How do you know if he wants you so? The old song would have you believe it’s in his kiss. A British cosmetics company wants you to believe it’s not only in his kiss, but possibly in your drink – and they claim they can help you find out.

2LoveMy Lip Gloss, which will be available in the U.S. this year, is being marketed as a “zestful, two-in-one lip plumping, breath freshening lip gloss, cleverly packaged to include a drink spike detector testing kit”.  The idea is that while you are lathering your lips, you can slip a testing strip out of the lip gloss container to make sure your drink isn’t spiked with a date rape drug. The lip gloss itself doesn’t do the testing. You put a little of your libation on the special paper strip and watch to see if it changes color.

We hear about these devious predator drugs a little too often.  They are slipped into an unattended drink to assist a sexual assault. They have no taste, no color, no smell, and render their victim weak, confused and subject to blackout.  Despite the humor of the movie ‘The Hangover,” where several men were accidentally given the drug, it’s usually used on women so that they are unable to defend themselves or clearly remember what happened.

2LoveMy Lip Gloss is an interesting idea and kudos to them for reinforcing the message of putting personal safety first, but at best it is too limited, and at worst, it’s a marketing gimmick peddling a false sense of security.

The product is basically lip gloss that comes with two tester strips, but they aren’t capable of detecting Rohypnol (Roofies) – the most popular date rape drug in the U.S.  The strips will detect GHB or Ketamine in your drink, but only if you are drinking certain things — wine, beer, soft drinks, some juices and straight spirits.  It doesn’t work with tonic water, any drinks containing milk-based products, oily liqueurs or fruit juices beyond the basics (apple, orange, grapefruit, cranberry).  If you’re drinking Everclear or straight whiskey on your first date, it should work.

Because of the seriousness of the issue, this product has been getting a lot of attention online. Cosmetics Design was led to call it a “date-rape-preventing-lip-gloss.” Products don’t prevent date rape, EXCEPT maybe a chastity belt. Awareness and vigilance prevent sexual assault, and that’s where 2LoveMy gets it right: with the Drink Safe & Stay in Control Guide found on its website.

There’s no reason not to try 2LoveMy Lip Gloss. We’re just saying don’t make it your only personal protection solution. You might also want to check out Lipstick Pepper Spray.  It’s not really lipstick, just pepper spray cleverly packaged as lipstick, and probably much more effective at fending off a potential attacker.

That way, if it’s in your drink, you can give it to him in the kisser.