My obsession with makeup, specifically wearing lip gloss, started early. If you checked my tiny Barbie purse as a child, you’d find a stack of those iconic clear rollerball Lip Smackers. (Remember the sugary scent?! True fruity nostalgia.) Fast-forward 25+ years, and not much has changed, except now my infatuation is with a more mature, elevated, shimmery lip gloss. Enter: Fenty Beauty’s Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer.
As a beauty editor, I’ve legit tested over 100 gloss formulations. Yes, really. From the best drugstore tubes to plumping designer picks (hello, Dolce&Gabbana Flash), I’ve tried almost all of them. So naturally, it takes a lot to impress me when it comes to the formula and finish, and Fenty’s Gloss Bomb has had me in a chokehold for nine years.
What Makes Fenty’s Gloss Stand Out
Most glosses get a bad rep for being sticky and messy. My number one lip gloss pet peeve is my hair getting stuck to my lips the second there’s a breeze. This is not the case with Gloss Bomb. Somehow, it manages to give that glassy finish without the tackiness; it’s like magic.
But what really sets it apart is how far the gloss goes beyond adding shine. It’s infused with vitamin E, shea butter, and peptides, which all work together to treat the skin, making your lips feel soft, smooth, and hydrated. After exfoliating my lips twice a week, I swipe on a few layers to lock in moisture before applying the rest of my lip products.
How I Wear Fenty Gloss Bomb
Most days, I like to wear Gloss Bomb on its own. I love the way it enhances my natural lip color and gives me that juicy-looking finish that feels very Y2K-coded.
My go-to shades are Fu$$y and Sweet Mouth. They’re both soft, shimmery pinks that feel neutral and work well with pretty much any makeup look.
When I want something more glam, I’ll layer it. I start with a swipe of the gloss to prep my lips, then contour my lips with the TRACE’D Out Longwear Pencil Lip Liner and fill in with the Gloss Bomb Stix High-Shine Gloss Stick. Finally, I add one more layer of gloss on top for that ultra-shiny finish.
My Final Note
As with most lip glosses, they’re not the most long-lasting, and easily come off while eating or drinking, or naturally fade throughout the day. That’s why I keep a Gloss Bomb in every purse. Plus, I enjoy reapplying it; it gives me that little zhuzh of drama I need throughout the day.
Shauna Beni-Haynes is the Senior Commerce Editor on Hearst Magazines’ central commerce editorial team, where she curates and edits shopping content across the company’s publications. Before joining Hearst, she spent six years as an editor specializing in product testing, digital feature writing, and top editing, with a focus on beauty and fashion coverage. Her work has appeared in Byrdie, Teen Vogue, Marie Claire, Prevention, and Condé Nast Traveler. Shauna is a graduate of the State University of New York at Plattsburgh and is passionate about multimedia storytelling in the beauty and fashion space. Explore her latest work at shaunabenihaynes.com.
