As a personal preference, it’s not really a product I see myself reaching for. I tend to reach for lip gloss or lipstick in my “down” time, so it’s not a product that I feel that strongly about. I see its place, though, so I also don’t have any issues with it! I do want to see that the lip balm is hydrating, not just sheer and balmy but lacking the moisturizing properties of a true lip balm.
— Christine
We're here to help you make better beauty purchases that you'll enjoy and love! We recommend signing up to take advantage of personalized features like tracking products you own, viewing dupes that you already have, and more!
Here are some useful resources for you:
Curious how two shades compare to each other? Type in the shades below to get instant side-by-side swatches!
Comments that do not adhere to our comment policy may be removed. Discussion and debate are highly encouraged but we expect community members to participate respectfully. Please keep discussion on-topic, and if you have general feedback, a product review request, an off-topic question, or need technical support, please contact us!
Please help us streamline the comments' section and be more efficient: double-check the post above for more basic information like pricing, availability, and so on to make sure your question wasn't answered already. Comments alerting us to typos or small errors in the post are appreciated (!) but will typically be removed after errors are fixed (unless a response is needed).
We appreciate enthusiasm for new releases but ask readers to please hold questions regarding if/when a review will be posted as we can't commit to or guarantee product reviews. We don't want to set expectations and then disappoint readers as even products that are swatched don't always end up being reviewed due to time constraints and changes in priorities! Thank you for understanding!
We try to approve comments within 24 hours (and reply to them within 72 hours) but can sometimes get behind and appreciate your patience! 🙂 If you have general feedback, product review requests, off-topic questions, or need technical support, please contact us directly. Thank you for your patience!
I love Bite agave lip mask, which I often use instead of lip gloss. The champagne shade definitely can sub for lip gloss. The red shade gives a hint of brightness. My lips are uneven and wearing anything opaque, even a pale shade, requires a careful application of lipliner. I might do that once when I leave the house but it is not easy to maintain. Tinted balms do the trick for me.
Agreed! They just make me feel more “pulled together” without a whole lot of fuss or work.
I love tinted lip balms. They hydrate, the colors are beautiful and they wear well. I prefer them over glosses or lipsticks.
Me too! I just bought 4 new ones.
Rant: Not something I would ever wear as a so-called fashion statement! It’s just not my aesthetic.
Rave: But hey, they sure can come in handy when I’m feeling sick or going for a swim and don’t want to deal with smudged up lipstick, yet feel like I need *something* on for protection and moisturizing.
99.9% of the time tinted lip balm is what I have on my lips. I love the ease of application and that it looks more natural. I feel like I look too done up wearing lipstick day to day (unless that’s the look I’m going for) and a reasonably tinted balm gives me the color, hydration, and put-together look that I want!
I only use lip balm to moisturize my lips, either before bed or before going to the gym / for a run / for a hike. So I only want non-tinted lip balms. If I need color, I’ll just use a lipstick; the ones I have are not too drying, so I don’t need to apply a balm before.
I was only a balm user at bedtime and always use the Nuxe Reve de Miel which I now order via Feel Unique since it is no longer carried at Target here in the U.S. During the day, I tend to veer towards lip glosses if anything at all. Traditional lip balms more along he lines of a chapstick tend to not last on my lips, I don’t love how they feel so I tend to eat them away so they really aren’t on my lips long enough to help with any issues and the fact that I am eating them away means I am making my lips more chapped than they were before. When the EOS balms first came out I was all over them. Loved the packaging, the smell, the taste etc but they just didn’t give me any protection and I was constantly eating them off and then reapplying.
I am not a super huge gloss fan either although I have found a couple of formulas that I love, Pat McGrath and MAC Lipglass are two so I use those if I feel like I want to put something on my lips and am not using a lipstick. I don’t like anything too thick or sticky. The Pat McGrath feel heavy to me when I first put them on but that sensation quickly fades and they last quite a long time on me. They are not the least bit sticky which is my other issue with balms or glosses. I hate when my hair is trapped on my lips and when my lips want to stick together all day.
I absolutely prefer it to a lipstick or lip gloss, just because of my need to constantly have something slippery on my lips. I LOVE the Essence Kiss the ____ lip balms… I have the frog and mermaid ones. They give a great wash of color and aren’t difficult like a lipstick.
Ooh I haven’t heard of those before, but I looked them up and definitely want to try them.
I can’t really offer an opinion on tinted lip balms because I don’t use them. I much prefer lipsticks during the day and a lip salve at night.
I only have positive things to say about tinted lip balms. They’re great for days when my lips are dry or when I want a more natural look. My go-to tinted lip balms are Dior Addict Lip Glow in Berry and Clinique Almost Lipstick in Black Honey.
I always get tempted by them and I do love lip balm in general as I get dry lips, but in reality I rarely ever use tinted lip balms. They just make my lips slightly darker and pink/red/coral toned but I prefer lighter colours on my lips or just opaque colours, when I wear makeup I always love lipstick or lipgloss
My most-worn lip product type! I like a subtle lip look most of the time, so it gives me that look plus some comfort and hydration. i like the Fresh tinted lip treatments, some are more pigmented and some are more sheer.
My lips are extremely dry & prone to chapping so lip balms of all sorts are a staple in my beauty arsenal.
I really haven’t found a tinted lip balm I love but have tried many. Neutrogena Revitalizing Lip Balm SPF 20 is my current fave.
Tinted lip balms are a personal favourite. I reach for them during the day and in my “down” time. I have found that they are great not only during the cold season (they moisturize the lips and give a nice colour), but also during the day when the lipstick starts to wear off or wears off leaving behind some colour. Instead of removing the lipstick traces, putting some balm, lip liner and then reapply the lipstick, I prefer to use a tinted lip balm; it distributes uniformly the remaining lipstick while enhancing the colour.
I love Bite Beauty Lip Mask and their discontinued Lip Lush in Juice and Watermelon (I stocked up on these two), and also the Arrow Boost Color Enhancing Lip Balm which reacts to the natural colour of your lips and transform into a beautiful MLBB shade.
I only wear lip tints, so I’m all about tinted lip balm.
Right now, I’m using the Catrice Ultimate Lip Glow over a more hydrating, thick and viscous clear balm because we’re getting pounded by ice and snow.
I usually just use any tinted balm from brands I trust to actually be hydrating in the long run: Nivea/Labello, Besamé, Missha, Etude House, FaceShop, Apieu, etc.
Burt’s Bees Lip Shimmer tinted balms are my go-to! They keep my lips from drying out in the Chicago cold weather and make me look pulled together. The Watermelon shade is MLBB and the Plum shade is a close “cousin” to Clinique Black Honey. Bonus that the skinny tubes are small enough to carry in my pocket or even my smallest wallet. I also carry good old Cherry Chapstick with me at all times. Great moisture with a hint of color. I think I have a tube in every coat pocket.
LOVE: I’m more likely to use gloss than tinted balms, but I definitely have a place for tinted balms in my routine. Sometimes I want a bright or dark color to go with an eye look, but I don’t want an overly opaque or glossy one that will compete with it. I love a red-tinted balm if I want red lips without dealing with precision of application or mess that comes with red lipstick. I like red-tinted balm if I’m wearing red blush, too. Tinted balms are also great for when I’m getting over being really sick and have chapped lips, but I have to go somewhere where I need to look put together.
HATE: No hates really. They’re just not my usual style. When I wear balm around the house or at bedtime it’s clear. I think high-end tinted balms usually aren’t worth the high price tag for so little pigmentation and not a huge jump in quality from DS.
Here in Alberta, Canada, weather is sooooo dry and sooooo cold during the winter, that lip balms are a must! So I definitely love tinted lip balms. I love lipstick too, but I tend to lick my lips too much and eat them off after an hour or two. I adore YSL Rouge Volupte Shine Oil in Stick lipsticks, and Burts Bees Lip Tints in Fig!
I love tinted lip balm winter when I tend to gravitate to one over lipstick. I have extremely dry lips and wearing a balm ensures my lips will look their best without too much fuss.
I have very very little lip pigment and I also have a quirk with always wanting chapstick (or something that feels like it – nice smooth and comfy) on my lips. If I wear a full on lipstick I personally want the rest of my face makeup done or I feel off balance; full glam all day every day just isn’t my thing. Glosses are fine and I usually like them on weekends or for a night out, but for all day at work between talking on the phones or eating lunch they can get messy and some glosses just feel so sticky/tacky once they start wearing off. I like that tinted balms can make me look less, to put it bluntly, dead or sick without having to put a bunch of other makeup on. Sheer lipsticks as long as they are moisturizing are great as well as tinted balms. They work for me.
What I hate about tinted balms is that so many of them are so sheer that the color doesn’t even show up. I get that tint may not show up well on highly pigmented lips… but for my lips that are pretty darn close to the color of my skin there is no reason that a tinted lip balm shouldn’t show some color.