Four Viral Lip Products That Are Actually Worth It

Hopefully it goes without saying, and yet I’m going to anyway – just because a makeup product goes viral doesn’t mean it’s any good. Being in the beauty industry for six years still hasn’t made me immune to the powers of ‘but everyone is talking about it’, and I still fall victim all the time to buying products that turn out to be utter crap.

However, given it’s literally my job to test these things out, I’d much rather it be me than you. And that way I can then bossily direct you as to what I think you’ll love, and what you’d be better off leaving behind. In this post, I am cutting through some of the ‘how many hashtags does it have?’ noise to let you know about four lip products that the interwebs have decreed Thou Must Have, and which I agree really are worth your dollars.

Glossier Ultralip in Féte

I know this is a bit of a sneaky entry to kick things off with as it isn’t technically available yet in Australia. Now, though, you can not only purchase from the brand’s own site in the US and the UK, but also from US Sephora, so your options for picking one up on your travels, having a friend do it or using a postal forwarding service are easier than ever. Besides, this one is so wearable that it felt silly not to include it for as asinine a reason as global shipping restrictions.

Housed in the classic millennial pink packaging Glossier became so well known for, it’s a magnet-free (though still secure) slim tube that winds up to reveal a slanted bullet of colour. The ‘G’ embossed in the top of the lipstick will disappear after a few uses, but is a fun touch I wasn’t expecting. HERE is the photo that pushed me over the edge for purchasing it in this particular shade, Fête. Doesn’t she look so fresh and beautiful? To me, it appears just in real life as it does in that photo – a blend of red, pink and orange tones that will enliven every complexion. It has a sort of jelly texture that can be worn as a sheer wash of colour or built up to be quite a statement. Though naturally, with this sort of balmy product, you can’t expect it to be long lasting, so tread captiously going for a statement look when it won’t last without attention and reapplication. The colour does fades very evenly and leaves behind a whisper light stain. Pleasingly, the trade-off for lack of last is its moisturising properties, which far too often products of this texture should have and don’t. For those who are scent averse (and, upon reflection, doesn’t it seem that lip products are one of the last remaining beauty categories to almost never be fragrance-free?), this doesn’t have any discernible fragrance. It’s a pretty perfect don’t-have-to-think-about option to throw into your handbag, and one that suits just about any occasion, perhaps except one involving serious eating.

NYX Professional Makeup Fat Oil Lip Drip in Missed Call

This went viral a few months ago, and when it went on major sale at Priceline I snapped it up. Questionable name aside, I like this even more than I thought I would from what I had read about it. Traditionally, I have never got along with lip oils despite them sounding so wonderfully evocative, as though they offer lips both comfort and style. I wanted to love the Clarins versions as much as the rest of the world did (for the squared off, Lucite-esque packaging alone, honestly) but they only ever left my lips drier than they had been pre-application. This little NYX number is lacking in the packaging department – tiny, chubby and with a neon green lid may be fun, but isn’t not a patch on Clarins’ original version.

Of course, the product inside is what it’s really all about, and on that front, this doesn’t disappoint. With a very large (indeed, fat!) doe foot applicator, which adds to the overall cushiony feel, you apply the smoothing, wet look, oil-gloss hybrid. I plumped – yep, I did that – for the shade Missed Call, which is a medium, neutral toned hot pink. They’re all very translucent and wearable, though I’d say this shade may be the most wearable of the non-true-nude options. No one is going to say ‘wow, you have hot pink lipstick on’, but it does give even my quite pigmented lips a nice little jolt of colour. Best of all, even the driest of lips will be in better condition once this eventually wears off. It’s not annoyingly sticky by any means, but sticky enough that it doesn’t just melt in and therefore melt off. One downside to me is the very sweet berry scent, but you can’t smell or taste it once applied.

Chanel Rouge Coco Baume in 928 Pink Delight

The name Sofia Ritchie has, for the most part, been met largely with responses including “who?” or perhaps more generously, “you mean Nicole’s sister/Lionel’s daughter?” Then, in a stroke of PR genius, she got married in France with a series of celebratory events covered gushingly by Vogue, and with makeup done by Chanel’s genius MUA Patti Dubroff. Suddenly, she had gone from not on our radars at all to girl of the moment, and a large part of it was down to her gorgeous makeup. In keeping with Sofia’s barely-there aesthetic, her wedding day lip was not a stay-all-day matte or a power colour, but a lip formula and colour that may as well be known as ‘just a touch’ – Chanel Rouge Coco Baume in shade 928 Pink Delight. Despite my colouring being nothing like Sofia’s, and having aforementioned deeply pigmented lips (which, sadly, most ‘nude’ shades turn corpse-like), I had to get my little beauty-obsessed mitts on it.

First signs all pointed to yes. The heavy gold and white packaging is very ‘80s Chanel – my favourite of all of that brand’s eras – updated with some sleek ‘90s minimalism to be a conveniently slim little number, all the better for popping into your micro clutch. And, oddly for Chanel, it is unfragranced. I swiped it on eagerly and rushed to the mirror, awaiting my transformation into Wedding Day Sofia, all sleek hair, gorgeously peachy complexion and with my pillowy, softly coral lips being the star of the understated makeup show. Funnily enough, said transformation did not occur. My lips… looked fine? Like I was wearing a clear, rather matte balm with the tiniest suggestion of colour to it. (I should note, with barely-concealed jealousy, that if you have lightly pigmented lips, you may get more of the beautiful colour pay off that Sofia does, and if so, more power to you.) 

I stood back, disappointed. I tried it another couple of times in the coming weeks with different makeup looks. And it… was still fine. It was certainly better than a bare lip, and perhaps it gave my overall look a little touch of Sofia. A bit more groomed, a bit more polished, but in a laissez faire way. By now determined to figure out if I could love it as much as the rest of the internet did, I continued to experiment with it, madly selfie-ing every time I did to analyse whether it was finally working for me. Is it lovely and subtle, or does it not even look like I am wearing anything at all?  All very Emperor’s New Clothes, to be sure. Call me a sucker for the brand, or for the magic working between Patti and Sofia, but now when I look back at my documentation of this intense emotional journey, I realise the is-there-anything-even-there aspect is exactly what there is to like about this lip product. I know we’re all sick to death of hearing about quiet luxury, but this is it in a tube. Whether you can say that accessing a soupçon of that look and feeling is worth AUD$57, well… it’s gauche to talk about money now, isn’t it?

Revlon Super Lustrous Glass Shine lipstick in 020 Nude Illuminator

I don’t think I have ever been so impressed with an affordable lip product. Not only is the shade range fabulous, but whichever shade you pick, this type of lip product issuchan easy wear. Makeup marketing departments love to tout the next ‘this-meets-that’ hybrid, but so rarely does a product actually meet the expectations that sets. This really is the most incredible amalgam of a balm and a lipstick, only with the best qualities of each, rather than, as is so often the unintended case, the worst. The shine is beautiful and flattering, the texture and feel is light and creamy, but the overall look and wear is that of a lipstick. It is the only non-balm product I now regularly reach for when my lips are feeling dry, as it is the only one I have ever tried that leaves my lips in genuinely better condition than before I put it on.

They have a soft, sweet scent that fades quickly and is inoffensive. My one complaint is that I must admit to not loving the packaging, which consists of a shiny black tube topped with a gold Revlon-stamped ring. While not terrible, it still feels a bit ‘I bought this at the chemist’, but given that at said chemist they’re often on special for the ridiculously low price of $12, that feels like an unfair complaint. If this existed in premium packaging, it would easily sell in the $50 range – what’s inside really is that good.

Look at that shine! Shades, top to bottom: Beaming Strawberry, So Sleek Pink, Nude Illuminator, Dewy Peach

As to the shade selection? If your lips are fairly deep in tone with some red pigment, may I suggest you look into Nude Illuminator, and ignore it giving ‘oh so boring brown’ in the bullet. Once on, it transforms into a proper ‘your lips but better’ shade, rather than the pale beiges that are usually given that title and do nothing for us. This gives colour and health to my face even if I’m not wearing other makeup, which to me is the true test of whether a lip product is working for one’s colouring. Regardless of the natural shade of your lips, if you’re after a non-nude colour, Dewy Peach is a pretty, soft coral just made for warmer weather, and my all-time favourite shade is Beaming Strawberry, a warm-toned medium pink that is joy in a tube.

Product sample/purchase info:
Glossier purchased in-store in London (not available in Australia)
NYX purchased online at Priceline (link here)
Chanel purchased in-store from Chanel boutique (looks like is currently sold out in their online boutique, though available at David Jones, link here)
Revlon purchased online at Priceline (link here)