Makeup By Mario's New SuperShine Lip Gloss Acts Like a Gloss, Balm, and Oil in One

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Design by Bella Geraci

For me, buying lip gloss is a bit like buying a new toothbrush or pair of socks. You’re happy to have it, but it’s hard to feel elated about something that simply does what it’s supposed to do. A toothbrush cleans your teeth and socks keep your feet warm. Gloss makes your lips really shiny, but really, in my experience—and I’ve been wearing lip gloss since before the original The Simple Life aired—that’s the extent of it. It sometimes “plumps” (often that means it just feels tingly), it sometimes shimmers, it doesn’t last (by nature, it can’t), and it rarely hydrates, no matter how much the brand promises you otherwise.

This was the mindset I was in when I received Makeup by Mario’s new SuperShine Lip Gloss, a range of 11 ultra high-shine glosses that promise lasting hydration and a glass-like finish. Cool, another gloss, I thought to myself. Except this formula is anything but your average gloss. A true gloss-balm-oil hybrid, it takes the best attributes of each to create one truly spectacular lip product that you want to reach for again and again. It’s so impressive, it’s been selected as this month's One to Watch honoree, and you can keep reading to discover why.

Makeup by Mario SuperShine Lip Gloss

$26.00, Makeup by Mario

Meet the Experts:

• Mario Dedivanovic is the founder of Makeup by Mario.

• Dasha Taivas is a makeup artist based in London.

• Amanda Lam is a cosmetic chemist in Los Angeles.

Overview

SuperShine Lip Gloss isn’t Makeup by Mario’s first lip gloss. That would be the Pro Volume Gloss, which is still available on the brand’s website in three shades. That formula is entirely different from SuperShine, though. Where Pro Volume plumps, SuperShine hydrates (and yes, it really does, I’ll get to that in a second). Pro Volume contains pearlescent shimmer whereas SuperShines’ 11 shades are sheer and shimmer-free. “I wanted to create a gloss that delivered a glass-like shine leaving a sheer wash of comfortable color on the lips,” Mario Dedivanovic, makeup artist and founder of Makeup by Mario, says of his new formula. “It’s the perfect product to wear alone or to top off any lip look.”

Like the rest of Dedivanovic’s line, the SuperShine range feels very intentional and thought out. The formula is supported with a large, ergonomically designed applicator and a range of sheer natural and neutral hues, making everything easy to wear and easy to use. “When deciding on the shade range, I wanted to create a collection that offered both natural shades and some that provided sheer vibrance, catering to a wide variety of skin tones and preferences,” Dedivanovic explains. “I love cool, muted tones for lip gloss, so shades like Rustic Pink, Rose Crush, and Midnight Mauve were a must for me. Bare and Cocoa are two perfect nude shades that can suit a variety of skin tones, and I also felt it was important to include a few bolder, more vibrant hues like Dragon Fruit, Watermelon, and Berry. These shades are perfect for those who want a sheer and juicy pop of color.”

The Ingredients

The brand highlights three main ingredients—pomegranate extract, jojoba oil, and hyaluronic acid—as being key to the formula’s silky, moisturizing formula. Jojoba oil hydrates, along with castor oil and pentaerythrityl tetraisostearate, which is a great moisturizing and conditioning emollient ester, says cosmetic chemist Amanda Lam. Hyaluronic acid (sodium hyaluronate on the ingredient list) as well as tripeptide-1 “are some nice actives to provide long-term plumping and reduction of fine lines on the lips,” she adds.

But what makes this gloss so shiny but so not sticky? Lam chalks this up to silica silylate used as a thickening agent. “Normally, lip glosses can have super thick and tacky emollients that add viscosity but can have a sticky residue. When you thicken with silica you get good body but none of the tackiness,” she says. As for the shine, that’s thanks to something called ethylhexyl palmitate, which is what Lam calls a “high refractive index emollient.” The higher the refractive index, the shinier and glossier the product looks.

How I Tested It

Makeup by Mario graciously sent over all of the shades so I immediately applied Bare (a peachy-pink beige) over my bare lips and tossed it in my purse to reapply throughout the day. When I test makeup, I like to insert it into my everyday routine. I also like nothing more than to nerd out over products with professionals, so I invited makeup artist Dasha Taivas to brunch one morning and we played with the glosses over shakshuka and cappuccinos. She took some home, and shared her thoughts with me after testing them on herself.

The next night I chose the Berry shade. I wanted a little extra oomph, so I layered it over a lip liner (Victoria Beckham Beauty Lip Definer in No. 3, to be exact), which really gave my lips depth and dimension. Dedivanovic likes to pair SuperShine with his UltraSuede Sculpting Lip Pencil using his “signature lip lift” technique. “Slightly overline the cupid's bow of your top lip as well as the center of the bottom lip, then for the rest, stay on your natural lip line,” he explains. “This creates a more defined, fuller lip before applying the gloss.” In general, the SuperShine glosses are quite sheer—a little more sheer than I had hoped—so layering it over a liner is a good way to intensify the pigment.

The first thing you notice about the SuperShine Lip Gloss is how slick it is—it glides over your lips like an oil. While most glosses eventually dry down to become sticky or tacky, that doesn’t happen with this formula. Your lips stay glossy and then eventually, as it fades (as all glosses do), you realize that your lips feel soft and hydrated—not begging to be wiped off with a napkin and followed by the sweet relief of a lip balm. “It feels like lip care, giving you a moisturizing, skin-care-esque feeling and the look of healthy, hydrated lips,” says Taivas.

Which brings me to the finish of this gloss. This formula does exactly what it says on the tin—it adds super amounts of shine. “A lot of lip glosses, when they’re sticky and they’re not moisturizing, the shine doesn’t look as intense—it’s like a matte-like shine,” explains Taivas. “The SuperShine glosses have what I would call a water-glaze finish.”

SuperShine features a unique doe-foot applicator that was designed to “hold the perfect amount of product in one swipe,” says Dedivanovic. It’s shaped like a horse’s hoof (or as my husband described it, “a little wool sock”), and on the flat side—the side you press to your lips—there’s a little divot where a drop of gloss sits when you pull it out of the tube. Not only is this drop of gloss enough to cover both your top and bottom lip, but because it’s also concentrated to the center of the doe-foot, it spreads on the gloss evenly and seamlessly so you don’t have very goopy patches in some areas.

A Little More on the Shades

The 11 SuperShine shades are quite sheer and become slightly more intense when you layer them over a lip pencil. Bare (beige) and Rosewater (a nearly-clear ballet pink) are the sheerest of the bunch, Berry and Cocoa the most pigmented, while Watermelon and Perfect Pink are probably the brightest hues. Dragonfruit, a jelly-like hot pink, gives you the same effect as Dior’s original Lip Glow Oil shade, adding a hint of juicy brightness to your lips that makes them look lush and healthy.

Taivas was most drawn to Cocoa. “It's a warm, cinnamon-brown color that works perfectly with a natural brown lip liner for a more sophisticated look,” she says, adding it would look great paired with Make Up For Ever’s Artist Color Pencil in Endless Cacao. She called out Bare for being a cold nude that can be used to recreate Gabriette’s signature neutral makeup look when layered over MAC’s iconic Stone Lip Pencil, while Rose Crush is a beautiful, very pale peach color that’s perfect for that soft, clean-girl aesthetic.

More Allure Editor Reviews

Dianna Singh, features director

“I'd say the best word to describe this formula is "cushy"—it's super comfortable to wear throughout the day,” says features director Dianna Singh, who tried the shade Rose Crush. “And the applicator—a wide, flatter-than-normal doe-foot—picks up just the right amount of product.”

Jesa Marie Calaor, senior editor

“The Makeup by Mario Supershine Lip Gloss in Bare goes on very sheer—almost clear—and helps further highlight the curves of my lips,” says senior editor Jesa Marie Calaor. “It’s balmy, not sticky, and leaves my lips feeling moisturized (even after it’s wiped off). With a pink-beige lip liner, my lips appear ever so slightly fuller."

Pricing and Value

The Makeup by Mario SuperShine Lip Gloss costs $26 for 0.17 ounces, which from a brand shoppable at Sephora is pretty average. Scrolling through the site’s other hydrating lip glosses, Tower 28 Beauty’s Shine on Lip Jelly is $16 for 1.3 ounces, Saie’s Glossybounce Lip Gloss Oil is $22 for 1.7 ounces, while Dior’s Lip Glow Oil is $40 for 0.2 ounces. It’s not the least or most expensive in the category, but as a gloss that doubles as a balm and can be used day or night, this is a product I’m confident you’ll reach for frequently throughout the day.

Makeup by Mario SuperShine Lip Gloss

$26.00, Makeup by Mario

Where to Buy It

The Makeup by Mario SuperShine Lip Gloss is now available on makeupbymario.com and sephora.com.

Read more innovative products that have been honored in our One to Watch franchise:

• L'Oréal Professionnel's AirLight Pro Is the Fastest Hair Dryer I've Ever Used

• Olive & June's At-Home Gel Kit Might Make Me Give Up Regular Polish

• Nudestix’s Cloudlike Blushes Are Just as Fun to Stack as They Are to Wear

Now, see a ballerina's makeup routine:

Originally Appeared on Allure