Women who use lip gloss do so to moisture their lips while adding luster and a fair bit of color, but this doesn’t mean you can expect the same standards from all glosses across the board. In fact, some have a more cosmetic purpose than others, not just in regards to how they’re formulated but also in terms of how they’re used. For instance, there are those who use lip gloss in tandem with lipstick in order to add a bit of much-wanted luster whereas others prefer to strictly employ lip gloss as a moisturizer and nothing more.
Whatever your opinion on lip gloss and how to best make use of it, you have to agree that the sheer selection available is extraordinary and that choosing one can be quite difficult unless you know precisely what to look for. We say this because lip glosses can differ quite a lot from one another based on their design and formulation. To give you a better idea of what’s out there, we put together a list of the ten best lip glosses the market has to offer at this point in time.
Best Lip Glosses – Reviews
10Covergirl Full Spectrum Gloss Idol- Moisturizing Lip Gloss
The Covergirl Full Spectrum Gloss Idol- Moisturizing Lip Gloss is a bold, luxurious, nourishing lip color that provides a high shine and long lasting lusciousness. Formulated with a thick, dense consistency, it glides onto your lips smoothly without feeling lumpy or heavy at any point. Soft, creamy, and lightweight, it features a stunning pink shade and leaves your lips moisturized and shiny throughout the day. Not just that but the gloss also benefits from a sweet smelling fragrance, it is extremely comfortable to wear and is guaranteed to stay on for hours.
9Julep So Plush Ultra-Hydrating Lip Gloss
Available in an assortment of 8 stunning shades, the Julep So Plush Ultra-Hydrating Lip Gloss features a non-sticky, creamy consistency with a high shine finish. Uniquely formulated with hyaluronic filling spheres and natural oils, it helps in providing volume and fullness to the lips while hydrating and nourishing them. Giving you a sheer to medium color coverage, this lip gloss can be used on its own, or over your favorite lip shade for a glossy, ultra shiny finish.
8Cargo Essential Anguilla Lip Gloss
Featuring a wide range of subtle shades, the Cargo Essential Lip Gloss is a high shine, long-lasting lip color that is smooth and nourishing. Formulated with Vitamin E and jojoba seed oil, it helps in providing moisture to the lips while preventing unwanted lines and creases around the mouth. Thanks to its special formula packed with premium quality ingredients, it helps in keeping the lips hydrated and nourished. Featuring a creamy texture, it glides over the lips smoothly without feeling sticky and increases lip volume and fullness.
7Laura Geller New York Nude Kisses Lip Gloss
The Laura Geller New York Nude Kisses Lip Hugging Lip Gloss Duo is the perfect set of luxury makeup that will give you that exceptional contoured look you want. Made with premium quality ingredients, it features a special formula that is free from parabens, alcohol, mineral oils, gluten, nanomaterial, and soy. Designed with a sturdy, easy to use applicator brush, simply line the lip with one shade and color in with the other to get that brilliant, luxurious 2-in-1 effect.
6Unicorn Snot Pixie Glitter Lip Gloss
Featuring an oil-based formula, the Unicorn Snot Pixie Approved Vegan and Cruelty-Free Glitter Lip Gloss is a lightweight, non-sticky lipstick that will leave your lips looking glamorous and magical. Available in an assortment of beautiful colors, this lip gloss can be used on its own or as a finish for any lipstick. Formulated with high-quality ingredients including mineral oil, polyethylene terephthalate, fragrance, Ethylhexyl palmitate along with cosmetic glitter and color, this lip gloss is long-lasting, weightless and hydrating.
5COVERGIRL Colorlicious Gloss Berrylicious
Blended with a high-shine and high impact color, the COVERGIRL Colorlicious Gloss features a stunning shade known as Berrylicious. Formulated with premium quality ingredients and essential oils, this gloss contains conditioners that help nourish the lips, while keeping them hydrated and shiny throughout the day. Its formula also helps moisturize the lips and does not feel sticky in any way. Featuring a creamy, silky smooth texture, it glides on to your lips with ease thanks to its easy to use applicator brush.
4L’Oréal Paris Infallible 8 HR Pro Gloss
Available in the premium Barely Nude shade, the L’Oréal Paris Infallible Pro Gloss gives you ultimate coverage with a shine-fix complex for up to 8 hours. Featuring a unique formula packed with high-quality ingredients that are safe, it provides a smooth and even finish and is soft and creamy. Thanks to its patented applicator brush, it glides onto your lips evenly, leaving you with flawless, nourished lips. Providing you with long-lasting high shine, it does not fade, dull or change its color helps hydrate and moisturize the lips.
3Neutrogena Moistureshine Lip Soother Gloss
The Neutrogena Moistureshine Lip Soother Gloss is a premium grade, pocket-size lip care product designed to hydrate and moisturize the lips while giving it a shiny, luxurious color and finish. Not only does it soothe the lips, but it also helps prevent dryness and provides instant relief to chapped lips. Formulated with hydrogel, it provides optimum moisture and nourishment, while its SPF 20 sunscreen protects the lips from the harmful rays of the sun. Furthermore, its ingredients also include cucumber, chamomile, and glycerin, which are all cooling agents by nature.
2L.A. Colors High Shine Shea Butter Lip Gloss
The L.A. Colors High Shine Shea Butter Lip Gloss is a high-quality lipstick that features a versatile ultra-pigmented formula. Thanks to the Shea-butter enriched in its formula, along with Vitamin E, it helps in providing moisture and nourishment to the lips while keeping them looking soft and subtle. Lightweight, non-sticky, and ultra-shiny, this lip gloss features a light scent of vanilla that is pleasing. Available in a wide range of intense, high shine colors, it will leave your lips looking luscious, luxurious, and irresistible.
1NYX Professional Makeup Butter Gloss

Few lip glosses can rival the NYX Professional Makeup Butter Gloss in terms of intensity and ease of use. Designed to provide a sheer to medium lip coverage, it features a non-sticky, creamy smooth texture with a sweet smelling fragrance. Leaving your lips looking luxurious and supple, it provides a subtle flush of color with high shine. Available in 24 exceptional shades, this lip gloss can be used on its own or over your favorite lipstick, to give it that shiny, creamy finish. All things considered, it is one of the best lip glosses out there.
Can’t Find What You’re Looking For? Check these suggestions:
Finding The Perfect Lip Gloss
Pretty straightforward as a product, lip gloss can differ ever so slightly depending on formula, thickness, and design. Now, you need to bear in mind that the line between a mediocre lip gloss and a decent one is rather thin. This is because lesser manufacturers also try to emulate the big brands and the top performers. Provided that you have a particular preference when it comes to your lip gloss, you would do well to learn as much as you possibly can about what exactly constitutes a good lip gloss and what to avoid. To gain such an understanding of the very nature of lip glosses, you should first understand what exactly sets them apart from one another.
Types Of Lip Gloss
The first thing you need to understand is that lip glosses can differ not only in regards to formulation and design but also when it comes to their intended purpose. For instance, people tend to have differently shaded lips, which is why many of the popular lip glosses are available in a selection of shades and colors. For a more natural look, for example, people often choose lighter shades.
- Fair Skin Gloss – A gloss like this is mainly intended to moisturize the lips and to provide only slight glossing. Pretty neutral in color, fair skin gloss is rather light and goes well with almost any type of lipstick. Bear in mind, however, that combining such a gloss with a heavy lipstick will give it an extra glossy look that would, in turn, make your lips look odd. A good way around this is to apply only a thin layer of lipstick or to avoid using it altogether.
- Medium Skin Tone Gloss – For the most part, medium skin tone glosses are perfect for women with a medium shade skin tone on account of its versatility. This is because people with a medium complexity generally prefer rose, berry, and mauve shades for practical reasons. At the same time, a decent medium skin tone gloss can also provide the wearer with a more professional aesthetic regardless of how much makeup they’re wearing.
- Dark Skin Gloss – As the name suggests, dark skin gloss works reasonably well for people with a dark skin complexion. In that regard, perhaps the most common are chocolate, red, and plums shades, along with similar shades and tones. Interestingly enough, most of the women who go for such shades also do so for cosmetic reasons, in the sense that they definitely provide certain visual enhancements along with the moisturizing and the glossiness.
Choosing A God Lip Gloss
Bearing in mind that lip glosses can meet different formulation standards, it wouldn’t be advised to simply buy whatever lip gloss you first lay your eyes on. Not unless you want to experience chaffiness and dry skin soon after applying the gloss. Not just that but some lip glosses also differ in consistency, fragrance, and wear time. It is partly for this reason that you want to consider the following:
- Wear Time – One of the most important attributes of a lip gloss is undoubtedly its wear time. You can expect decent glosses, for example, to last up to eight hours after the initial application. Needless to say, wear time differs from one gloss to another and it’s reliant on the product’s formulation. Try to keep in mind that your environment also affects a lip gloss’ wear time, mostly the humidity.
- Color – You also need to pay close attention to the color/finish of a lip gloss when determining its overall worth. If, for instance, you are looking for a more natural look, then perhaps you should go for a transparent option or at least one that resembles your natural skin tone. On the other hand, if you’re trying to achieve a certain look, then a pigmented lip gloss might do the trick.
- Fragrance – Although not a vital characteristic of lip gloss, the fragrance does play a role in choosing one version over another. When it comes to fragrance, the choice is always made based on personal preference as long as you remember to avoid products that have a distinct ‘synthetic’ smell. Some people don’t really enjoy fragrances of any kind, especially when it comes to their lip gloss on account of the aftertaste.
- Consistency – It is very important for lip gloss to feel ‘light’ on the skin after applying it, especially if you’re going to pair it with a lipstick of any kind. On a related note, lip gloss should always feel comfortable on your lips and not get in the way of your eating or drinking. One thing to remember is that thick lip gloss can cause quite a bit of discomfort for women with long hair as they seem to catch strands of hair every once in a while.
- Brand – Last but not least, always try to get a brand name when choosing cosmetics, not just lip gloss. This is because big brands can afford to invest a lot more resources in research and development and to spend a fair bit on product management. Unlike smaller brands, big names tend to always test their products thoroughly before releasing them. Bear in mind, however, that this usually comes with a slight increase in price but that at the end of the day, it is all worth it just so you won’t have to worry about any potential hazards.