We found this cute press release that shared the “secret” behind those luscious lips at the recent American Music Awards. It was a lip plumper called MaxoLip.  Now, we don’t seem to sound skeptical but it would really only be a secret in Hollywood the celebrities weren’t painting on a little plumper to make their puckers pop. (whew!)

“MaxoLip gives celebs sexy, nude and supple puckers FAST – without syringes and without anybody ever even knowing that they used it! And when you are in the Hollywood Circle, the sexier that you can look, and the faster – all the better!”  said MaxoLip spokeswoman Jennifer Wiseman, who added that the company was “bombarded” with orders placed by personal assistants in the weeks leading up to the show.

It’s sweet really, that MaxoLip ($34.96 ordered through the website) still thinks it’s a secret or wants us to think it’s a secret that celebrities don’t all naturally have that provocative pout. With all the lip plumping products on the market these days, a brand does have to find a way to set itself apart.

The product is by Dermagevity Skin Care and claims to immediately plump your pucker without injections, boost collagen production, smooth wrinkles and lines, soften lips and stimulate healthy lip color.  And how does it do that?  By irritating the hell out of your lips.

Its key ingredients are benzyl nicotinate (aka niacinamide), which increases blood circulation; palmitoyl oligopeptide, to enhance collagen and hyaluronic acid production, and “hyaluronic filling spheres” made of several ingredients. According to maxolip.com, “Dehydrated filling spheres penetrate into skin folds…[and] enables the spheres to swell and exert pressure in the direction of the surface, resulting in a smooth effect on the skin.”

Notice that word “swell?”  Skin swells because it is irritated.  The combination of the those ingredients are meant to tingle and irritate the lip, sending those little “spheres” to the surface and causing a person to, for a few minutes, pout for real from discomfort. Use the product constantly and you might get an almost long-term effect because the lips are always slightly irritated.

Don’t get excited, though, this is neither dangerous nor new.  All the ingredients rank low on the Environmental Working Group’s hazard scale, and from our intrepid research, other products use some of the same ingredients. Lucious Lips has the palmitoyl oligopeptide and ethylhexyl palmitate; Jane Maxlip 2 has the benzyl nicotinate; L’Oreal Dermo-Expertise Collagen Filler Lip Contouring uses a couple of the ingredients found in MaxoLip’s hyaluronic filling spheres. However, MaxoLip appears to be the only one that combines all of these ingredients to achieve maximum volume. Or maximum hurt.

Want to try a lip plumper?  Sign up here and we’ll send you a less expensive product, but mildly irritating and effective nonetheless.