The product I was desperately seeking was “Huge Lips Skinny Hips” from Purple Lab, and since I was so intrigued with the concept of an appetite-suppressing lip plumper, you know I had to check it out.  Here’s what I learned:

Huge Lips Skinny Hips is formulated with Hoodia, an all-natural extract often associated with weight loss for it’s appetite-suppressant abilities.  It is said that Hoodia can target the parts of the brain that tell you that you’re full by mimicking the effects of sugar.  Very interesting!

The best thing about the Hoodia appetite suppressant is that it takes a direct route in reducing hunger rather than acting as a stimulant. When your brain senses that blood sugar levels are low it sends out the signal we recognize as being hungry. By fooling the brain into believing that levels of blood sugar are high this signal is not sent out and therefore a person with a very small amount of food in their stomach, or no food, can feel full. — herbalshome.com

My take on the theory behind the lip gloss is that since it has Hoodia, when you lick your lips you’re actually ingesting some of the gloss, making the Hoodia effective.  Purple Lab brings up a good point on their site– the average woman actually eats several pounds of lipstick in her lifetime just from wearing it!  Why not have it serve at least some purpose other than being plain gross?  That’s where Huge Lips Skinny Hips comes in.

I know this may come as a shock, but contrary to popular belief– I am not a “Kitty Poledancer”.

Upon first impression, I think the gloss itself is excellent!  It’s silky and my lips don’t stick together, it tastes really good, and for a lip plumper it doesn’t burn or tingle much.  Vitamin B3 (niacin) is what’s doing the plumping action and lemon peel oil helps control the burning effect and turns it into a mild cooling sensation instead.  Kitty Poledancer is a very pretty fleshy-nude color as you can see and it’s quite glossy and stays moist.  Love that!  There are other universal shades available– 6 total, but I rather like Kitty Poledancer.  *purr*

As far as the Hoodia/appetite-suppressant factor… I can’t be too sure.  I ordinarily crave sweets on a daily basis and I haven’t gone el kitchen loco when wearing this, but I have to remember I’m also on a weight-loss program.  Part of me is already taking on a “mind-over-matter” approach.  I don’t discredit the science, and I do believe it’s possible that this could sway you from having a cupcake or three every now and then when you’re already full.  Without getting all Mr. Wizard,  I don’t know much about how long Hoodia signals the brain and with exactly how much of this stuff you’ll unconsciously be licking off of your lips.  I am however, willing to try!  If I’m going to eat 9 pounds of lip gloss in my lifetime anyway– I at least want it to attempt to do something other than sit there and look pretty.

To catch up any new readers that haven’t been following along on my weekly updates over the past 2 months, I’ve been on the NutriSystem program to get myself back down to a healthier weight.  It consists of eating 3 pre-packaged monthly delivered meals and 1 snack/dessert daily.  It’s also supplemented by your own fruits and vegetables.  With the start of week 5, NutriSystem delivered several frozen meals and treats to be placed into the mix with their Select menu options, in addition to the variety of foods I had already been eating.  I had more options and I think that variety helps the plan from potentially becoming boring.  I enjoy an ice cream sandwich from time to time and a few were delivered!  I’ve had 2 speed bumps along the way but after that week I picked myself up and dusted myself off.  I’m happy to say that I have found this an extremely gratifying and worthwhile experience.  At week 4, I even gave away a month of the NutriSystem plan to one lucky reader.   Which reminds me, I’ve gotta check in with her and see how she’s been doing.

So here we are at week 8!  I’ve had a cumulative weight loss of 18 pounds in 2 months which is an average of 2.25 pounds lost per week.  Some weeks were more than others, but in the end it has all worked out to a desirable result.  To my understanding, the average amount of weight loss that’s recommended is 2 pounds a week so that is just about in line.  Everyone’s metabolism and body is different– I’m not sure of another person’s take on this or on their results since I can only speak for myself.  I’m not ashamed to say that I feel proud of my dedication so far and I’m grateful for all of the encouragement I’ve received from everyone.  It’s been awesome!

My point in putting myself out there like this over the past few weeks was to answer a few questions I had:

Does NutriSystem work? In my case, yes.  It did not come without my contribution of hard work in addition to the plan however.

Can I give someone else who may have difficulty obtaining a healthy weight encouragement and hope? Id like to think that was achieved.

Was it something I could even stick with? Yes!

Regardless of whether you decide to use NutriSystem or another method of weight loss, I applaud you for doing what’s right for you.  I don’t make any guarantees for anyone else, but I am so satisfied with my own performance that I have made the decision to continue the plan one month at a time and evaluate my needs as I go along.  I won’t be updating weekly anymore but I hope you at least found some value in what I shared!

xo
Amber

Now, there are stores that are practically devoted to their existence.  It’s kind of like picking out what top you’re going to wear for the day– “Hmm… think I’ll use cucumber melon, nah… I’m not feeling very melon-y today!”  Often I’m not even thinking about any other benefits this liquid miracle could be providing for my skin other than cleansing.  Is your current body wash working as hard as it can for you?  The next time you are in your local grocery or drugstore, take a whiff of the new Tone Blueberry Antioxidant Body Wash.  If you don’t agree with me that it smells like it could be on the shelf at a specialty bath retailer, I would be very surprised.  I would spend the usual $12-$16 for it based on the scent alone– lucky for me it’s only about $3.99!  But it’s also got antioxidant and skin conditioning benefits from blueberries and vitamins A & E.  My skin doesn’t feel tight like some others make it feel once I towel off, and the creamy lather makes me happy.  Smell it… if you like it, welcome to my world!  If you don’t, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle.

I’ve got 4 Summer Survival Kits with summer’s most essential items that were hand-picked by yours truly to give away.  I think they are excellent products and want you to experience them too!  Each Summer Survival Kit will include the following:

Sun Sauce Moisturizing Sunless Lotion — Sun Sauce has impressed me with their self-tanning products lately due to how easily I’ve been able to achieve believable bronze color without offensive odor that’s simple to maintain and build up the intensity as desired.

Softlips Lip Protectant w/ SPF 20 (Strawberry & Pina Colada) – It’s easy to forget sunscreen for your lips but it’s even easier to appease your inner lip balm connoisseur with Softlips while you’re also getting the protection lips deserve.  I love the texture that’s not waxy feeling and the flavors are super yum and summery!

Degree Women Fine Fragrance Collection Antiperspirant/Deodorant & Body Mist (Delicious Bliss) — The antiperspirant/deodorant helps save me from my little “Sweaty Betty” issue, especially when it’s really hot while keeping me fresh!  The coordinating body mist provides a light summery scent that’s just enough when the heat is on!

bareMinerals SPF 30 Natural Sunscreen (medium) — There’s no way I would leave this out of the Survival Kit, it’s the most convenient way to dust an SPF 30 on your face, neck, or anywhere else for that matter and it’s so portable!  This will change the way you look at sunscreen and turn it into something you don’t dread.

Brightly colored dip-dyed summer scarf (colors will vary) — These lightweight scarves are one of the hottest fashion accessories for summer and can serve as your “statement piece” to complete a summer ensemble.  They are super versatile and I enjoy wearing them all the time!

Brightly colored summer nail polish (color/brand will vary & coordinate with scarf) — A sandal-ready pedi is essential for summer because it’s cute, and so are you!  The brights will look stellar up against your gorgeous faux tan!

Also included– a handy Beauty Junkies Unite tote bag that can be used for toting things to and from the pool & beach, or as a reusable grocery bag!

HOW TO ENTER: Leave a comment on this post telling me one of your summer essentials!  This giveaway will run from July 1 — July 31 @ 10:59pm EST.  One comment per person daily.  4 winners will be chosen at random at the close of giveaway and notified via email.  US only, 18+, void where prohibited.  Winners must reply to winning notification emails within 48 hours or another winner will be chosen. Good luck!

From top to bottom:

Need it Yesterday — purple pearl
Snow Time to Wait — opaque white
Red Eye to NY — blood red cream
I’m on Deadline — violet-blue pearl

There’s a really interesting method to the madness here!  The polish is in a tube in the center which is encased in a hard plastic cylinder and shaped like a pen, complete with a brush at the tip.  In order to use, you simply point down, pump, then paint!

It took me a few tries to get this right, but it’s really easy to use.  First things first:  2-3 pumps should be sufficient to get the brush saturated for the first use once you’ve opened it.  Please don’t go pumping the pen maniacally thinking it will work better– it will splatter and you’ll likely get polish somewhere you didn’t intend to.  Luckily, I had paper towels and a placemat on my coffee table!  In all fairness, that was entirely my own fault.  Lesson learned.  This polish does dry quite quickly and the brush applies thin coats to begin with.  I found that it was best not to allow the preceeding coat to dry prior to applying another, it’s possible the brush will drag and leave a streak if you do.  Everything was A-OK as long as I worked on that nail in it’s entirety before moving on.  I was able to get great coverage with 2 coats with all of the colors I tried except for “Snow Time to Wait”, the opaque white.  That required 3 coats in order to achieve even coverage.  Once top coat was applied on all of these, they leveled out smoothly for me and dried fairly fast.  I actually felt like I had more dexterity because I was holding this like a pen in my right hand and was able to be more precise.  Painting the nails on my right hand wasn’t as easy as the left since I’m a righty, but I did find it easier to control than a wayward regular nail polish wand.  I am curious now to check out more of the shades!

A really cool feature I wanted to point out on the Nicole by OPI site is the ability to do a little cyber swatching  in the Try It On Studio.  It’s cute and I was having fun playing around on it yesterday.  Okay… I never said I wasn’t easily amused!