Light on the Gloss with Clarins Instant Sun Light Gloss

Clarins Instant Sun Light Gloss SPF 6 ($18.00 for 0.04 oz.) are new for summer and come in three shades — Vanilla, Coral, and Cinnamon. Each is housed in a silver bullet of a pen that clicks up the gloss on a brush applicator.

• Vanilla (01) is ultra sheer with a golden champagne shimmer and glossy sheen. It’s probably better suited over a lipstick or for those who love to show off their natural lip color.
• Coral (02) is a medium coral–it’s very much a true coral, because it doesn’t lean orange or pink but somewhere perfectly in-between. It has a cinnamon gold shimmer strewn through the color. It’s much, much more pigmented in comparison to Vanilla–more like semi-opaque (but surprisingly opaque for a gloss as thin as this).
• Cinnamon (03) is a lightened cinnamon brown with a little red in it and golden shimmer. It’s semi-sheer but nowhere near as pigmented as Coral is, but it’s not as invisible as Vanilla. I found this one applied rather splotchily in comparison to the other two. I had issues with getting the color to distribute evenly.

The gloss isn’t sticky, and it’s very lightweight; it has a thin consistency but comes with a dazzling sparkle. They have a sweetened scent, which I can’t quite put my finger on, but it’s there in both the scent and the taste–it is subtle, though. I get only an hour of wear with these, which is below average for me (I typically get two to three), and they’re not as hydrating as I’d expect. My lips aren’t a dried out mess, but they do seem to need a little extra TLC post-wear.  The SPF 6 is nice, though, particularly since you can’t smell or taste it.

The packaging is sleek, but given how little is housed inside, they start to seem a little bulky. It’s actually in the quantity that I get frustrated–most glosses fall somewhere between 0.10 oz. and 0.20 oz. in product, and the price varies from $14 to 30. Clarins Instant Sun Light Gloss comes in at $450/oz. as compared to Chanel at $142/oz., Dior at $126/oz., and Guerlain at $165/oz. It’s really a shame that they didn’t give you a little more product, because at $18, they seem rather affordable for a high-end brand. Clarins Gloss Appeal, which is comparable, is available for $21 for 0.18 oz., and I really couldn’t say what makes the click gloss so much better that it’d be worth it.

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• Product: 25/30
• Value: 5/10
• Ease of Use: 4/5
• Packaging: 4/5

Recommendation: I would pass on these, and if you were interested in checking our Clarins Lip Gloss, opt for the Gloss Appeal, which has pretty shimmer in a better formula and more for your money.

Availability: Nordstrom

See more photos & swatches!

Clarins Vanilla Instant Sun Light Gloss

Clarins Coral Instant Sun Light Gloss

Clarins Cinnamon Instant Sun Light Gloss