City Lips Swatches and Review

I love makeup as much as I love skin care, especially lip gloss. One of my favorites is City Lips Lip Plumping gloss by City Beauty. It is a hydrating, long-wearing lip gloss that helps improve thin, dry, and wrinkled lips. This gloss interested me because it claimed to soften those pesky vertical lines that are forming above my lips and make them look younger and plumper as well. This is not a sponsored post, I purchased all of these glosses with my own money.

The company states on the box, “City Lips ® is a paraben-free plumping lip gloss that contains unique potent ingredients that provide instant fullness, definition, and hydration with long-lasting plumping benefits. This painless and irritation-free formula helps dramatically diminish and fade the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles resulting in smoother and fuller-looking lips within minutes of application.”

Anyone can use this product. It is appropriate for every skin type, even sensitive skin. This gloss is good for the younger person who just wants fuller and more hydrated lips. And it’s beneficial to the mature person who wants antiaging for the lips because it plumps them, smooths, and fills in vertical lines. Unfortunately, our lips shrink as we get older. This product claims to make your lips look supple and youthful again.

I have three glosses and look forward to purchasing more in the future. I purchased these through the City Beauty website for $35 + $5 shipping.

Packaging

The box it comes in is luxe and high-quality even though some may think it’s bulky and more than necessary for the actual tube it contains. But I think it’s really nice and must admit it’s fun with the golden skyscraper design. The tube that contains the actual gloss is sturdy with a golden twist off lid/applicator. You get 0.16 FL OZ/4.9 ML of product in the tube.

Ingredients

This plumping gloss has some impressive ingredients – the top 4 that are most beneficial are:

• Hyaluronic Acid Spheres – Hyaluronic acid is a strong humectant or moisture attractor. It has the power to hold 1000 times its weight in water. When used in skin care or beauty products, hyaluronic acid is extremely effective in plumping up, hydrating, and giving a youthful appearance.

• Oligopeptides – These peptides fuel the skin’s collagen and elastin production for firmness and youthfulness.

• Jojoba Oil – This oil comes from the seeds of the jojoba plant. It locks in moisture, so your lips will feel very soft and supple. They will look and feel smooth as well.

• Ylang Ylang Flower Oil – This oil is extracted from the flowers of the tropical Cananga tree. It combats dry, chapped lips by soothing, comforting, and renewing them. It also protects your lips from the elements.

This gloss does not contain:

• Gluten
• Mineral Oil
• Nuts
• Phthalates
• Sulfates
• Parabens

Directions

The manufacturer’s suggested use states on the box, “Apply a generous amount to clean or dry lips. For best results, wait 2-3 minutes before applying lip color. Must continue use to maintain and improve results.”

If you are just interested in plumping the lips and using this product as a therapy, you can purchase the clear gloss and apply twice a day, once in the morning and once at night.

Texture

The consistency is thick and slightly sticky at first, but it feels comfortable on the lips shortly after application. The texture feels really nice and smooth, and the stickiness seems to fade quickly once the product is on the lips for several minutes.

Scent

I think this lip product has a lovely and comforting scent. It smells like vanilla but isn’t too strong nor too sweet. I’ve tried glosses that smelled sickening sweet almost like a syrup. The scent of City Lips is delightful.

Color

City Beauty offers 20 shades of lip gloss – A clear shade, nine shimmer shades, and ten opaque shades. I have tried two of the opaque and one shimmer as you will see below. I can tell you the opaque shades are highly pigmented. The shimmer shade I have does provide some color, but it is mostly sheer, leaving a golden sheen on the lips.

How it applies on the lips

You apply the gloss with a soft doe-foot applicator. It goes on thick but smooth and I feel like one coat is enough. You can apply a second and third coat if you would like, depending on how dark you want the color to be.

How it looks on the lips

I think these glosses look beautiful on the lips. They are high-shine and make your lips look glossy, supple, smooth, and plump. I feel like my lips do appear and feel more voluminous while I’m wearing the product and remain plumped after it is removed. You can see the swatches of the glosses I have below.

Pros

• Plumps your lips, making them appear fuller.
• Very hydrating.
• Long-lasting.
• Plumping effects last and improve with continued use.
• It doesn’t sting or burn like a lot of other lip plumpers.
• Nice selection of colors.
• Money back guarantee.
• No animal testing.
• No parabens.
• Made in the U.S.A.

Cons

• You can only purchase these glosses on the company website.
• I wish the shimmer glosses were less sheer.
• They are on the expensive side.

Longevity

I feel like City Lips are exceptionally long-lasting. I apply the color in the morning and it lasts all day. The shine fades first, maybe after 4-5 hours if you don’t eat or drink a lot. But the color lasts all day, even after eating and drinking. The shimmer shade had great staying power as well, though not all day like my opaque shades.

Results

At the end of the day, I still have color on my lips with my opaque shades. I feel like my lips felt and appeared plumper several minutes after application, and that smooth, plump feel lasted all day. I have been using them for a week straight and notice my lips do appear fuller even when I’m not wearing the gloss. So, I do believe the plumping and softening effects last with continued use.

Availability

These glosses are not found in stores as far as I can tell. You can purchase them on the City Beauty website when you click here.

The City Beauty website claims that 94% of people using City Lips Lip Plumping gloss said their lips felt smoother, 91% said their lips looked plumper, and 90% said their lips felt hydrated. I believe the gloss lives up to its claims. It definitely is an anti-aging product for the lips.

There is nothing wrong with getting lip injections, we do them in the office all the time, but they’re not for me, at least for now. I like to go with the more natural options, so I’m always in search of a great noninvasive lip plumper. I have tried a lot of lip plumping glosses and serums.

This has been my favorite so far. It’s a winner because it does what it says, and being an esthetician, I’m big on quality ingredients. City lips delivers. It does what it claims without the uncomfortable burn that a lot of plumping glosses have out there.

These aren’t going to give you the look of lip injections, but it does make the lips feel softer and smoother, makes them appear fuller, and does soften vertical lip lines. If you want more hydrated, softer, and plumper pout I think you will really love these glosses!

The company has a 60-day money back guarantee. So, you can return the gloss for a full refund minus shipping if you are not happy with the product.

I purchased three glosses that I have swatched below.