Several weeks ago, my friends and I made 3 Sephora runs in one week. Im not exaggerating. None of them were for my own intentions. But let me repeat myself - we went to Se-phor-a. You cant walk out empty-handed. The first trip, I walked out with several eyeshadows. And when I checked out, the girl ringing me up was telling me about this "lip plumper" they just got in the store and all of the girls were trying it and saying how it made their lips tingly. OF course, I was intrigued. "What is it??" She runs to grab it and loads it on my lips. Within a few seconds, my lips feel like theyre being electrified! Sounds odd and uncomfortable. And it kinda was. It was a very strange feeling. But I liked the glossy look it gave my lips. But I walked out of the store without it.
We had to go back to Sephora not 2 days later for something else and I decided to find out what it was. I found it and was, once again, fairly intrigued by it. But my self control overcame me and I walked out without it, yet again. We went BACK another few days later and I finally decided I had to go for it. I mean, the signs were flashin! So I bought it. And Ive been pretty happy with my purchase! Id say it was worth the money - which I wasnt expecting it to be, quite honestly.
A week or so after this Sephora event, my friend, Kaihla and I made another trip to the mall. This time our destination was Mac. Yes, it seems we are similar in our weaknesses of purchases. So, as we walked through the mall, we spotted a small beauty with a sign advertising OPI nail polish colors out front. We decided we HAD to investigate their options. So we walked in the store.
We discovered a vast array of options, which greatly excited us. We also came across various makeup stations and immediately decided to have some fun. I found a lip plumper, which smelled like strawberries! And of course I had to try it! Also, figuring I knew what it would feel like - you know, since Im a pro at lip plumpers and everything at thing point. I mean - Id had mine for a good week at this point! I knew what I was doing. So I put some on.
Obviously, my lips did not approve of my brains decision to test the product.Within a minute, they felt a fiery vengeance upon them. Now because I have so much experience with lip plumpers, I knew this reaction was not a normal one. I quickly decided it would be best if I took off the plumper. However, the damage had already been done and I felt, helplessly, my lips burn as if i had placed them on the sun itself. I tried to furiously fan them with my hands, but they continued to burn. I chose to ignore it since we had a mission to accomplish. We moved on to the Mac store.
Upon our arrival, someone helped Kaihla find a lipstick she was searching for. I stuck by her for moral support as she made a difficult decision between a few types. After applying one, she turned to me to ask my opinion and gasped, "Oh. My. Gosh.... Carly, are you... are you ok???" I looked at her puzzled and responded quite honestly, "Well, my lips are on fire but otherwise, yes Im fine. Why?"
She continued to let her jaw stay dropped as she braced me for the next words she would divulge. "Your lips... are HUGE." I searched for a mirror, which luckily was close, since after all - we were in a makeup store. Sure enough, my lips were about five times the size of normal, bright read, and looked very irritated. And all this happens... in the middle of Mac.
I did my best to kinda cover them up so I didnt get a lot of looks and attention... which that could just be awkward and weird. We finished up our trip and headed for the car. Since I had never experienced an allergic reaction before, I was a little panicked. I felt the burning subsiding, ever so slightly and Kaihla tried to reassure me they were going down. Each time I passed a mirror, I managed a sneak look... they were not going down. But I appreciated her sweet attempts to calm me. She was even so thoughtful as to mention the situation reminded her of a similar one in the movie Hitch. If you havent seen it - look it up. There is a scene where Will Smith has an allergic reaction to shellfish and his face balloons up. Well, this was similar to me - without ALL of the face.
I decided it would be wise to stop and grab a drink somewhere, then held it to my puckered lips as I drove. The coldness definitely eased the burning sensation. Then I took a Benedryl once I got back to my apartment. They calmed down and went back to their normal size fairly quickly once I began to treat them. It was quite the odd and mildly terrifying experience. I looked up the ingredients and could barely pronounce most of them. So I have no idea which caused it. I intend to write the company to see if one of the ingredients seems to cause reactions in people. It would be nice to know what Im allergic to. Haha! Kinda strange saying that, but its kinda cool too. Im actually allergic to something. I thought I was immune to all. My Kryptonite has been discovered.... Well. Almost.
