Lip Oil vs. Lip Gloss: High Shine and Ultra Hydration Comparison
One of the most amazing (and most overwhelming) parts of the makeup world is the sheer abundance of products to choose from.
Take just lip products, for example. There’s lip balm, lip liner, lipstick, lip gloss, lip oil, lip masks… the list goes on and on.
We could spend days going through the pros and cons of different types of makeup products, but for today, we’ll focus on just two: Lip oil and lip gloss. Here’s everything you need to know about these products, including how they work, their similarities and differences, and recommendations for some of our very favorite lippies.
What Is Lip Oil?
While lip gloss has been around forever, lip oil is pretty new to the scene. At this point, though, we can’t imagine living without it!
Lip oil is like a cross between skincare and makeup. It provides moisture and hydration, but it also creates a flattering, sometimes tinted finish that doubles as makeup. It tends to be less sticky or goopy-looking, which can be nice for your day-to-day makeup.
Lip Gloss vs. Lip Oil
You can experiment and figure out how you like to incorporate each product into your own makeup routine, but we like to think of lip oil and lip gloss as the perfect day-to-night product combo.
Lip oil is thinner, sheerer, and developed to lock in moisture, making it ideal for everyday use when your look might be a bit more lowkey and relaxed.
On the other hand, lip gloss tends to be thicker, tackier, and more pigmented, sometimes including glitter flakes or other fun features. It also tends to be more eye-catching and high-shine, making it perfect for pairing with a higher-drama eye look, such as pigmented glitter eyeshadow or mega-volume magnetic falsies.
You can also combine lip gloss and lip oil — but if you do so, we recommend layering your lip gloss on top of your lip oil. This helps make sure your lips are hydrated and smooth for your lip gloss application.
What Are Some Lip Products To Try?
Alright, you’ve got a feel for the difference between these two products – now, how do you choose the right one? Lucky for you, thinking about makeup is basically all we do, so we’ve put together a helpful roundup of some of our star student lip oils and glosses.
A Lip Oil That’s Easy To Use
If you’re looking for an easy entry into the wonderful world of lip oils, we recommend our Good Times Roll Lip Oil, AKA the perfect 24/7 lip oil. This lippie soothes, moisturizes, and conditions dry lips, sealing in all that hydration with a high-shine finish sure to turn heads.
The formulation of this lip oil is intentionally free of alcohol, talc, and gluten, so there is no need to worry about any inadvertent irritation from your daily lip routine. We particularly love the roller ball applicator, making dispensing the oil onto your lips easy peasy.
The Only Lip Oil Set You’ll Ever Need
If you can’t limit yourself to just one lip oil (we feel ya), try our Sunday Picnic Layer Cake Lip Oil Set! This trio of delicious lip oils includes three different scents: Chocolate, Cherry, and Rainbow Cake, meaning you can smell like your favorite dessert while simultaneously nourishing and hydrating your lips.
One of the reasons we (and our customers) love this lip oil formulation so much is because it’s packed with high-quality moisturizing ingredients, including sweet almond oil, coconut oil, and Plantasens Olive Squalane.
Squalane is particularly effective at hydration and healing but traditionally is harvested from sharks. The type of squalane we use, though, comes from olive plants instead. It turns out that healthy lips and healthy sharks can go hand-in-hand.
The best part of this lippie set is the mix-and-match potential the three different shades offer. Shade Rainbow Cake is a lightly glittered soft pink that applies sparkly and nearly sheer onto your lips. Shade Cherry is a sheer, high-shine red, while shade Chocolate applies as a subtle brown. Don’t be afraid to play around with the different shades until you find a color combo just right for you!
A Viral Glitter Lip Oil
Perhaps our most popular lip oil, the Jelly Wow Hydrating Lip Oil comes in the cutest stacked-triangle container, available in a range of shades. There’s clear glaze “Loco For Coco”; honey-gold shade “Grapefruit Glow”; baby pink “Berry Involved”; tropical blue “Mali-Blue Berry”; sour apple scented “Green Apple Envy”; and our three brand-new glitter shades, “Pinkies Up,” “Princess Vibes,” and “Strike Gold.” Plus, this lip oil is available in tinted shades, too.
Aside from the adorable packaging and awesome shade range, one of the reasons this lip oil is so popular is the nourishing formula.
Like our Sunday Picnic set, this lippie contains (olive-sourced) squalane but also boasts sodium hyaluronate for an extra boost of hydration. The glitter in our three sparkly shades is made of ultra-fine reflective pieces, meaning it applies smoothly to your lips without feeling clumpy or overly tacky the way some glitter lip products can be.
If you love your lip gloss and are on the fence about giving up that shine for a lip oil, take our word for it – the Jelly Wow Hydrating Lip Oil is the perfect blend of both products, and is a great way to try out a lip oil without giving up the high-def shine you love.
Our Favorite Plumping Lip Gloss
With literally thousands of videos and tutorials on TikTok and Instagram, plumping lip glosses could not be any trendier.
Why? Because these high-shine, glitter lip glosses are inexpensive alternatives to maybe the most popular cosmetic procedure on the market, the lip injection.
With a plumping lip gloss, you can mimic the effects of getting your lips done for a tiny fraction of the cost. Plus, some of us are addicted to the slight burning sensation that comes along with plumping gloss, okay? We listen and we don’t judge.
If you’re new to plumping lip gloss and looking for somewhere to start, we recommend our straightforward Hot Goss Plumping Lip Gloss. This gloss comes in three different shades (clear “That’s Juicy,” pink “Oh Em Gee,” and baby blue shimmer “Ice Queen”) as well as a multipack with two different shades included.
The high-shine formula is packed with jojoba seed oil, coconut oil, and squalane to help lock in moisture and keep your lips healthy long after the gloss itself has faded away. It also includes a lip peptide, which is what produces that addictive tingly feeling and plumps up your lips for the faux-injection look. Simply apply the gloss, wait 15-20 seconds, and voila – a whole new you.
(Pro tip: Wait at least a minute before applying any other lip product, like lip liner or lipstick. This will give the gloss enough time to sink in and keep your lips flawless all night long.)
A Parting Note
When it comes to trying new makeup styles and products, the number one thing on our minds is confidence.
Which look makes you feel the most confident? What styles make you feel the most like yourself? At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what’s new or trending – what matters is that you look and feel your best.
So, yes, try new things, get out of your comfort zone, and play around with makeup. But know that ultimately, the right product for you is the one that makes you feel as confident as ever. We can’t wait for you to find it.