E.L.F Lip Primer & Plumper// Review & Roadtest

There are many different beauty products out on nowadays that are made for marketing reasons as they are gimmicky, for trends such as mood activated nail polishes & lipsticks or to help makeup application easier like roller foundations & one-sweep eyeshadows. Not sure where I am going with that as this is not exactly a gimmick, The E.L.F Lip Primer & Plumper serves as a purpose to help prolong the wear of your lipstick & to make your lips look fuller, although there are other things out there & techniques that you could easily use instead. I purchased this simply because I was curious as to whether it would help my lipsticks last longer or not, and how effective the lip plumper is.

Primer
The primer in this is opaque in the colour 'natural' with a concealer stick-like formula that helps to create a blank canvas, although it can mix with the lipstick colour to change it.
It has a very distinctive smell & when I first opened it, it reminded me of being on the farm & of sheep, which I thought would be lanolin in the product which it strangely doesn't have. So I warn you, it is an extremely strong smell but goes away with lipstick application.
Personally I think regular concealer does the same job, or you could even use your eye primer such as MAC Painterly or Essence's I <3 Stage eye primer which both blanket out imperfections on the eyes so it would help even out the lips.

Plumper
I think I prefer plumping lip glosses as opposed to a stick like this, as you can use a lip brush to apply it from the wand without worrying about tarnishing the product & transferring the lip colour back into it. With a stick formula you can't exactly apply with a brush to get the same result. So when you do apply straight from the stick, your lip colour gets all over the tip which you have to wipe after each use, wasting further product & just being annoying. The glossy look also helps in making the lip look plumper.
As opposed to the primer, the plumper is clear & smells strongly of cinnamon which only clasts for a little bit. You also feel a slight sting like with any plumper, which is just it doing it's job, but I find it only feels strong within a few seconds of applying,

How to Use
I didn't get any after pictures, this was mainly to see how the product looked when first applied & to show the different steps.

 Step 1; apply primer over the lips. Lip balm applied & blotted before anything probably would have been a good idea, you can see how dry it makes my lips. Also you don't want too much otherwise it will mix into the lip colour & dull it down.

 Step 2; work it into the lines of the lips using your fingers for even coverage. Make sure to smooth it into the corners of your mouth to avoid that white line, like what I had here.

 Step 3; Apply your lipstick colour as you normally would. You can use lip liner over the top of the primer if you'd prefer. I used a fairly moisturizing lipstick so that replaces what the primer took away.

 Step 4; Apply plumper over the top if you wish. I just applied it to the middle. It's hard to tell if it's made a difference, but the lip colour looks slightly lighter. Could also be lighting issues.

Ingot Lipstick in 253

Roadtest 1

I tested this with Revlon's Colorburst lipstick in Fuchsia, which is one of the least wearing (is that how you put it? haha) lipstick that I own. This is how long it would last normally, so the primer didn't add much to the longevity of the lip colour, and I didn't have anything to eat during this time so I'd expect a colour to last a lot longer than this. I almost always never have any lipstick on after a good meal! And you may note my lips are chapped before, but as the lipstick has worn off they look 100x worse. Eek!

Revlon Colorburst lipstick in Fuchsia

Roadtest Test 2
Firstly please ignore the blatant over-lip lining. This was to see how well my lipstick help up after eating.

 This was taken after a very light meal... one piece of toast to be exact, so I was making sure I was eating carefully. You can see a slight wear right between the upper & bottom lip which is always going to happen. I also had a drink & had no lipstick transfer to the glass. (That's a pretty big deal!)

And after a heavier lunch, as you can see it did not last well!! This was about 4 hours after the original photo so you can see in the top picture how it looked right before eating & then afterwards. So gross!

Kate by Rimmel in 09

Roadtest 3- The Plumper
I am so sorry the before is out of focus, I hope it doesn't affect the look of the outcome.

I actually think that I can see the tiniest bit of plumping, but not enough to make it noticeable. I suppose on somebody with thinner lips you may be able to see more of a result. It mainly adds a bit of gloss, which you can apply regular gloss to the center to get the same results.
As I wasn't wearing any lipstick I wasn't worried about the stick so I could press it firmly, and once again I felt the light stinging sensation for a few minutes but it wasn't uncomfortable for long.

Final Verdict- I think the E.L.F Lip primer & plumper definitely is not a necessity in your collection & it can be substituted for applying concealer first to blank out the lips, and a different plumping gloss on top. I do however like the idea of it in a 2-in-1 product that can be used on the go.
Of course, I don't think anything you do for your lipstick will protect it from wearing off during eating & drinking, but this should help most lipsticks last a good 4-5 hours or more during the day if you make sure not to touch them.

If you still want to try this, I bought mine from Beauty Joint for $3.99, & check out more reviews here.

Thanks for reading! Have you tried this product or thought about purchasing, and has it helped you or do you agree on the points I stated?
xx