Milky gloss is usually too prone to settling/streaking, and I definitely find I tend to reach for sparkly/shimmery glosses over other finishes. I don’t mind a little bit of settling–the kind where the shininess of the gloss and/or sparkles is enough to camouflage it. I don’t mind some tackiness, and I enjoy sheer to opaque pigmentation in my glosses.
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It used to be that anything over $30 was a deal breaker, but I’ve blown that threshold to smithereens.
I rarely wear lip gloss because I find them all to be too sticky and they turn my lips into magnets for my hair. Glitter would be my #1 deal-breaker.
There are two glosses I actually like, but both have applicator problems. I find Urban Decay Hi-Fi Shine’s [trying to think of a less annoying word than limp or flaccid] doe foot to be very difficult to use. Marc Jacobs Enamored Lip Gloss is ok, too, but the loud-clicking, only-swivel-up tube makes me not want to use it.
For me, when a lipgloss is too oily and just kind of melts into the inside of my mouth, that is GROSS and a no-go. Or, when I talk and the gloss makes strings between my lips, also GROSS. A lot of glosses make my throat scratchy for some reason, like the Fenty glosses, so I try to steer clear of those. I don’t know what ingredient causes that, so I don’t know until I wear the gloss for a while if that will happen. Which is a shame because I really like the Fenty gloss formula.
“Or, when I talk and the gloss makes strings between my lips…”
OMG, I just gagged! Lol!! I know what you mean, though. Very, very gross.
Ohhh, I love a good lipgloss conversation.
I like most formulas so for me, it’s more which colour suits which formula. For example, if i’m after a light nude gloss, then I want a fair amount of pigmentation so it’s truer to colour on my lips. Tho finding a nude gloss that doesn’t give you ‘butt hole lips’ (to quote fab guru raw beauty kristie) can be a challenge.
This is also why I like glittery, irredescent nude glosses as I feel they give more a ‘look at my gorgeous, dazzling lips’ look and it’s less obvious if they settle in to lines. Darker glosses I will wear usually just to enhance my own lip colour so I don’t mind a sheerer formula there.
But an actual deal-breakerer for me is smell. If I find myself taking a good wiff almost everytime I open it, then it’s a winner. Which is one reason I almost gag applying my glossbomb, and that smell lingers (unpopular opinion I know, sorry)!
Oh and I love a good applicator – bring on the dopha wand.
I agree with you about the Fenty Gloss Bomb scent. But I also hate its GIGANTIC doe foot. And the gloss is just too goopy and sticky (no one seems to agree with me on that point). Not a fan of Gloss Bomb.
I’m with you on that. I don’t like Fenty’s glosses.
Scent! Sometimes mac lipglass creme shades can get weird smelling super fast. I have even bought ones that were borderline already. I hate mint or banana. But really, I have a heightened sense of smell in general. I also dont like glitter grit, sheer, leaky packaging, or goopy/extra thick formulas.
My deal breakers are extreme thick and/or tacky gloss or one that dries my lips out. I can deal with a little bit of sticky, I don’t mind a thicker gel formula or a lightly tacky one, I just don’t want my lips sticking together like glue! I also don’t like the overly plumping lip formulas and for the ones that I have that I love the colors for I put a different lip gloss under them so I don’t feel the effect (won’t be repurchasing, but trying to use what I have and enjoy the shade of). Other than that I like sheer, sparkly, bright, sweet mint, fruity, plain jane, vanilla, opaque, etc etc. The biggest think about a gloss is the way it makes my lips feel… other than that anything goes.
Price, scent and thickness.
The first is personal preference on price cap, and I’d venture it’s a lot lower than anyone else’s.
Regarding scent, nothing floral or spicy but it has to have some scent because I cannot bear smelling/tasting that chemical taste from the components. Having said that, ELFs stick lip balms and glosses have the most disgusting scent I’ve ever encountered in a product.
Thickness is tricky. It can’t be too thick but it can’t just sink in and disappear either because what’s the point? It’s hard to find a formula like that, which is why I tend to lean toward glossy balms and tints rather than literal gloss.
Deal breaker for me is that it’s lipgloss, period.
Same. I own less than a dozen glosses and those rarely see the light of day. They just never seem to work out for me so I stick to lipsticks and balms.
Milky, settles into every line imaginable lip glosses! I despise those plus all other pale creamy formula glosses.
Deeper shades that go on splotchy and uneven likewise go on my “hates” list.
I cannot stand oily feeling glosses that slip and slide all over the place, either. Just yucky!
A major no-no is when brands add sodium saccharine to the formula for “flavoring”. I’m allergic to sulfas, so those can give me weird zit like hives inside my mouth and those HURT!
1. Price too high (depends on quality and uniqueness of product.
2. Cinnamon oil. It makes my lips itch like crazy.
3. Sheer, milky, light shades.
4. Unpleasant fragrance: Chemical; floral; and cheap artificial cherry, grape, orange, or cotton candy.
5. Unpleasant formula: Too oily, too sticky, too thin/runny, or gritty feeling. I don’t mind thick, as long as it’s not overly sticky.
Strong fragrance or taste definitely puts me off. Even as a teen, I never liked “lip smacker” types of balms and glosses and there are some glosses that just taste downright bizarre. A very subtle mint is OK, but that’s about it. I also don’t like milky glosses because, at my age, I have lots of lines in my lips and the milky glosses seem to exaggerate the look of them.
Lipgloss itself is a deal breaker for me, I just don’t like having it on my lips.
I love the creamy texture of a matte or satin lipsticks that can be applied on the lips in a tin layer and dries. I can’t stand lipgloss specifically because it’s usually `wet` or `moist` on the lips; I hate it even more when it comes in a sticky tacky finish; bonus points on the dislikes on lipgloss for being shinny and moving on (and around) the lips. 😆
I’ve backed off buying glosses in recent years because I’ve realized that I just don’t wear them often enough to justify the expenditure. That said, when I do get one, the biggest thing for me is that I have to be able to wear it as a stand-alone product, not as a topper. I find that lipstick and gloss together feels too thick for me most of the time and I can’t usually see any colour from the gloss anyway.
For me it’s formula, scent, and applicator. I can’t stand anything that is too sticky or contains very gritty particles. I am also not fond of super slippery gloss that travels outside of my lip lines. As for scent, I don’t want it to smell like volatile chemicals (Wet’n’Wild), flowers, or whatever that sickly sweet scent Gloss Bomb has. If the smell/taste lingers, it’s going in the trash. I prefer a doe foot applicator, but I’ll use a brush if it’s sufficiently soft. The new Melt glosses have a great brush, the ColourPop ones are stiff and uncomfortable.
Lip glosses are just not my jam….but if I were interested, the deal breakers for me would be if they were tacky, dehydrating on the lips and pale shades.
Deal breakers with lip gloss for me is if it’s sticky and thick or heavy on the lips.
Also if the scent is awful- that’s a deal breaker on any lip product. The less scent the better.. also I hate the tingling stuff in lip gloss!
Deal breakers for lipgloss? Too tacky ( nothing worse than windy day hair sticking to my lips ) .
Too sheer , settling into lip lines .
1. Texture – I hate sticky/tacky glosses. It’s not a thick/thin thing – I’m fine with either. I love lip oils, too. But I hate that feeling where my lips stick together and it takes appreciable effort to separate or it leaves this very sticky residue behind when kissing. The kind of sticky/tacky where you can’t even wipe it off with a tissue, you have to actually wash and scrub it off.
2. Sheerness – It’s kind of a sliding scale – the higher the price point, the more pigmented I expect that gloss to be. I am not paying $20-35+ dollars for something that looks like I barely have anything on my lips.
3. Applicator – I hate hate hate the kind of brush that’s like a nail polish applicator. Colourpop’s are the worst – they are either ridiculously stiff or somehow too flexible that it splits and frays when you try to put it back in the tube. I also hate the kinds where you have to click and click or twist and twist to push gloss into applicator – it’s always a guessing game and inevitably ends with too little or more often way, way too much.
I couldn’t agree more about the brush applicators and click tubes.
I cannot do a milky lip gloss. They are never even and it looks nasty settles into the lines on my lips.
I hate tacky sticky lip gloss.. those some how ruin the skin on my lips and make them peel.
I have to moisturize my lips first ( love Laneige) and then use a sheer shimmer or sheer glitter formula. I love Pat McGrath…
I love lipgloss. I don’t mind sticky or thin. I like sheer and opaque, as long as the color works for me. Usually it is pretty hydrating, but I don’t like the random drying formula. I can’t remember the name of the brand, but one gloss used to make me look like Jim Carey in Me, Myself, & Irene, the new medication cotton mouth scene. It used to turn white and weird around the corners and inside of my lips, no matter the color. It was a bad look. I like all finishes, including glitter, so long as it doesn’t feel super sandy. If I had to pick a favorite, it would be something pretty thick, quite tacky, sheer color, with lots of super fine shimmer, tastes slightly sweet and smells of something gourmand. I’m not picky about scent or flavor either, so long as it doesn’t taste toxic or like a biohazard. I love trying new formulas, but my favorite is probably Buxom if I’m not planning on kissing. Kissing, I go with philosophy lip shines. Very little selection anymore and all are very sheer. I’d love to hear of more tasty gloss/balm options!
I hate when a gloss is a thin formula, I like a nice, thick, plump gloss! Also I prefer a doe foot applicator (although those squeezy tubes are ok too) but I hate when the doe foot feels all hard and doesn’t have much product on. Also, I don’t like lipgloss that smells weird, I don’t mind scented but when it’s got a makeup-y synthetic smell. Also i don’t wear dark colours, but light colours, sheer glosses, glittery glosses are all good.
Glitter/shimmer particles that I can feel when I smush my lips together. Or when it gums up at the corners of your mouth after a while. Taste/scent. I don’t get why they all need to taste like sweets or fruit. I wish they just made them unflavored. I have super dry lips that I unconsciously lick when I get nervous or stressed so I love a good gloss. I hate anything I need a mirror to reapply. I’m so glad gloss is having a resurgence after the matte everything trend of the past few years.
It can’t be too tacky. I don’t necessarily mind if it has a flavor, but I prefer not to be tasting mint-I love the smell of mints, but hate the taste. Marc Jacobs Enamored (the kind in a tube with a doe-foot wand, not the only-swiveling-up stick kind) has enough peppermint oil in it that the gloss smells like Junior Mints, but not enough to actually taste minty.