The Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Perfect Lip Product

Finishing off your makeup look with a lip sounds simple, but with so many different formulas to choose from—Oils! Glosses! Balms! Lipstick! Stains!—it's really a more complex decision. But all of these products have their own niche in the makeup world. When it comes to lip products, like most other cosmetic genres, it’s even fair to say that form follows function, so knowing the type of lip look you want to create will make it easier to land on the right formula.

Whether you’re a bold red lip lover or prefer a glossy, popsicle-stained pout, we can help. Ahead, we’re breaking down some of the most popular types of lip products, what they do, and how to use them. You’ll even find some shopping suggestions that’ll make your hunt for the perfect lip even easier.

Lip Oil

If you love a popsicle-stained, high-shine lip look, do not sleep on lip oils. While the format is certainly trendy, we consider lip oil to be a makeup staple. Lip oil offers up a unique benefit compared to other lip products. A cross between a lip gloss and a lip balm, lip oils offer intense moisture to your lips while leaving behind a lustrous, glassy finish and a pop of color. We consider our new Legendary Lip Oil to be a hybrid between makeup and skincare. Infused with bitter cherry seed oil, organic jojoba oil, and our signature RMS adaptogenic herbal blend, our Legendary Lip Oil deeply hydrates, smooths, conditions, and revitalizes lips while leaving behind the prettiest pop of buildable color and a non-sticky, high-shine finish. All eight shades are naturally flavored with a hint of delicious organic vanilla extract.

“There is no lip oil that feels like this one,” says our founder and master makeup artist Rose-Marie Swift. “It’s the most seductive way to add a sheer veil of color that also nourishes your lips. These are made with plant cellulose which creates a sensual slippery effect that’s never sticky.”

How to Apply Lip Oil

Step 1: On clean, bare lips, use the jumbo doe-foot wand applicator to apply the Legendary Lip Oil, starting in the center of the upper lip and following the contours of the month. Then, glide across the entire bottom lip.

Step 2: Layer the Legendary Lip Oil over your favorite lipstick or lip liner to intensity the color or give your lips a glassy finish.

Lip Gloss

Traditionally, lip gloss is the lip format you’d reach for if you want subtle lip color with a glossy finish. Like lip oils, lip glosses are incredibly versatile—you can wear them on their own or layer them over lip liner or lipstick to give your look a boost of color or create a high-shine effect. If you’re looking for a lip gloss that delivers a tint of color with a dewy finish (and without stickiness!), allow us to introduce you to our Liplights Cream Lip Gloss. This multitasking gloss is a hydrating balm, a gloss, and a lip plumper—all in one tube. Offered in seven creamy, versatile shades (including one that reacts with your skin’s pH to form a personalized pink flush), our Liplights Cream Lip Gloss is formulated with peptides to naturally plump up your lips with volume, shea butter to hydrate, organic cocoa seed butter to condition and fight free radicals, and organic jojoba oil to further hydrate and help protect the delicate skin on your lips.

How to Apply Lip Gloss

Step 1: Squeeze a tiny dollop of the Liplights Cream Lip Gloss on a clean finger, and use your finger to gently dab the pigment to your lips. Reapply as needed.

Step 2: Layer the Liplights Cream Lip Gloss over your favorite lip product to create a glossy finish.

Lipstick

If you want a lip product that prioritizes color payoff, reach for a tube of lipstick. The key, of course, is to find a formula that doesn’t dry out your lips and lasts past one cup of coffee (and, ideally, throughout the day), Our Legendary Serum Lipstick fuses the ultra-pigmented, comfortable benefits of a satin lipstick with the staying power and lightweight feel of a lip stain and the intense hydration and skin-nourishing effects of a lip serum. Offered in eight colorful shades and five nude colorways, one layer is quite literally all you need for a bold, high-impact look. Though the color is vivid and long-lasting, it doesn’t feel heavy or cakey (or flaky!) on your lips. In fact, thanks to bitter cherry fruit water and our trio-wax complex of jojoba, sunflower, and mimosa waxes, it even offers up to eight hours of hydration.

How to Apply Lipstick

Step 1: Starting with clean, bare lips, twist the bottom of the lipstick tube just once until it clicks. Then, glide the Legendary Serum Lipstick across your lips. You can also line your lips first with our Go Nude Lip Pencil.

Step 2: Optional: If you’re worried about lipstick bleeding, Rose-Marie suggests gently tapping the tiniest bit of our UnPowder, a clean loose powder, along the perimeter of the lips.

Lip Pencil

Using a lip liner to define your lips can help your pout look fuller and plumper, prevent lipstick bleeding, and can even help prolong your lipstick wear. Filling your lips in completely with lip liner can help intensify the color of your lipstick or lip gloss too. If you’re on the hunt for a lip liner, it’s important to purchase one with a creamy, moisturizing formula that glides over the surface of your lips without any tugging and doesn’t make your lips look dry. You’ll also want a pencil with an extremely fine tip in order to create flawless lines. We love our Go Nude Lip Pencil because it never settles into fine lines and gives lips a boost of plumping moisture and barrier protection with the help of mango seed oil, organic jojoba oil, meadowfoam seed oil, and shea butter.

How to Apply Lip Liner

Step 1: Begin by drawing a line around your lips with the pencil tip. Drawing slightly outside your natural lip line will help create the appearance of fuller lips. Then, blend out and soften the line with the brush (located on the other side of the liner).

Step 2: You can also use our Go Nude Lip Pencil as an all-over lip color by layering it under our Legendary Serum Lipstick or our Liplights Cream Lip Gloss.

Lip Balm

For true lip TLC, a balm is your best bet. Typically formulated with blends of waxes and oils to drape your lips in nourishing moisture, a quality lip balm will surely become one of your most used makeup products of all time. However, not all balms are created equal, and there are plenty of them out there that seem to make dry, flaky lips even worse. If you can relate, it’s time to upgrade to a better balm before winter hits. Available in nine different colorways (including an untinted option), our Tinted Daily Lip Balm provides lips with hydrating, lightweight, easy-to-wear color that lasts for up to 12 hours. The non-greasy, lip-softening formula is perfect for creating that “bitten” look and can be used on the cheeks as a cream blush, too.

How to Apply Lip Balm

Step 1: Apply to clean lips for a boost of moisture and the perfect hint of color.

Step 2: To use our Tinted Daily Lip Balm as a cream blush, gently dab the tube on the apples of your cheek and use your fingers to blend out the pigment.

How to Choose The Best Lip Formula

Still not sure which lip product is right for you? Reach out to our incredible Artist Experts for a free consultation! They’ll help you with everything from shade selection to application tips.