The best lip gloss you can buy

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The best lip gloss you can buy

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  • Lip gloss is so 1999, but that's a great thing to be in the year 2019.
  • Glossy lips are fully back in style, and the latest formulas are all grown up.
  • The Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer is the most beloved option on the market, known for its high-shine formula that's comfortable to wear because it isn't sticky.

Like many people born in the early '90s, my first forays into makeup involved body glitter and lip gloss. I'm still mourning the shimmery tube of cake-flavored gloss from BonneBell that rolled under the TV stand in my childhood bedroom, never to be seen or heard from again (until we moved that piece of furniture, I guess).

These days I'm more of a cream lipstick or subtle stain kind of woman. I prefer formulas that are less like magnets for stray hairs. But the latest crop of sophisticated lip glosses on store shelves has me revisiting my first beauty love more often these days.

Of course, all lip gloss is inherently a little bit sticky and usually pleather-pants shiny. That's the look! But these newer formulas are a step up in terms of comfort, pigment, and staying power.

Here are the best lip glosses you can buy in 2019:

Keep scrolling to check out our top picks.

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Disclosure: This post is brought to you by the Insider Picks team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners. We frequently receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising sales team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at insiderpicks@businessinsider.com.

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The best overall

The best overall
The Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer comes in three neutral, universally flattering shades with a high-shine finish.

Rarely in my life have I heard so many people agree on the merits of a single beauty product before the Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer. Everyone from YouTubers to beauty editors to Sephora customers seems to adore this stuff.

This is a high-shine lip gloss available in three shades: the original rosy nude Fenty Glow, pearly Diamond Milk, and pink FU$$Y. The pared-down color range is actually a plus in this case because each color is specifically crafted to look good on just about any skin tone.

Better yet, the formula is chock full of shea butter and made without parabens and phthalates, so it's comfortable to wear on even the most sensitive lips.

"Never met a gloss quite like this one. Slides on smooth with an extra wide wand to cover the entire lip in one swoop. A little sticky, then perfectly melts into the lip with a glossy, shiny shimmery finish. Somehow this looks good on every skin color, I'm dark, my daughter is olive tone, and my bff is ivory. It's like Sisterhood of the Traveling Lip Gloss," writes one Sephora reviewer.

Gloss Bomb has an average 4.7-star rating on Sephora based on 8,000 reviews and has been recommended by editors at Byrdie, Allure, Seventeen, The Strategist, and more. "The best part is that it's not sticky, so I never have to worry about my hair getting stuck on my lips," writes Glamour producer Khaliha Hawkins.

Pros: Universally flattering shades, moisturizing shea butter, cruelty-free

Cons: Pricey, only three colors

Buy Fenty Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer Lip Gloss on Sephora for $18

The best drugstore lip gloss

The best drugstore lip gloss
NYX Butter Gloss is a $5 lip gloss that stands up to its pricier competition in terms of quality and color selection.

NYX Butter Gloss is a pigmented, sheer-to-medium coverage gloss with a buttery smooth finish that only costs $5 a pop. Not only is it one of the most affordable options out there, even at the drugstore, it's one of the best as well.

I personally love the color selection, which includes 24 shades that range from fuchsia to purple to brown nude. As with all NYX products, these are cruelty-free and PETA-certified, making them a great choice for vegans or anyone else who cares about animals.

The product has an overall 4.6 rating on Ulta based on more than 3,800 reviews. "This has been the best affordable lip gloss across the board for years. Great colors, great consistency (not sticky), it isn't long lasting but it is a gloss not a stain so one can expect that," writes one shopper.

The publication Byrdie named Butter Gloss "best pigmented" and the formula has also been recommended by InStyle, Allure, and Seventeen.

Pros: Affordable, pigmented, 24 colors, PETA-certified

Cons: No sheer options for layering over lipstick

Buy NYX Butter Gloss on Ulta for $5
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The best long-lasting lip gloss

The best long-lasting lip gloss
Marc Jacobs Enamored Hi-Shine Lip Lacquer is a comfortable, long-lasting lip gloss available in tons of unique shades.

Marc Jacobs Enamored Hi-Shine Lip Lacquer is the only high-end lip gloss I would deem truly worth the price tag. The color selection is stunning and unique, and the formula is comfortable and long-lasting, especially for a lip gloss.

There are two finishes: shimmer and high-shine. My favorite shade is French Tickler, which is an extremely unique peach with little flecks of blue glitter. Overall, the range has 38 shades. Formulated with the brand's Triple Shine Complex, "a blend of high-performance ingredients that provide unstoppable wear and shine," these are extremely comfortable.

Like all lip glosses, they fade a bit with eating and drinking, but after the initial transfer, they last a long time on the lips.

"This lip gloss is hands down the best lip gloss I've ever tried [...] There is a slight mint smell but no smell. Is thicker gloss that lasts all day but it's not sticky!" writes one Sephora shopper.

The lip gloss has a 4.5 rating based on 999 reviews and has received an Allure Best of Beauty award two years in a row.

Pros: 38 shades, two finishes, unique colors, long-lasting, comfortable

Cons: Expensive

Buy Marc Jacobs Enamored Hi-Shine Lip Lacquer on Sephora for $28

The best clear lip gloss

The best clear lip gloss
Glossier Lip Gloss is the clear gloss you've been dreaming of since high school.

Glossier Lip Gloss is only available in one (non) shade, but it's the ultimate clear lip gloss. The gloss looks pink in the tube yet goes on sheer with that extreme high-shine finish that looks but doesn't feel gloppy.

As usual, Glossier focused on making one universal must-have rather than a wide variety. But the company really nailed it.

The vitamin E in the formula keeps lips hydrated no matter how often you reapply and the pink packaging looks like the grown-up version of my favorite BonneBell gloss from childhood. It's also human and animal-friendly: hypoallergenic, cruelty-free, and vegan.

"This lip gloss is so comfy to wear and it stays on for about 2 hours! It is moderately sticky, but c'mon its a lip gloss. It isn't glittery at all either, its just pure shine," writes one Glossier shopper. Stylecraze says, "This clear lip gloss from Glossier stands out owing to its amazing texture and staying power."

Other publications that have recommended the gloss include Cosmopolitan UK, Seventeen, and Allure.

Pros: Affordable, hydrating, not too sticky

Cons: Only one shade

Buy Lip Gloss on Glossier for $14
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The best plumping lip gloss

The best plumping lip gloss
Buxom Full-On Plumping Lip Polish gives you intense shine with a temporary lip plumping effect.

Lip glosses, by nature, make your lips look fuller. The shiny finish tends to give off a plumping optical illusion. Buxom Full-On Plumping Lip Polish combines that with an actual pout-enhancing effect.

Be warned: You'll feel a tingling sensation when you first apply this, but it's a totally normal side-effect of the plumping ingredients. To counteract any adverse effects, the formula is also packed with hydrating vitamin A and E. There are a ton of colors in metallic, shimmer, and high-shine finishes.

"The peptide and hyaluronic acid booster within the product boosts natural collagen creation, which is what gives your pout a plumper appearance," explains Byrdie's Chloe Anello, who also named the product the best plumping gloss on the market.

I first heard about the Lip Polish on Jaclyn Hill's makeup channel circa 2015. It currently has an average of 4.6 stars on Sephora, based on 11,000 reviews.

Pros: Plumping effect, tons of shades and three finishes, contains moisturizing vitamin A and E

Cons: Tingles lips, expensive

Buy Buxom Full-On Plumping Lip Polish on Sephora for $21

What else we considered

What else we considered

These are some other highly-rated lip glosses that didn't quite make our best-of list.

  • Marc Jacobs Enamored Hydrating Lip Gloss Stick ($28): Marc Jacobs' other lip gloss formula is also highly rated, but it has a smaller color selection than the one featured as a top pick. Since I didn't have the chance to test it myself to see how it compares, I feel more confident recommending the other one, which I know is fantastic. Though reviewers enjoy the mess-free tube rather than doe-foot applicator, several complain about the fact that you can't retract the bullet once you wind it up.
  • Glossier Play Vinylic Lip ($16): I considered including this newish launch of Glossier's off-shoot brand Play because it's one of my favorite lip formulas. However, it's not quite as glossy as a true lip gloss (though it's a great option for those who love shine but hate stickiness).
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