On 12 February 1947, in the salons at 30 Avenue Montaigne in Paris, Christian Dior showed his first collection. The lines were called Corolle and En 8, and Harper's Bazaar editor Carmel Snow told him, in the words the house still quotes, that his dresses had such a New Look. The name stuck to the whole house. Dior has been very good ever since at making an old idea feel newly invented.

Lip glow is a fair example. Dior Addict Lip Glow Oil takes the gloss, which we all thought we had finished with, and makes it behave like a treatment. The brand says it is enriched with cherry oil, gives 24 hours of hydration and smooths lips for 8 hours. It comes in 16 shades across three finishes: Juicy is clear shine, Sparkly is clear shine with glitter, and Glaze is the intense one. Peter Philips, Creative and Image Director for Dior Makeup, made the shades, and the formula is pH-activated, so it shows a colour that is slightly your own. I like that story because it is about your lips, not about a trend.

The trick is to choose by finish first and shade second. Start in the first grid with the oil itself, then look at the Addict Lip Glow Balm, the same idea in a balm, and the Lip Glow Butter, which is the richer, cushier cousin. If you want a little volume, the Addict Lip Maximizer and the Lip Maximizer Serum are the plumping pair, and the brand says the Maximizer can also sit under lipstick like a primer. The Addict Glass Lipstick, Shine Lipstick and Lip Tint are for the days you want more colour than a clear oil gives you.

Start with a patch test on your own mouth: put the plumper on one side of your lower lip, wait five minutes, and look in daylight. Tingle is not the same as results, and it is worth knowing what you are signing up for before you wear it to dinner.

Plenty of brands want to plump lips without a syringe, and they take quite different routes. Kosas Lip Pulse and Charlotte Tilbury Big Lip Plumpgasm are the glassy, high-shine ones. Fenty Beauty's Gloss Bomb Heat adds warmth on top of the usual Gloss Bomb shine, and the Haus Labs PhD Hybrid Lip Glaze is a plumping gloss with a glaze in the name. LANEIGE Flush Pop leans on peptides, and Dolce&Gabbana's Mint Oil Lip Plumper brings the cool side of the family, which suits anyone who finds warming formulas too intense.

tarte's maracuja juicy plumping gloss is the friendly one for daily wear, and LAWLESS Forget The Filler adds line smoothing to the plumping promise, so it makes sense if you care about texture as much as volume.

A pairing I like: a tinted balm underneath and a plumping gloss only in the centre of the lower lip. You get the shape without a mouth that looks overworked.

What I would skip: a strong tingling plumper right before a kiss, a dental appointment or a long flight, when your lips are already dry.

Here is how I would choose a lip oil: put it on bare lips at night for a week and see how your mouth feels in the morning. If it just sits there and glosses, it is a gloss. If your lips feel better, it is doing something.

The luxury houses have all made their own. Yves Saint Laurent Loveshine is the plumping one with hyaluronic acid, and Givenchy Perfecto is the smoothing, high-shine version. Tom Ford's Soleil oil carries vitamin E and coconut oil, so it is the one I associate with a warm, glossy summer mouth. Guerlain's Kiss Kiss Bee Glow is a tinted oil, and Charlotte Tilbury's Unreal Lips Healthy Glow Nectar is nourishing rather than sticky.

Prada's Light Glowing Lip Oil Stick is the odd one out, an oil in stick form that goes on without a fingertip, which makes it my pick for a handbag. Hourglass N° 28 is a treatment oil, more skincare than gloss, and Clarins Cryo-Plumping brings a little chill and volume together.

A pairing I like: your usual lip liner, an oil over the top, and nothing else. That is a whole makeup look in ten seconds.

What I would skip: layering three oils on one mouth. They slide into each other and the shade you liked disappears.

Try this: keep one balm in your bag and one by the bed, and never let them swap. The bedside one can be rich and slightly greasy. The bag one should leave a good finish, because you will apply it without a mirror.

Dior's own Rouge Dior Lip Balm is the one with the house feel, and it belongs with the oil, not instead of it. Yves Saint Laurent Candy Glow uses maracuja oil in a tinted butter balm, while Prada Reflection is a glossy liquid balm that feels closer to a gloss. Tom Ford's Soleil Sunlit Rose gives shine with a little volume, and Givenchy Rose Perfecto is the tinted one for people who like a rosy mouth without effort.

Hourglass Phantom is the volumizing glossy balm, Tatcha's Melting Lip Balm brings a peptide treatment, and Bobbi Brown Extra Lip Tinted Balm pairs plumping with peptide technology. If you have found balms too flat, this is the group that changes your mind.

A pairing I like: a balm all over and a Lip Glow Oil on top, only when you want the shine to show up in photos.

What I would skip: a glossy tinted balm on a windy day with long hair. You will spend it all on your hair.

I think the Dior Addict oil is the best first step because it is honest about what it does. It hydrates, it shines, it shifts a little with your own lips, and it asks nothing of you. If you want more, add a plumper for evenings and a balm for the bag.

Choose your finish by how you live. Juicy for the office, Sparkly for a night out, Glaze for when you want colour as well. Christian Dior had a New Look in 1947. You are only after a slightly better mouth by lunchtime. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Dior Addict Lip Tint and the Tints That Look Like Nothing and e.l.f. Lip Oil.

To find the glossiest, most comfortable option, I compared the best lip oil picks alongside balms and sheer color.

For the tinted balms next to the oils, I laid out the Dior lip balm shades from Universal Clear to Mahogany.