Do lip oils deserve a place in your make-up bag?

From masks and scrubs to balms, there are enough lip care products in the market to confuse you. One of the most popular lip products right now is the lip oil. Lighter than balms and easy to apply like a gloss, lip oils penetrate the lips quicker than heavier balms, and provide instant hydration and plumpness. 

Several come in natural tints, so you can use them for a grocery run or to top your lipstick for that extra high gloss. They nourish the lips longer and are glossier than tints, giving them another edge. 

With so many new launches by cosmetic brands, we tried six new lip oils and compared them to classics to pick a favourite.

The classics

The reason we start with classics is to set a benchmark for the newbies. The luxe options in this category are the Dior Lip Glow Oil if you want long-lasting hydration for multiple hours and high gloss, and Clarins Lip Comfort Oil Shimmer, a great replacement for a shimmery lip gloss. 

Rare Beauty’s Soft Pinch Lip Oil offers an instant plump with a natural tint but needs to be reapplied soon. A budget-friendly and probably one of the first Indian launches was Kay Beauty’s lip oil, a good lightweight, long-lasting hydrating oil.

Pomegranate Sheen by 82ºE

The newest launch from actor Deepika Padukone’s 82ºE brand is also a lip oil. Pomegranate Sheen has SPF 15 PA ++, so it also works as a lip screen. The hero (and only) ingredients mentioned on the packaging (a tube that comes in a cardboard box, which the brand can do without, considering they it claims to be eco-conscious) are pomegranate and ceramides. So, we visit their website to check the full list of ingredients, while we swipe the oil for testing. Somewhere in the middle of the list, we see the hero ingredients; rest are regular lip oil and gloss ingredients, commonly seen in almost all other lip oils, even ones that cost ₹1,000 less. 

The texture is a surprise—it’s probably the thickest lip oil we have tried and feels more like a long lasting lip treatment. 

Unlike other oils, go easy on the application, or the product will feel heavy. We wipe off the excess (which leaves a strong taste), slowly seeing lines fade away and our lips look plump. The oil fades away without being sticky and leaves lips plump and soft for many hours. 

The second day of use is even better, a sign of a decent oil. At ₹1,500 for 6 ml, this product is up there in the Clarins price range. It has no tint, so if you are looking for a thick, glossy treatment oil with SPF which naturally plumps lips, this might work for you.

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Mon Cherry Illuminating Lip Oil by Quench

Quench Botanics’ USP is selling Korean-style (and manufactured) skincare designed for Indian skin, with actor Kareena Kapoor Khan as an investor and co-owner. 

On offer is the Mon Cherry Illuminating Lip Oil, with cherry blossom, grapefruit, patchouli oil and pearl as the hero nourishing ingredients. The first and main ingredient though are the same as every other brand’s (Polyisobutene). The oil is affordably priced at ₹599 for 5ml. It doesn’t have a visible tint and goes smoothly in a swipe. It instantly offers high gloss, but feels lightweight, and makes lip lines disappear. The oil fades gently over three hours, and when off, lips still feel plump and smooth, without the need for immediate reapplication. It’s a good oil/clear gloss in the price range.

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Mega Hype Colour Changing Lip Oil

Colour-changing tints and oil, which react to your skin’s pH, have gone viral. And Sugar Play, a make-up brand targeted towards teens has also launched a colour-changing oil. It’s priced at ₹599 for 4.4 ml (Sugar Play is also by Velvette Lifestyle, which owns Sugar and Quench). The packaging is the coolest of the lot; it can easily be a prop on Star Trek’s Starship Enterprise. 

The oil is light to apply and develops a bright pop of pink after a few minutes, a good summer shade. The oil wears off post two hours, but it leaves a natural tint, leaving lips pink and soft. If you like a natural tint in your lip products, choose this over the Quench oil, both are priced the same.

Nykaa Lip Glaze

Nykaa’s Lip Glaze is a pigmented oil designed to deliver moisture and colour. It comes in five dessert-ey shades. It has a thick yet light consistency that glides easily. The website lists three oils and vitamin C as the hero ingredients, but doesn’t mention the full list of ingredients. 

We try the shade Cherry Custard, a luscious watermelon red that delivers a lot of colour in one swipe. The oil fades close to the two-hour mark and needs to be reapplied but leaves a gentle tint. At ₹599 for 7ml, the lip glaze is a gloss and oil hybrid that delivers a punchy colour.

Lotus Make-up Tinted Lip Oil

The shade range in Lotus’ tinted oil category, priced at ₹675 for 6.5 ml, leaves much to be desired, but it’s the lightest oil we try on this new list. The oil is so light, it feels like you are applying a cooling tint, but it leaves a light layer to protect your lips. Once again, there’s no ingredient list, and the website states hyaluronic acid, Japanese Sakura extract, vitamin E and castor oil as the main ingredients. The hydrating effect lasts for an hour and a half and needs reapplication. If you dislike heavy lip products, this feels the lightest on our lips.

PH-Play Lip and Cheek Oil by Kiro

This is a relatively older launch (priced at ₹800 for 5.5 ml), but makes it to this list, as it is one of our favourites. The colour-changing oil can be used on the lips and cheeks, and gives a vibrant tint and keeps the lips soft for many hours. Avocado and moringa oil are its promoted ingredients. The rest of the main ingredients are almost the same as other oils.

Dhara Vora Sabhnani is a Mumbai-based writer.

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