I have a lip concealer on my lips, that is why they look so pink here.
The photo on the left is after I applied the lip plumper over a lip primer ~ that is why it looks a little beigey. You can see how high gloss this lippie is, but you cannot tell if it has reddened my lips. I waited a few minutes, until the warming stopped, then I wiped off the product from my mouth ~ you can see that my lips are still the same size and that they are slightly red.
My lips do warm up but I don’t think that this does a lot of lip plumping ~ Compared to Too Faced Lip Injection, this is very gentle and does not burn or hurt my lips. Seriously, Too Faced actually left a welt on my hand when I swatched it!! My lips look a little bit more redder, but for the most part, this is a warming glossy lip balm and it is the high gloss and slightly reddened skin that makes my lips appear more plump.
Final Thoughts
I think that if you want a fun, peppery-citrus lip balm with a high gloss, this is it! Is it a lip plumper? I think that it gives the appearance of fuller lips due to the high gloss, but I don’t think it is going to give me Angelina Jolie lips. I actually like this over lipsticks and even as a lip treatment, as it is very moisturizing and protects my lips nicely. This is going to be used a lot during the wintertime, due to its warming action!! It is inexpensive and fun, and it does have some really nice moisturizing ingredients in it, and it doesn’t taste like wasabi. Will you be trying this lip balm?
Where to Purchase
You can purchase this 10 mL tube in clear or the pink version at Jolse and it retails for under $7.00 USD (click here). Jolse offers free International shipping for orders $40.00 or more ~ plus they give lots of free samples with each purchase!
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