Clear lip gloss has been around for years, and it’s a staple in many beauty fanatics’ makeup collections! It’s a versatile product that can be used on bare lips or layered over any lipstick for a glamorous high shine finish!
I’ve heard more than one makeup artist say that a good clear lip gloss deserves a permanent spot in your makeup bag. It’s the perfect finish to follow up your favorite lipstick but also a great option for a simple casual look.
How I Tested
As a mom of 3, I don’t always have the time for a full face of makeup but you better believe I have time for a little lip gloss! I’ve tested tons of lip glosses to find the top ones to share with you. Here is what I looked for:
- Moisturizing Ingredients – Nobody likes lipgloss that actually makes your lips drier than before you applied. I looked for gloss that made my lips feel moisturized and soft.
- Non-Sticky Feel – Does it glide on easy and not make you feel like you’re wearing glue?
- How Long it Lasts – While let’s be clear, sometimes the less sticky it is, the shorter it stays on. I tried to find glosses that were a good balance of the two.
- Cost – Is it affordable yet still a good quality? Expensive but worth the price? I’m willing to spend a bit more for a really good quality product but it needs to prove itself!
Let’s get to the best clear lip glosses I put to the test.
11 Top Clear Lip Glosses
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1. Best Overall: Kosas Wet Lip Oil Plumping Treatment Gloss
- Hyaluronic Acid: Attracts water and locks in hydration.
- Peptides: Visibly plump.
- Evening Primrose Oil: Protects.
- Free of sulfates SLS and SLES and parabens.
- This product is also vegan and cruelty-free.
If you’re looking for a gloss that also treats your lips, this is one of the best lip glosses! It’s made with hyaluronic acid, peptides, evening primrose oil and other botanicals that will leave your lips plump, hydrated and smooth!
Kosas Wet Lip Oil Gloss goes on smooth and is hydrating. There’s no stickiness or heaviness to it, just lightweight and moisturizing. It’s a medium shine to it and it lasts for a really long time!
2. Best Budget: Essence Extreme Shine Volume Lipgloss
- Reformulated Shine Shine Shine lipgloss with improved texture
- Provides maximum volume
- Gives lips a natural glow
- Recycled cap saves approximately 40 tons of virgin plastic per year
- Cruelty-free
$3.99?? Who can say no to such a fantastic price? Essence’s lip gloss is one of the most inexpensive, high-quality glosses available at the drugstore!
The Essence ultra-affordable gloss maximizes your lip’s natural volume while leaving a nice natural glow that has a bit of a sparkle to it. It has a lightweight gel texture that goes on a little bit thick but not sticky. It’s also formulated without animal by-products, oils, parabens, or preservatives.
What’s even better is that you can feel good about your purchase too! The gloss comes in carbon-neutral packaging and a recycled cap that saves approximately 40 tons of virgin plastic per year!
3. Most Loved on TikTok: DIOR Addict Lip Glow Oil
The Dior Addict Lip Glow lip balm is available as a glossy lip oil that deeply protects and enhances the lips, lastingly bringing out their natural color.
If you love rocking the “my lips, but better” look, make sure you grab one of Dior’s Addict Lip Glow Oils! It’s an Allure Best of Beauty award winner and went viral on TikTok in 2023. It has been selling out in store ever since, and if you keep your eye out, you might get lucky and be able to snag one for yourself!
The magnificent DIOR lip gloss is enriched with cherry oil to protect the lips against environmental stressors and keeps them plump and hydrated. In addition, it leaves behind a beautiful high-shine finish without any tackiness. It also has a unique Color Reviver technology that shifts the shade of the gloss as it interacts with your lips to amplify and enhance the natural color of your lips! I notice that my lips look more reddish whenever I wear it.
The applicator brush on it is big compared to most lip glosses! It goes on so smooth and feels incredibly hydrating when it’s on. It has a very faint minty-vanilla scent but I don’t notice it after applying it. There’s only a very slight minty taste to it as well.
This one lasts super long and is one that I reach for over and over.
4. Best Clean: Tower 28 Beauty ShineOn Jelly Lip Gloss
- High Shine Finish
- Gluten Free and Vegan
- Includes apricot kernel oil, raspberry seed oil and roeship oil
Tower 28’s Jelly Lip Gloss is fantastic if you want clean beauty! It’s part of the Clean at Sephora collection, which means that it is formulated without certain ingredients that can be harmful to both human and environmental health.
The Tower 28 lip gloss is enriched with apricot kernel, raspberry seed, and rosehip oil to hydrate and repair the lips. It has a unique milky texture that combines the look of a traditional gloss with the comfort of a lip balm for a nourishing product without sacrificing fabulous shine! It gives a really great shine.
It glides on smoothly and doesn’t leave behind a tacky finish but does feel a bit thick on your lips. It’s long-lasting and I don’t feel like I need to reapply often but it does have a shorter shelf life because it doesn’t contain any preservatives. Don’t buy too many at once to use them up before they expire.
5. Best Tasting: CoverGirl Clean Fresh Yummy Gloss
- Lip gloss infused with hyaluronic acid, acai, goji and black elderberries
- Juicy looking lips
- Non-sticky, lightweight feel
- Delicious flavors and natural scents: berry gloss, coconut gloss & pineapple gloss
- Doe-foot applicator applies just the right amount of gloss to the lips
- Gluten-Free
- Vegan gloss free of parabens, sulfates, talc, mineral oil
- Leaping Bunny Approved by Cruelty-Free International (CFI)
A tight budget doesn’t mean that you can’t look and feel like a million bucks! CoverGirl is the largest makeup brand to be Leaping Bunny Certified by Cruelty-Free International. That’s huge!
On to the gloss. This Covergirl gloss feels very hydrating on but definitely feels a little thick when you apply it. It feels a bit more like a lip oil than a lip gloss. It has a high shine that really makes your lips look amazing.
As you can tell by the name, it definitely has a scent and taste to it. My 6 year old daughter used it once and now is constantly asking to wear it since she loves the taste! It has a bit of a pineappley smell and taste to it.
It lasts a really long time and is an overall great gloss!
6. Best Overnight: C.O. Bigelow My Favorite Night Balm
- 8 hour overnight recovery - My Favorite Night Balm
- 100% natural flavor
- Not tested on animals
Do you suffer from dry lips? C.O. Bigelow’s My Favorite Night Balm is one of the best overnight recovery balms but you can use it to both moisturize your lips and give it shine throughout the day. It’s enriched with 5% shea butter and other emollients to give your lips some intense nourishment!
While it’s very thick, it’s not sticky and has a subtle flavor. It doesn’t leave behind a super high-shine finish but a more natural shine. This one feels amazing on – you can tell it’s working at moisturizing your lips!
7. Best Drugstore: NYX Lingerie Lip Gloss
- Wide variety of highly pigmented nude lipstick colors
- Long-lasting, lightweight, no-smudge formula
- Matte finish
- Enriched with Vitamin E
- Cruelty-free
- Vegan formula*
If you’re looking for a lip gloss with a silky texture, you can’t go wrong with NYX’s Lingerie Lip Gloss. It has a smooth texture that glides effortlessly across your lips! It doesn’t leave a sticky residue and has a lovely subtle shine. It is long lasting and I don’t find myself feeling like I need to reapply it often.
The one negative to this is the taste. While no, you’re not eating it, it is on your lips and this one has a bit of a not so great taste to it. It goes away within a few minutes but worth noting!
All of NYX’s products are cruelty-free. While they’re not Leaping Bunny approved, they have official certification from PETA.
8. Best Shine: MAC Lipglass Clear
- Glass-like shine
- High-coverage colour
- Conditions lips
- Smooths lips
MAC’s Lipglass gloss gives you one of the most high shine looks out of all of the glosses listed. It gives you instant glass-like shine that lasts a really long time. It goes on thick, one of the thickest of the glosses listed here, but the amount of shine makes up for the thick feel.
It’s moisturizing and hydrating and doesn’t feel like it’s drying out my lips. It’s very concentrated so only use a little bit!
9. Best Long Wearing: Sephora Collection – Glossed Lip Gloss
- A high-shine, cushion-like lip gloss
- Long-lasting
- Non-sticky
- Never bleeds into lip lines
Don’t want to drop too much money on clear lip glosses? Sephora Collection is known for creating high-quality, high-performance cosmetics at an affordable price!
Sephora Collection’s Glossed Lip Gloss is a high-shine lip gloss with a long-wearing formula. It glides onto the lips effortlessly, doesn’t bleed into lip lines, and doesn’t leave behind any unpleasant tacky or sticky finish. In addition, it’s enriched with watermelon seed oil to hydrate the lips!
My one negative about this gloss is that when you first put it on it has a bit of a gritty feel to it. I’m not sure if that is the watermelon seed oil or what but it’s definitely noticeable. Again, it goes away after a bit but is definitely there in the beginning.
10. Best for Fuller Looking Lips: Too Faced Lip Injection Extreme Lip Plumper
- Delivers both immediate and long-term plumping with scientifically proven, advanced lip volumizing technologies.
- Naturally and dramatically hydrates, nourishes and increases lip volume.
Want fuller lips? Too Faced Lip Injection Extreme Lip Plumper gloss will make your lips look fuller without committing to filler! A blend of capsicum and collagen will instantly plump lips while vitamin E, avocado, and organic jojoba oils hydrate!
This Too Faced gloss is a holy grail amongst the beauty community not only because of its instant plumping effect but also for its beautiful shine without any lingering stickiness! The shine is on the more minimal side but long-lasting.
However, keep in mind that this lip gloss can leave behind an intense tingling sensation for about 10 minutes after application. So make sure you only apply it to the lips and avoid the skin outside the lip line. If you find it highly uncomfortable, you should discontinue using it.
11. Best Dual: Revlon Colorstay Overtime Lip Color
- 99% of its ingredients being moisturizing (including vitamin E and chamomile extract)
- Upgraded top coat with antioxidant vitamin E for even more comfort (plus moisture!)
- 16 hour wear
Get the best of both worlds with Revlon’s ColorStay Overtime Lip Color! It’s the perfect versatile lip product that allows you to transform your look with just a single swipe! The product is dual-ended, with liquid lipstick on one side and a shiny clear glossy lip topcoat on the other side!
Wear the Revlon ColorStay clear gloss alone for a natural look, or layer it over the color for a high-shine look with 16-hour staying power! The clear topcoat contains squalene, chamomile extract, and fennel to keep your lips hydrated and supple!
The brush is seemingly like a paint brush but doesn’t spread as easily as I would hope. Overall it’s a very thin brush. It is non-sticky and feels great on though with great shine to it.
FAQ
Clear lip gloss is absolutely worth it! It’s the perfect way to elevate your natural beauty without additional products. Use it on “no makeup” days for a little subtle glamour and a glossy finish!
While there are so many fabulous options to choose from when looking for the glossiest lip gloss, Fenty Beauty’s Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer just can’t be beat!
Like all cosmetics, clear lip gloss is designed to enhance your beauty! Use it alone to enhance your natural lip color, layer over lipstick for a high-shine finish, or get creative and layer over eyeshadow for a vogue-inspired glossy lid!
Like any makeup or skincare item, a lip gloss formula varies by brand. However, all lip glosses are composed of these three essential components: emollients (oils), thickeners (waxes and clays), and pigments (iron oxide or mica).
Clear lip gloss is the MVP in your makeup collection! It’s perfect for those “no makeup” days when you want a little extra and the ideal way to amplify the finishes of lipsticks that you already have!
If you’re looking for more lip content, check out the top 10 DIY lip masks or learn the difference between lip balm and chapstick!
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