Strip off with this summer’s sheerest glosses and new sheen mattes, guaranteed to take you from the beach to the beach bar in 60-seconds or less – and extra points for being way easier to wear in hot and humid weather than a full-on red.
THE LUXE BALM-MEETS-RICH GLOSS
URBAN DECAY’S NAKED ULTRA-NOURISHING LIP GLOSS contains hyaluronic filling spheres for plumping and hydrating, avocado and shea butter for keeping lips soft. £14 each, in 7 shades at Debenhams and other retailers.
THE SUPER BARE SUPER GLOSS
Affordably luxe, beautifully bare, this shade’s on our auto-reorder list! Daniel Sandler Super Glosses, wear them bare, with a lip pencil or layered over lipstick for a more defined look come cocktail hour. £11.20 (shade shown: Super Bare)
THE ORIGINAL NUDE
What happens when a creamy balm delivers the pigment load of a lipstick? This.
Lots of STILA shades to choose from at M&S but this one, Olivia, is the truest nude of the lot. We also love the peppermint oil formula and the mirrored cap for on-the-go touch ups (yes why don’t more lip brands do this?)
THE SHEEN SUPREMES
There are a lot more MAC Sheen Supreme lip shades than these but we thought we’d highlight the creamy coffees and melted chocs. Creamy in texture, well pigmented, these are more like a super shiny lipstick but they’re definitely not sheer – they really cover – so if you’re not in the market for a very sheer gloss but love a comfortable creamy layer on your lips which delivers definitive colour, these should float your boat. £16.50. Having said that, the cases are very “plastic” and a bit cheap looking which is a shame – especially when you consider the price, so these lose points on the handbag glam factor scale.
A little pink, a little beige, and very summer-by-the-coast: Impressive
Can’t Get Enough
Verging on mandarin territory but keeping it light, Gotta Dash is a pale clean coral
THE CULT (BEAUTY) LIP BALM TRIO
Hello…yes, we like! Haven’t tried all of these yet so we can’t vouch for the taste, texture or shades but they look nice and whatever Cult Beauty stocks is 99.9% of the time a hit with us. A true vintage beauty brand and now 110 years old, Smiths Rosebud Salve is a regular in the Top 10 Cult Products of All Time lists. £22.50 for the trio, and a fab gift, or keep two and give the third to a friend.
Which naked shades are you currently loving which we’ve missed off this list? Apparently it’s National Lipstick Day today, 29 July, to mark 91 years of lipstick, the affordable cheerer-upper, and it’s still flying off shelves. x
