I'm Breaking Up With Expensive Lip Gloss—Here's the $10 Product Taking Its Place

Everyone who knows me knows I go absolutely bonkers for a good lip gloss. A glistening, color-washed lip coated in a lustrous glaze is one of my top five favorite beauty feelings, right behind dewy, moisturized skin and freshly groomed eyebrows. But one area where gloss tends to let me down is its inability to do anything for the actual health of my lips. Once it wears off (and let's be honest, that can happen pretty quickly), my pout is typically left feeling drier than before. And I'm pretty sure I speak for everyone when I say that dead skin peeling and lifting underneath a sticky lip product is not ideal. Yuck city.

Despite this glaring shortfall, I've remained committed to gloss for the simple fact that none of the alternatives on the market can do the same thing. Lipstick is great, but it's high-maintenance and hardly offers the same glazed finish. And then there's your classic lip balm, which is a whole lot more nourishing on the lips but just doesn't cut it in the impact department.

Now you can imagine why I'd all but resigned myself to a life of choosing between lightly pigmented, glossy lips and hydrated ones. (Yes, I know there are bigger problems in the world, but hey—I'm a beauty editor, remember?) When I heard Versed, Who What Wear's vegan, nontoxic, and impossibly cool sister brand, was cooking up a lip product that promised to tick all the boxes on my dream lip product list, I was both intrigued and a little skeptical. After all, years of testing products that claimed as much had proven utterly unsuccessful.

When the day finally came that I met the Versed Silk Slip Tinted Lip Oil ($10), everything changed. The three berry-hued shades of the product arrived on my doorstep a few weeks back, and I knew I was in for something special the second I saw that they were neatly packaged in right-sized, recyclable pouches instead of bulky, wasteful boxes. If the team over at Versed paid this much attention to the outer packaging, then the stuff on the inside had to be insanely good too, right? Plus, this new launch falls on the company's first birthday, which is yet another good good sign that we're in for a treat. (Happy birthday Versed!) Keep scrolling for everything you need to know about the product that's officially replacing lip gloss in my summer makeup routine.

What exactly is a lip oil?

If you're an OG Versed fan, then you already know how the brand approaches lip oil thanks to its classic Silk Slip Conditioning Lip Oil ($10). Rather than the greasy substance you might imagine when hearing the word oil, this product is actually a soft emollient that offers the perfect amount of lip coverage and stays put for hours. It is, indeed, packed with oils that sink into the lips to hydrate them, but its texture is the perfect balance between a lip balm and a gloss, offering a comfy, plush layer of pomade and now with a hint of buildable, natural-looking color. Each of the three shades is also shockingly flattering on any number of skin tones. (Keep scrolling for the photographic evidence.)

Silk Slip Tinted Lip Oil comes in three rosy shades, which I learned during a recent virtual meeting with team Versed were inspired by the Versed community. There's Blossom, a blush pink; Fig, a mauvy berry; and Ruby, a sheer blue-red. Between the three shades, you truly get the ultimate lip color wardrobe in one fell swoop.

The Lip-Conditioning Ingredients

Silk Slip Tinted Lip Oil gets its long-lasting, non-drying, glossy flush from tons of botanical ingredients and without the use of parabens, silicones, or sulfates. (In case you forgot, Versed never uses these or any of the more than 1300 other banned toxic ingredients in its formulations.) Among the lip-loving ingredients to note here are camellia oil, jojoba oil, vitamin E, sunflower seed oil, and sesame oil. This luxe blend makes for a smooth, balmy fluid that applies smoothly and stays put for as long as you want it to. It's not sticky, it's not greasy, and best of all, it can be applied in layers to looks as subtle or impactful as you want.

See Each Shade on Different Skin Tones

Editor review: "When I say I'm utterly shocked by how much I love this lip balm (if you can even call it that), I mean it. I've always been a die-hard lip-gloss girl, even though that's often meant feverishly reapplying sticky varnish all over my lips in a feeble attempt to ward off the tight, dry feeling that comes once my layer of glaze has worn off. This lip oil just might be the product to free me of that task without sacrificing color and sheen. I'm also shocked to report that the lightest of the shades, Blossom, is my favorite one. As a brown-skinned lady, I've never reached for the lightest lip color in any range, since, in most cases, it either doesn't show up or it just looks unflattering and ashy on my lips. That's hardly the case here. Somehow, this powdery pink shade looks like the slightly flushed nude of my dreams. I'm sold!" — Courtney Higgs, Associate Beauty Editor

Editor review: "My super chapped lips felt super soft after trying these on. I love that they're so hydrating. All of the colors were very barely there but in the best way possible. I normally wear dramatic or bold lip colors since I keep the rest of my makeup pretty minimal, so my favorite was the Fig shade. The berry-like hue seems pretty dark from the tube, but it went on so subtly, giving me just the right amount of color." — Sarah Yang, Managing Editor of THE/THIRTY

Editor review: "I've officially found my summer lip uniform. The fact that this hydrating, glossy-stain-oil hybrid comes in three stunning shades makes me so dang happy. Out of the three, I'd have to say Ruby is my favorite, with Fig coming in at a VERY close second and Blossom not far behind. I've always gravitated toward berry lip colors that accentuate my natural color. My lips are actually pretty dark and pink on their own, so it can be tricky to find a lighter pink option (like Blossom) that still looks remotely flattering. Blossom totally does the trick, which is not an easy feat. That said, Ruby and Fig naturally elevate my lips into this juicy, just-bitten kind of situation, which is definitely my MO when it comes to lip colors. I'm not really a gloss person, but I can't stand the way most matte lip formulas suck every ounce of hydration from my lips. This lovely lip oil manages to strike the perfect balance. My lips feel soft, plump, and super moisturized (with just a hint of shine you can easily dab down with your finger), and there's zero sticky or slippery finish. This is a true, "your lips, but better" kind of product, and I'm excited to incorporate all three hues into my heavy rotation." — Erin Jahns, Beauty Editor

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