These Lip Glosses Are the Very Definition of Glossy

“My lip gloss is popping. My lip gloss is cool.” In 2007, Lil Mama gave us the banger “Lip Gloss,” not only proving that she had the glossiest lips but also convincing viewers that we all needed to go out immediately and buy lip gloss to sing along to the song while applying. Like many other things, nostalgia has folks looking to the aughts for beauty inspiration, which includes bringing back people’s love for glossy lips. The 2010s may have been the rise of matte liquid lipsticks, but the 2020s are the decade of lip gloss.

But now’s the time to forget everything you know about lip gloss of the early 2000s because the shiny lip color has literally glowed up a whole lot since then. These modern glosses deliver shine so juicy it’s nearly pornographic, offering every imaginable finish and level of pigmentation, plus moisturizing ingredients in a whole new (not to mention less sticky) way — and we’re 100 percent here for them. That’s not to say we’re over some of the original formulas we first fell in love with, like Lancôme’s Juicy Tubes (which, if you didn’t know, made a comeback in 2020).

“People like gloss because it’s casual, needs no instruction, and is a kind of treat,” New York-based makeup artist Tommy Napoli says. There are so many options on the market that it can get overwhelming trying to find the best ones. Are you a fan of shimmers or prefer sparkle-free formulas? Maybe you’re looking for a bit more pigment rather than the completely sheer glosses. If you’re stuck, Napoli recommends looking for moisturizing ingredients and practical applicators (he’s personally a fan of wand applicators).

To make it just a bit easier, we’re coming at you with the crème de la crème — or gloss de la gloss — so the next time you’re in the market for a new lip gloss, you know exactly the one for you.