Dior Addict Lip Glow launched in 2009 as a tinted balm that reacts to the pH of your lips, and it is still the easiest way into Dior color. This edit follows the balm, the oils and the rest of the Dior lip line, from a clear serum to a glass stick.
The Live-TV Swipe That Made Dior Addict Lip Glow Sell Out
Long before anyone said the word viral, a pink lip balm sold out overnight. Peter Philips, the creative and image director of Dior Makeup, tells it this way: an athlete swiped Dior Addict Lip Glow on live television, and by the next day the product was gone. The balm had arrived in 2009, and its trick was simple to describe and hard to make. It reacted to the pH of each wearer's lips, so one shade of pink landed a little differently on everyone. The reactive ingredient is eosin, a fluorescent compound Dior was among the first houses to explore in lip color, and it is also why the stain sticks around. For years the palette stayed in cool pinks and raspberries. Philips has said his team spent a long time cracking the code for warm undertones, and the range now includes them. I like this story because it is a brand story before it is a product one. Dior began making makeup with Rouge Dior in 1953, and Lip Glow is the softer, funnier cousin of that first red. The balm shades come first below, then the rest of the family.
Gloss, oil and butter
The oils, the butter and the gloss are where this line gets playful. Grazia credits the 2009 launch of the range with helping start the modern lip gloss revival, so it makes sense that the family grew shinier. Raspberry and Rosewood in the Lip Glow Oil read as juicy rather than painted, and Dior says the oil is infused with cherry oil and reacts to lip pH too. Glazed Pink in the Butter is a cool iridescent pink with a buttery slip, closer to a balm with a wet finish than to a true gloss. The Lip Maximizer in 001 Pink is the plumping gloss of the group, refreshed with a formula Dior says is 90 percent natural-origin. If you already own anything from the Dior lip glow family, wear the oil over the balm on the center of the lower lip only and leave the edges alone. It keeps the shine where the light actually hits.
The tint, the stick and the set
Grid three is the more grown-up end of the wardrobe. The Lip Maximizer Serum is clear, so it suits every skin tone, and Dior lists hyaluronic acid and mallow flower extract in it. The Addict Lip Tint in 491 Natural Rosewood is the one for people who dislike touching up. It is a transfer-proof, semi-matte tint infused with cherry oil, and it holds a rosewood shade without any balm feel. The Glass Lipstick in 306 Rose Charms is 90 percent oils and oil derivatives by Dior's account, which is why it looks like a gloss in a lipstick's body. The Plump & Glow set pairs the 001 Pink balm with the 001 Pink Maximizer in a small pouch, which is the fastest way to see how the two behave together. What I would skip is stacking all of it at once. A serum, then a tint, then a glass stick leaves the mouth slick and the color muddy, so choose one base and one finish and let the pH do the rest.
Where I would begin
If I were starting from zero, I would take the pink balm and live with it for a week. Rouge Dior, introduced in 1953, was the house's first makeup product, and Peter Philips has said the archives helped convince his team that the modern Rouge Dior should be refillable, just as the original was. Lip Glow is the lighter side of that same house. Start with 001 Pink, notice what it does on your mouth, and only then pick between an oil, a butter or a tint. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Dior Addict Lip Tint and the Tints That Look Like Nothing and Dior Addict Lip Maximizer, Shade by Shade.
