Glossy Lips Without the Stickiness

Glossy Lips Without the Stickiness

Glossy lips no longer have to mean hair stuck to your mouth, because the new glosses, oils and balms are cushiony, hydrating and comfortable. These are the glosses I would wear out, the lip oils for every day, and the glossy balms and treatments for night.

Lip gloss started in Hollywood. Around 1930, film makeup artists created a glossy lip product so actresses' mouths would catch the light on black and white film, and within a few years it was being sold to everyone else. For most of the century that followed, gloss was shiny and also, famously, sticky. Anyone who wore it in the 2000s remembers hair glued to their lips on a windy day.

Lancôme's Juicy Tubes, launched in 2000, became the gloss of that era. Twenty-some years later, the formulas have caught up with the idea. Glossy lips today should feel cushiony and hydrating, not tacky, and the best glosses behave more like skincare than candy.

Fenty Beauty's Gloss Bomb set the new standard, with shea butter and a universal shimmer that flatters almost every skin tone. Rare Beauty's Positive Light gloss is cushiony and non-sticky, with a prismatic shimmer and glass-like shine. Lancôme's own Lip Idole JuicyTreat is the grown-up descendant of the Juicy Tube, an oil-in-gloss that acts like a lip serum. REFY's gloss is clear, with hyaluronic acid, high shine and no stickiness.

Then there are the plumping glosses, which use a gentle tingle to make lips look fuller for a while. Dior's Addict Lip Maximizer is the classic, hydrating with an instant plumping effect. Valentino's Puffer Complex comes in six iridescent shades, and Sephora Collection's Outrageous Plump is bright and fun. Lawless's Forget the Filler smooths the look of lip lines and plumps with repeated use, which is as close to filler as a gloss gets.

Collage on a white background showing Fenty Beauty by Rihanna Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Gloss Luminizer, Tower 28 Beauty ShineOn Lip Jelly Hydrating Non-Sticky Lip Oil, Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask – Intense Hydration Lip Treatment with Vitamin C, Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez Positive Light Luminizing Lip Gloss, Gisou Honey Infused Hydrating Lip Oil, Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm Treatment for Hydration + Nourishing Shine, Dior Dior Addict Lip Maximizer Plumping Gloss, Fenty Beauty by Rihanna Gloss Bomb Oil Luminizing Lip Oil 'N Gloss and Jack Black Intense Therapy Lip Balm SPF 25.
Lip glosses, lip oils and glossy balms, all shine and no stickiness.

Lip glosses

Lip oil is the easy everyday version

If gloss is for going out, lip oil is for every day. It is thinner, sheerer and more comfortable, and it gives lips a wet shine that looks natural in daylight. Most are tinted just enough to wake up your face.

Tower 28's ShineOn Lip Jelly is a gloss and oil hybrid made for sensitive lips, high shine without stickiness. Gisou's Honey Infused Lip Oil uses Mirsalehi honey from the family bee garden behind the brand, with a high shine and a non-sticky finish. Dior's Lip Glow Oil is ultra-glossy with a mirror shine and now comes in sixteen shades.

Merit's Shade Slick is a tinted oil that gives a wash of color, the easiest thing to put on without a mirror. Summer Fridays' Dream Lip Oil is plush and sheer, and Kaja's Juicy Glass oil is fruity, non-sticky and plumps the look of lips. Huda Beauty's Faux Filler oil adds peptides and shea butter for a juicier look, and Fenty Beauty's Gloss Bomb Oil sits between a gloss and an oil, sparkly but still comfortable.

Lip oils wear off faster than gloss, so keep one in your pocket and reapply after coffee. The upside is that they never look heavy or dated, and they leave your lips softer than when you started. I keep one in every coat, one on my desk and one by the bed, and I still cannot find one when I need it.

Lip oils

Glossy balms and overnight treatments

Glossy balms are for the days your lips are too dry for anything else. They give a healthy shine and actually soften, which makes them the best base for gloss too.

LANEIGE's Lip Sleeping Mask is the overnight classic, a thick balm you put on before bed that softens lips while you sleep. Summer Fridays' Lip Butter Balm is vegan, with butters and waxes that soothe dryness and leave a soft shine. Rare Beauty's Find Comfort Lip Butter works as a daytime balm and an overnight mask in one.

For lines and flakes, OLEHENRIKSEN's Pout Preserve uses peptides and kokum butter to plump with hydration and smooth the look of fine lines. EADEM's Le Chouchou is a daily peptide treatment for dry, flaky lips with a plush shine. Lancôme's Lip Idôle Butterglow is a buttery balm with squalane and a sheer wash of color. Fresh's Sugar Advanced Therapy is made for extra-dry lips, with moisture for up to 24 hours.

And Jack Black's Intense Therapy balm has SPF 25, which is what most lip routines forget. Lips burn like any other skin, and a balm with sunscreen during the day matters as much as a mask at night.

Layer a balm under gloss on cold days. The gloss slides on more evenly and lasts longer. At night, put the sleeping mask on thickly as the very last step, after your face cream, so it is not rubbed off by the pillow before it has a chance to work.

Glossy balms and lip treatments

Line, gloss, blot

The trick to gloss that looks polished rather than messy is a liner. Trace your lips with a liner close to your natural color, fill in a little, then add gloss only to the center of each lip and press them together. The liner keeps gloss from traveling, and the center shine makes lips look fuller.

Blot once with a tissue if you want a softer finish. Reapply the center after eating, not the edges. Exfoliate gently once a week with a soft washcloth, because gloss shows every flake. If you are new to gloss, start with a clear or sheer shade, which goes with everything and forgives a shaky hand. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Baby Lips Still Has Something to Teach the Fancy Balms and Shine Spray That Gives Glossy Hair Without the Grease.