Lip gloss - Definition and Overview

Lips with lip gloss

Lip gloss is a substance used for making the lips appear, as the name suggests, more glossy.

A myriad of different types of glosses are available. Some of these are

• basic glosses: where they add shine to the lips and nothing more
• coloring glosses: where in addition to adding shine add color as well
• glitter glosses: where glitter is present in the gloss -- these can be coloring as well
• flavored glosses: these can be any of the above, with the addition of having a certain flavor associated with the gloss

Lip gloss, is less heavy(althought sometimes thicker) on the lips than lipstick which is purely designed to color.Coloring glosses have usually less opaque coloring than lipsticks. It is reasoned that preferrence for glosses instead of lipsticks is reactionary to animal origins of lipsticks, such as fish scales.

Lip glosses have come into greater popularity in the past few years. Lipglosses are moisturizing and often add a plumping effect to the lips. Using lip liner in conjunction with lipglosses also gives a different and more defined look.