The Shiniest Gloss I Could Find Is Technically a Lip Balm

After the closure of Ami Colé last year, I set out to find a new everyday option. I did buy five tubes of those glosses so I could use them slowly, but I had to get to work finding a new option I could buy on repeat. My quest brought me to the Nécessaire Lip Balm, which isn’t explicitly marketed as a lip gloss but behaves like one. It’s shiny, comfortable, and moisturizes my lips. That’s what I loved about the Ami Colé — it truly behaved like a lip treatment and actually nourished my lips, it didn’t just gloss them up. I can apply the Nécessaire lip balm straight to dry lips and trust that my lips aren’t drying out underneath. The ingredients are nice: niacinamide, ceramides, hyaluronic acid, omega 6/9, and centella asiatica. It also has a little mint oil, which is pleasant and cooling. I’m notoriously sensitive to fragrance, particularly essential oils, but I haven’t had a reaction to this despite wearing it nearly daily. The brand advertises a semigloss finish but it gives me full-gloss shine, which is likely due to how much I apply. I use alotof gloss, but this can be toned down if you only apply a dot or two. At $28, it’s a bit pricier than my previous pick and a little more than I’d typically spend — I usually cap my lip gloss expenditure at $20, but this feels worth it to me, especially because I get my gloss and lip balm in a single product.

I’m also a big fan of the Tower28 gloss. It was my go-to before the Ami Colé, and while I still like it, it’s a little less shiny than I gravitate toward currently. That said, it’s the best formula I’ve come across in all my years of lip-gloss wearing. It’s insanely comfortable, the colors are beautiful, and it wears down nicely. It’s perfect, no notes.

Whenever anyone tells me they don’t like the feel of gloss, I always direct them to the Byredo Liquid Lipstick Vinyl. It’s ultrashiny but featherweight and not at all sticky. I first came across it at a dinner party some years ago. We were sitting by candlelight, and I was constantly distracted by the gleam of my seatmate’s mouth. When I asked for the gloss, she whipped this out, and I procured it shortly after. It’s great. The only downside is that it wears off fairly quickly and is wildly expensive. For these two reasons, I rarely recommend it to a seasoned lip-gloss lover, but if you fall into the category of wanting the look without the texture, this is the one. If you’re feeling turned off by the price (understandable), I recommend finding a cosmetics counter or a Byredo store to test it out.

I received this lip gloss in a gift bag from my esthetician friend Sydney and was pleasantly surprised by the shade range. It’s comfortable and shiny, and it comes in these rich berry and brown tones that look great on two-toned lips like mine.

Plumping glosses aren’t for everyone, but this one is a crowd-pleaser. It isn’t too tingly but still offers decent volume (my lips look fuller than when I use the Charlotte Tilbury plumping gloss), and I love the red shade, which has the perfect amount of pigment. It’s a subtle tint but adds a little something, like putting on a sparkly pair of earrings or a cool-looking belt. Another nice thing is that it’s not sticky. It doesn’t gunk up after a few hours of chatting, either, which is a plus. My lips are sensitive, so I can’t use it too often — the ginger, cinnamon, and peppermint combo can be a lot for me consistently — but when I do, it’s a nice treat.

Shimmer glosses are tough. I don’t like anything that looks or, worse,feelsgritty. I want a subtle sparkle that catches on club lights and in an errant way, not to look like I dipped my mouth in a kid’s craft. I recently added this lip gloss to my collection, and upon first swipe decided it was exactly what I was looking for. It reminds me of the lip gloss worn by the cool girls of my youth — ultraglossy, a little sparkly, plumping — but with a comfortable mouthfeel. It’s a gloss I’d reach for on nights out or days I want people to ask, “What lip gloss is that?” I like the shade Gem, a sheer neutral pink, which feels very early 2000s.

Of all the options in the shiny lip-balm universe, theSummer Fridays Lip Balmis my favorite. It smells nice, is shiny but nourishing, and has a nice silicone applicator. It’s not going to give you the same shine as a gloss, but it’s close enough. I like to put this on on days when I’m wearing nothing but sunscreen and a swipe of mascara — it’s very effortless but still put-together.

I also really like this lip balm from Nudestix. I often go back and forth between this and the Summer Fridays balm. It’s a bit thinner, has a minty-vanilla flavor, and is slightly shinier. I like to wear this with a little Vaseline underneath to give it slightly more heft, but it does well on its own.

The runner-up is this balm from Polite Society, which is so shiny I often forget it’s not a lip balm. It has a good gloss factor and is moisturizing enough. The shade range is nice too. I tend to alternate between Coconut Cream, a clear shade, and Bumbleberry, a mauve-y shade that looks beautiful with a brown lip liner.

These broke the internet when they came out, and for good reason. It’s the closest to a true lip-gloss/lip-balm hybrid and has the stickiness to match. My only issue with this is the gumminess that happens when you apply too much, but to its credit, once you apply it, it sticks. It has incredible longevity and a little exfoliation too. I also adore the shade range — an array of warm neutrals. It was clearly crafted with pigmented lips in mind.