Fenty Beauty Global Makeup Artist Priscilla Ono is quite the font of next-level beauty hacks. She's a true genius with a highlighter brush (really, would you expect anything less from the makeup artist to Rihanna herself?) and an all-around makeup maven.
That said, I follow her religiously on social media, always with an eye out for any makeup tips. I was watching her Instagram stories one night, when I saw that she recommended using the Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer, $18, as an overnight lip mask. A lip gloss as a hydrating lip treatment? I thought. Have you ever heard of such a thing?
Ono elaborated further on the gloss' secret abilities in an interview with Refinery29, explaining, "A lot of people don't know it actually has a crazy amount of shea butter and it's healing on the lips. If you have chapped lips, then it actually heals it way faster than a Chapstick."
Could it possibly be true? Since my lips are perpetually chapped, I consider myself to be a purveyor of intensive lip treatments and masks — so I knew I had to give it a try.
I was nervous to ditch my regular nighttime lip routine (usually a healthy serving of Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask, $26, or regular old Aquaphor Advanced Healing Ointment, $4.99, applied in a thick layer) so I tested it as a daytime balm first. And you know what? It really worked. I'd always enjoyed the gloss for its comfy, non-sticky feel and its mega-watt shine, but now I was seeing it in a whole new light — as a balm that could take whatever lip look I was rocking that day to sparkly new heights. I noticed that whenever I used it as a lip topper, my lips stayed hydrated for longer and weren't as parched by the end of the day.
Once it passed that test, I took the leap and used it as a nighttime lip mask. It felt a little odd catching a glimpse my disco ball-level shiny lips (set off against an otherwise makeup-free face) in the bathroom mirror in the wee hours of the morning, but my lips felt comfortable enough. And aside from a tiny bit of smudging onto my sheets as I pulled my bedding up to my chin to make sure I was extra cozy, there seemed to be no issues.
Come morning, I was pleasantly surprised that my lips had, indeed, benefited from wearing lip gloss all night long. They were less dry than they usually are when I first wake up and throughout the day, I found myself reapplying lip balm with less frequency.
Though surprisingly effective, I think I'll be sticking to my regular lip treatments and masks for nighttime for now (even if it's mainly because slathering on lip gloss before bed gives me an odd feeling of cognitive dissonance). That said, I'll definitely continue using it as a hydrating lip topper during the day, especially when my lips need a little extra TLC!
