Review: Vapour Organic Beauty Elixir Plumping Lip Gloss

I think I was still a teenager when Du Wop released their Lip Venom, and I remember smearing it all over my lips to great but painful effect. I have pretty thick lips naturally, but the Lip Venom made them Angelina Jolie level insane. I wore the Lip Venom pretty regularly for special occasions, big dates, etc., for a couple of years until, well, I grew out of the habit. So when I saw that Vapour Organic Beauty makes an Elixir Plumping Lip Gloss, I tried it out of pure curiosity. I had to wonder if a clean beauty company could create an plumping effect.

Elixir Plumping Lip Gloss is sold in twelve shades. I haven’t worn much lip gloss at all in the last few years; I feel like I can’t get away with the broad color range I wear in lipstick due to the shininess and frequently sticky texture of gloss. I chose two shades that seemed like they would be in the range of natural-ish on me: Honor and Trust.

Vapour’s website describes Honor as “sheer golden pink.” It is a light pink with golden shimmer. My lips are naturally darker than Honor, but because it is sheer, the lip gloss didn’t look too pale for me. The shimmer is more subtle when applied to my lips than it looks in my swatch. However, Honor is a very youthful look. I’ve happily thrown it on for night and weekend outings, but with this much shimmer I don’t consider it an office-friendly option. 

Another quick note on Honor: Per Vapour’s website, 100% of proceeds from sales of Honor are donated to the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute; the Institute is working to develop a breast cancer vaccine. For more information on this charitable endeavor, please see Vapour’s website. 

Trust, according to Vapour, is a “clear warm coral.” That description’s pretty apt. Trust is of medium depth, and it makes my medium pink lips look a bit warmer. I wear Trust on days when I want to do a warmer eye look. Unlike Honor, Trust has no shimmer beyond a typical lip gloss shininess. I do wear this one to work.

These glosses are applied via wand applicator. The first time I used one (having forgotten the joys of wand applicators), I applied way too much product and was a mess. I quickly learned that you have to wipe the excess from the brush on the inside of the tube. A thin layer is all I need for color payoff. I’m not going to lie to you and say the gloss isn’t sticky — it is — but it’s the least sticky lip gloss I can remember using. I would describe it as a bit tacky rather than sticky, per se. Because of the liquid nature of the product, it doesn’t really stay on all that well while I drink my water. It’s not particularly drying, but I do like to be able to feel a product on my lips. I end up reapplying way more often than I do with my non-gloss lip things. 

And now, let’s talk about the elephant in the room. Remember these were supposed to plump? The plumping ability of this gloss ranges from not really to maybe a little. I observed the product filling in my lip creases somewhat, but absolutely nothing similar to the bee-stung volume of the Lip Venom occurred. Sure, considering “plumping” is in the name of the product, I expected to see more action. To be honest, I bought these for the lip plumping possibility, but I keep wearing them because they’re pretty.

Swatched below, from left to right, are Honor and Trust:

Though I’ll be the first to tell you there wasn’t much competition, Elixir Plumping Lip Glosses are easily my favorite lip glosses I’ve ever tried. I like the wear and look of these considerably more than I had expected I would. I have my eye on Beguile, a shade Vapour calls “warm clear berry mauve.”

Vapour Organic Beauty Elixir Plumping Lip Gloss ingredients: Organic/Bio Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Castor Isostearate Beeswax Succinate, Organic/Bio Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil & Organic/Bio Lecithin & Organic/Bio Euterpe Oleracea (Acai) Fruit Extract & Organic/Bio Lycium Barbarum (Goji) Fruit Extract, Organic/Bio Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Essential Oils & Natural Fruit Essences, Organic/Bio Cera Alba (Beeswax), Tocopherol (Natural Vitamin E), Stevia Rebaudiana (Stevia) Extract, Organic/Bio Melissa Officinalis (Lemon Balm), Commiphora Myrrha (Myrrh), Organic/Bio Cetraria Islandica (Iceland Moss), Organic/Bio Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf; [+/-: Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77491, 77492, 77499), Mica (CI 77019), Carmine (CI 75470)]