What is Lip Gloss Made Of? Lip Gloss Ingredients and Benefits | Best Style Trends (2024)

Lip gloss is a thick liquid or soft solid cosmetic product that you apply to your lips to give it a glossy, lush, and sometimes subtly colored appearance.

The lip gloss has so many uses. You can use your lip gloss over lipstick or even in place of lipstick. Not only that, following current trends, lip gloss can be used as a highlighter, eye shadow, even as a brow gel.

Have you ever wondered what lip gloss is made of? Well, lip gloss can actually be made from several ingredients. Most of lip gloss ingredients are petroleum-based. The ingredients may differ depending on the brand, some make use of waxes, such as carnauba wax and beeswax, lanolin, shea butter or petroleum.

Lots of lip gloss products are also made with natural ingredients like coconut oil or sunflower oil.

Types of Lip Gloss Ingredients and their Importance

1. Wax: Wax is often used as a medium for mixing lip gloss ingredients, it also makes the lip gloss stick to your lips. Common examples include beeswax.

2. Emollients: These ingredients have the ability to soften and soothe the skin as well as occluding the skin to prevent moisture loss and sometimes work as moisturizing agents. Examples include shea butter, coconut oil, avocado oil, argan oil, sweet almond oil, lanolin, etc.

2. Mild Anesthetic Agents: These are available in some lip glosses, especially medicated ones, and they do the job of soothing irritated lips and act as a mild anesthetic. E.g. mint, camphor, menthol, etc.

3. Sun Blockers and Antioxidants: These acts as a protective agent for your lips. For example, Vitamins C and E are ingredients that neutralize the free radicals that damage the skin’s elastin and collagen tissues.

4. Anti-aging Agents: These ingredients help to reduce the furrows or lines around the edges of your lips, they also help plump lips. Some examples include atelocollagen, hyaluronic acid, and dipalmitoyl hydroxyproline, etc.

5. Color Pigments: Color pigments are often mixed with lip gloss ingredients to provide various color variants and shades that make your lips look beautiful and shiny. They are also apparent in flavored lip gloss that is colored. Pigments are less common in nude lip gloss or clear lip gloss.

How to Apply Lip Gloss for Long Lasting Effect

Here are some simple steps on how you can apply most types of lip gloss in a manner that makes it stay on your lips for a while before you replenish it.

Step 1: Prep Your Lips

The first thing you have to do is prep your lips. However, if you have chapped or cracked lips, or any dead skin cells, then you have to gently scrub your lips to remove the dead dry skin before you go right on to prepping. As for prepping, massage a lip scrub all over your lips for two to three minutes, and then rinse it off.

Step 2: Soften Your Lips

Before applying your lip gloss, you have to make sure that your lips are softened. To do this, make use of a lip conditioner or a lip balm, it will make your lips soft, supple, and ready. However, let the lip balm stay on your lips for about a minute or two.

Step 3: Dab Off Excess Lip Balm

After applying your lip balm or lip conditioner, then dab off the excesses with a tissue. By doing this, you are preventing your lipstick from bleeding (if you are using one), also, it makes it easier for you to apply other products.

Step 4: Line Your Lips with a Lip Liner

Firstly, analyze the shape of your lips, then with a pencil in whatever color you prefer, start drawing the line from the center of your upper lip, then follow the natural line of your lip till you get to the corner of your lips. Do the exact same thing to your lower lip. You can also make use of the same lip liner as a kind of filler; this would make for a very nice base and help the lip color last longer.

Step 5: Apply Your Lipstick (Optional)

Although this is optional, applying the lipstick comes before the lip gloss if you plan on using one. Now, to apply the lipstick, make use of your lip brush and apply using short strokes and fill up your entire lips.

Step 6: Apply Your Lip Gloss

Finally, it is time to apply your lip gloss. Start applying from the center of your lips while dragging the sponge applicator along the length of your lips. Try not to apply the lip gloss above the natural line of your lips.

If you notice that the gloss is excess, then you can dab off the excesses with a tissue paper. By doing this, you are preventing the color from bleeding.

Benefits of Using Lip Gloss

Basically, lip gloss helps protect your lips against several unfavorable external factors. It also prevents your lips from getting all chapped, especially during harsh weather conditions.

Some of the other benefits of using lip gloss include:

1. It promotes speedy healing of the skin

According to research done by various dermatologists, the human skin heals faster when you keep it moist. Therefore, the benefits of using lip gloss include sealing the visible cracks on a chapped lips, which in turn prevent your lips from getting infected and other sorts of infection.

2. It makes your lips appear plump

Using lip gloss will give your lips a sweet moisturized and plump appearance, thereby helping you maintain a supple and youthful look.

3. It is very good for adding a glamorous shine to your lips

Nicely applied lip gloss can make your lips radiate nicely especially if the lip gloss is colored.

4. If you use a lip gloss, then you may skip the lip liner

Lip gloss can be a substitute for lip liner if you don’t want to use both of them at the same time, or you can pair it with your favorite lipstick. However, different people may have different preferences so do what makes you feel most comfortable.

5. You can carry your lip gloss around and it is easy to apply.

A lip gloss is one of those beauty accessories that you can carry along with you in your purse and use it whenever you need it. Lip gloss sets are great because you can put the individual glosses in different spaces, like your purse, work bag, and car, so you’re never without a tube. Don’t forget to carry a small mirror in your purse as well so that you can quickly check your lips whenever you apply your lip gloss. You can also find different types of lip gloss available in several beautiful colors and shades, and you can easily choose one that you prefer.

Can Lip Gloss Expire?

Have you ever wondered if lip gloss expires? The answer is yes, they do. And you don’t want to use an expired product on yourself, as it may cause infections, adverse skin issues, unwanted breakout, swelling, and soreness.

You may not find an expiry date on your gloss tube, however, there are some signs that can act as indicators for you to know when it’s time to replace your lip gloss. These indicators include:

The smell of the gloss

If your lip gloss has gone bad or expired, its usual sweet and flowery scent will turn sour. This is because of the fact that as the ingredients used in making the lip gloss age, they begin to break down and lose their initial fragrance. If your lip gloss has a rancid, foul odor, then do not apply it.

The texture of the gloss

Another indicator that your lip gloss may have expired is the change in its texture. The once smooth lip gloss will become either gritty, clumpy, or even watery. At this point, it will become unpleasant, and you wouldn’t want the clumpy mess on your lips. Keep in mind that glittery lip gloss may already have a gritty texture to begin with due to the glitter.

The color of the gloss

When you notice that your once clear lip gloss is now cloudy, or it appears to have gotten darker, then do not attempt to use it. It is either contaminated or the ingredients have used up their life span.

Different Lip Gloss Brands with their Active Ingredients

Most people usually consider things like color, fragrance, fluid thickness, etc. when buying lip gloss. If you are considering getting a lip gloss but don’t know which one to buy, then the information below may be useful to you. The active ingredients of some of the best lip gloss brands have been reviewed below and you can check it out and see the one that you prefer.

M3 Naturals Collagen Lip Plumper

Collagen Lip Plumper is made from 94 % natural ingredients like peppermint and sweet almond in addition to natural collagen-stimulating peptides and a hydrating lip complex that works to keep the lips hydrated, full, and smooth.

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Jane Iredale Lip Fixation Lip Stain/Gloss

This lip gloss combines long-lasting color pigments with a high shine sheer gloss to provide soft and charming lips with an alluring pout. It also contains ginger root extract that plumps up the lips and it is mixed with avocado oil for hydration.

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Buxom Full-On Plumping Lip Polish

Buxom plumping lip gloss contains Vitamins A and E which helps to provide long-lasting moisture, it also contains a unique peptide complex that works to produce full rounded soft, luscious, and sexy lips. It is available in various shades and finishes.

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Beauty Glazed Matte Nude Liquid Lipstick Lip Gloss Kit

Nice set of six (6) different lip glosses charming colors that are waterproof and easy to carry. You can mix and match the colors as desired and it is easy to remove as well. Exfoliate your lips before applying it for best results.

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Neutrogena Hydro Boost Moisturizing Lip Gloss

Neutrogena Hydro Boost Moisturizing Lip Gloss is made from ingredients that include castor seed oil and hyaluronic acid which conditions the lips to keep them moisturized and soft. It also contains pigments that tint and shine the lips to give a long-lasting high gloss finish.

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Kopari Coconut Lip Glossy Birthday Suit

Kompari Coconut Lip Gloss is made from hydrating and moisturizing coconut oil, Vitamin E, and shea butter. It is sulfate-free and without any GMO products or ingredients. It locks in moisture on your lips keeping them moisturized, supple, smooth and shiny.

It is available in various shades and colors.

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LipSense Lip Gloss

The main ingredient in this lip gloss is shea butter which works to soften and protect the lips (skin) from chapping because of its Vitamin E contents which also serves as a potent antioxidant. Another main ingredient in this product is synthetic beeswax which serves as an emollient over the lips and it also locks in moisture to prevent the lips from getting dry. It is available in different colors and shades.

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Broadway Vita-Lip Clear Lip Gloss

This product contains meadowfoam seed oil, jojoba oil, and coconut oil. It also contains Vitamin A and works effectively to reduce fine lines on lips, hydrates, and locks in the moisture on the lips. The five-piece set is available in mint oil, rosehip oil, mango butter, coconut oil, and argan oil variants.

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