When I was around 12 or 13, I had a lip gloss selection to be envious of. My particular favorite was this one from Bonne Belle; it was in a curvy little container with a long brush, and it was swirled white gloss with darker pink gloss. It smelled like strawberry shortcake. My sister always said it looked really good on me.
Lip gloss remained my staple lip product through high school and into college. But when lip gloss when out of fashion a few years ago, it went hard. It was no swan dive; it was a cannonball. Suddenly, everyone wanted matte, matte, matte. I would say that started when I had just graduated college, around 2011, but I was still deep in love with traditional lipsticks then.
I haven't touched a lip gloss since, easily, but since this summer, I've been seeing more glossy looks. It's definitely the influence of 90s fashion; teenagers are putting on mom jeans and baggy sweatshirts, just like my sister and her friends wore in the mid to late-90s, so it's impossible to see the influence. Of course minimal face makeup and lip gloss would follow.
For my lipstick series, I knew I wanted to include some lip glosses. Even though I love a full color, pigmented lipstick... sometimes, you just want something simple. More and more lately, I've been wearing monochromatic looks with one eyeshadow and one lip color--really simple, but really fresh looking in comparison to other make up. To read about my other favorite lipsticks in this series, click here.
Now, let's jump into my favorite glosses.
Top to Bottom: Ulta Beauty Color Rush Lip Gloss in Olivia; Bite Beauty Amuse Bouche Liquified Lipstick in Eclair; Aveda Rehydrating Lip Glaze in Sunkissed Melon; Sephora Gel Gloss in 04 Perfect Nude.
1. Ulta Beauty Color Rush Lip Gloss in Olivia
Olivia is described, on Ulta's website, as a medium nude blue-pink... which, as convoluted as it sounds, is pretty accurate. This is one of the first glosses I really got "into" a few months ago--and because it's so highly pigmented, it's a nice middle ground between a standard lipstick and a plain gloss. It's a really nice your-lips-but-better color and wears comfortably. But like all glosses, it's not super long lasting. It's available from Ulta for $9.00.
2. Bite Beauty Liquified Lipstick in Eclair
I reviewed this Bite Beauty liquified lipsticks back in August; I liked them then, but they've definitely grown on me since. (You can read my review here.) And Eclair is definitely a fan favorite. Described as a "soft rose," it's definitely the most "me" of all the colors I own from Bite Beauty now. This is definitely a gloss, despite being advertised as a liquid lipstick; it's shiny and definitely not long-wearing, but does leave a nice wash of color behind. They are available, in a ton of pretty colors, from Sephora for $24. As a small warning, these lipsticks do smell strongly of gummy warms.
3. Aveda Rehydrating Lip Glaze in Sunkissed Melon
I've owned this lip gloss since I got married. That's right: I wore it at my wedding. My makeup artist layered this long-lasting, moisturizing gloss over my lipstick color of choice (a dark, blue-red)... at first, I was unsure, but my lipstick stayed the entire day and looked great. This lipgloss is described as a coral with shine; its definitely "melon-y", giving a faint coral color. Of all the glosses I've chosen, it's definitely the more "traditional" idea of gloss! It smells, however, like peppermint, ginger, and vanilla, which I find so soothing and lovely. These lip glosses are available from the Aveda website for $19.
4. Sephora Gel Gloss in 04 Perfect Nude
I received this lip gloss as a sneaky extra in Sephora on my birthday. The sales associate who rang up my purchases (I had a 20% off family & friends coupon) asked if it was my birthday that day, so she took a huge handful of their samples and put them in my bag. In that selection was this gloss. It has a tiny smidgen of color, but not much; it's definitely great for just doing a glossy lip for the day or layering over a liquid lip color I love, but dries out my lips too much. And at $12 for a full size from Sephora, it's super affordable.
