In the age of beauty gurus and full-faced makeup, it can be refreshing to find a brand promoting a natural look. Makeup captured my heart the moment I found my mom’s lipstick as a kid, and evolved as I got old enough to pick out my own. I spent nearly every morning of my teenage years perfecting my technique for full coverage foundation, sculpted eyeliner, and contoured cheeks. But as I grow, I’ve come to appreciate my natural features as they are, and even let my blemishes show.
As a brand, Glossier didn’t start out with cosmetics, in fact their slogan “Skin First. Makeup Second.” sums up their take on beauty as a whole. Light coverage and dewy finishes are central to their design, and minimal pink and white packaging ties in their aesthetic to every item. But what kind of makeup is made by a skin-driven company anyway? And why have millions of millennials gone crazy over it? Here’s an item-by-item rundown on all things makeup by Glossier.
STRETCH CONCEALER
$18
4.1 / 5 stars
5 shades
.17 oz
Stretch concealer provides creamy, dewy, and moisturizing coverage. With one swipe, the pigmentation doesn’t cut it for most blemishes, but the coverage is buildable and can create a medium / full effect. The texture melts into the skin, and doesn’t require a lot of blending (as with most Glossier products, it’s meant to be applied with your fingers). Just set with powder to ensure it won’t slide throughout the day.
PERFECTING SKIN TINT
$26
4.2 / 5 stars
5 shades
1 fl oz
Although it has pretty stellar reviews from Glossier’s following, Perfecting Skin Tint has been up for discussion for a while in the beauty community online. The tint is meant to have a light wash of color to blur any small imperfections without covering everything. Some reviewers say the dewy finish exacerbated their pores, while others appreciated the moisture for their dry skin. If you’re into BB cream-type makeup, this is definitely the product for you.
WOWDER
$22
4 / 5 stars
3 shades
.25 oz
The claims for Wowder are pretty impressive; as Glossier states, Wowder will “cut shine, blur the appearance of pores, set makeup, [and] look like skin.” While the shade selection is meant to be adaptable, some users have asked for a lighter mix, and others have suggested warming up the deepest tone. The general consensus seems to be that Wowder does its job as a setting powder, and has a nice velvet texture. Wowder can be used with Glossier’s own brush ($20) or with any powder brush you have at home.
CLOUD PAINT
$18
4.6 / 5 stars
6 shades
.33 fl oz
There aren’t many products I “collect”. After all, who needs 6 different shades of the same product? Well. . . I did. Cloud Paint is hands down my personal favorite product from Glossier. With a pillowy, gel-cream formula, it blends in without any harsh lines and looks like your skin has a natural flush. The pigmentation doesn’t play, and can be built up to a dramatic blush or kept minimal for no makeup-makeup days.
HALOSCOPE
$22
4.1 / 5 stars
3 shades
.19 oz
Haloscope is a dewy highlighter without glitter or shimmer. The natural glow comes from actual crystals. Rose Quartz or Golden Topaz swirl on the outer part of the stick while a moisturizing blend of coconut, castor seed, and sweet almond oil creates the center, allowing the product to glide on with ease. Though the ingredients are impressive, a few reviewers say lip balm or even Vaseline could be an easy replacement. Others have linked Haloscope with breakouts (likely due to the high oil content), so proceed with caution.
BOY BROW
$16
4.5 / 5 stars
4 shades
.11 oz
Boy Brow won an Allure Best of Beauty award in 2016 and might be Glossier’s most famous product. The all-in-one product claims to thicken, fill, and shape brows to achieve a healthy fluffy look. The overall success of Boy Brow is probably because it was crowd-sourced by Glossier’s staff and followers. One reviewer says it’s like “brow magic in a bottle”. Though $16 seems like a bit much for a tiny tube, Boy Brow might just fulfill all your brow-related desires, and that seems pretty priceless to me.
LIDSTAR
$18
3.9 / 5 stars
6 shades
.15 oz
Glossier created Lidstar to give eyelids a soft glisten of color without creating shadow. The texture claims to be buttery, silky, and blendable, with multicolor pearls to add a beautiful shimmer. Lidstar follows Glossier’s aesthetic of minimal, glowy makeup and shouldn’t necessarily be seen as an eyeshadow, but more like an enhancement. Meant to be applied within seconds, it sounds a little too good to be true. Sure enough, some reviewers explained that this product actually burned their eyelids into an itchy, swollen state. While certain skin reacts differently, anything about to go on your eyes needs to be ultra-sensitive, as the skin on your eyelids is the thinnest on your body.
LASH SLICK
$16
4.3 / 5
1 shade
.29 oz
The formula for Lash Slick took a whopping 248 tries to get just right. This mascara is meant to enhance the look of natural lashes without clumps. Japanese fiber technology coats lashes root to tip, and natural shine polymers give an extra shiny vinyl look. Thick-lashed reviewers noted that Lash Slick couldn’t really do much for them, but normal to fine eyelashes should get the desired effect and benefit from the natural conditioning biotin.
GENERATION G LIPSTICK
$18
3.5 / 5 stars
6 shades
.07 oz
Meant to give lips a just-blotted look, Gen. G has a sheer matte formula and boasts shade options compatible for any skin tone. The review section for Gen. G is varied as some people love the color and texture, but others find the packaging fragile and the formula too breakable for the lipstick to live a long healthy life. The blotted look is in full effect though, and proves popular for people that want their lipstick to last without getting that awful gummy lip line.
LIP GLOSS
$14
4.4 / 5 stars
1 shade
.14 fl oz
Remember in eighth grade when your lipgloss was the most important part of your makeup? When it smelled like cotton candy but globbed up within minutes? Glossier is here with their Lip Gloss to change the game. The formula is smooth and never sticky, so you can say good-bye to those weird strings that formed between your lips with traditional lip gloss. The price is a little steep for such a small tube, but if texture is an issue for you, it’s definitely worth it.
BALM DOTCOM
$12
4.3 / 5 stars
6 flavors
.5 fl oz
A lip balm and universal skin salve, Balm Dotcom is a cult favorite and it’s no secret why. Natural emollients team up with antioxidants to saturate dry skin and cure any chapped lips they come across. Cherry Balm Dotcom adds a pretty red tint to lips, while the Rose flavor gives a subtle pink flush. I’m on my merry way to collecting all six flavors. Though I technically don’t “need” them, they smell and feel so good I don’t even feel guilty.
As a whole, the price-point of Glossier makeup is reasonable, and when you consider the high-quality ingredients and design put into each product, the value only goes up. Not only will their products look beautiful on your vanity (every package is extremely Instagram-able) but they’ll look beautiful on your face too. Whether it’s liquid blush or bushy brows, Glossier might’ve created just what you needed to modernize your makeup routine.
All photo sources are linked in the article.