The Lip Gloss That Makes Me Look Alive When I Feel Dead Inside
As the days grow shorter and we march ever closer towards certain earth-obliterating doom, caring about things like "lookin' cute for the 'gram" and "maintaining a human appearance" can start to feel like especially foreign concepts. What does self-care look like in the age of environmental and political apocalypse? Certainly not buying a $26 lip oil! But if buying that lip oil helps me feel like I'm doing a satisfactory job masking the outrage and anger roiling just beneath the surface, then I will gladly rejigger my weekly budget to accommodate it.
Instant Light Lip Comfort Oil CLARINS nordstrom.com $26.00 Shop Now
As a person who is as vain as she is lazy, I rely primarily on BB cream, highlighter, and mascara for my everyday look. But when I'm feeling really frisky, I grab my tube of Clarins Instant Light Lip Comfort Oil so I can appear a little less cadaver and a little more cadazzling. Though it's marketed as an oil, it goes on like a gloss and gives your lips a luminous sheen that's subtle and doesn't feel too Wet n Wild circa 2001. My color of choice, Candy, looks like my lip color but better, immediately brightening up my face in the course of a single swipe. It is so effective at livening up a look I have a friend who literally asks me if she can use it every single time she sees me applying it.
Since it's technically an oil, it also has the added benefit of actually moisturizing your lips with a plant-based formula of mirabelle plum, jojoba, and hazelnut oil. It only comes in seven colors—including a teal, which I don't entirely understand?—but it's subtle enough that almost any shade is likely to look good on any skin color (except, maybe, the mint).
At $26 a pop, Clarins Instant Light Lip Comfort Oil doesn't come cheap for a lip gloss, but it's a small price to pay for temporary satisfaction with your appearance at the end of the world.
