The Inkey List tripeptide plumping lip balm
- Size: 10ml
- Key ingredients: Hyaluronic acid, fatty acid-rich castor oil, shea butter, olive and squalane
- Shades: 4
- Cruelty-free: Yes
- Flavoured: No
- Why we love it
- Adds a healthy yet subtle colour to the lips (in shade pink tint)
- Isn’t sticky and does appear as though lips are immediately plumped
- Take note
- Taste isn’t pleasant
- Doesn’t withstand a glass of water in terms of wea
In a shade (pink tint) that’s easy to apply without looking in a mirror, The Inkey List’s tripeptide plumping lip balm is, on first impression, lovely to use. It glides on like silk, isn’t sticky and as you can see (above right), appears to hide the fine lines on the surface of my lips immediately.
Much like my Dr Pawpaw original balm (£5.80, Lookfantastic.com) and Laneige lip sleeping mask (£21, Lookfantastic.com), the product blurs the line between your inner and outer lip. What’s different between this and the Dr Pawpaw or Laneige, is that it seemed to make this change in a greatly reduced time frame – and I mean minutes.
If you’re not eating, the balm will stay put but, unfortunately, it cannot withstand a glass of water or a hot coffee. It also doesn’t taste good as the slippy, silky feeling of the product also enables it to slip onto your tastebuds and leave a bitter flavour.
I do think that the “ultra filling spheres” do what they set out to (fill fine lines) and the hyaluronic acid is undoubtedly a hydration quencher. With regard to its long-term plumping claims, I’ve yet to see a difference on my bare lips and I do think you need to reapply it more than three times for the best daily results.
Read more: My favourite Laneige lip mask just got a new flavour