Also contributing to the plumping, fuller-looking effect are kokum butter, mango seed butter, and cloudberry oil—a recipe for smooth-gliding, juicy success, if you ask us. What also doesn’t hurt: Ole Henriksen’s balms smell utterly delicious. Hello, creme brulee? Strawberry sorbet? We need one of each.
Tester feedback: “I have one of these in every bag, in my car, and pretty much everywhere I frequent. That’s how much I love them,” shopping market editor Angela Trakoshis says. “It’s a mix of skin care meets makeup—the peptides hydrate, the butters moisturize, and the pigment is comparable to some of my favorite lip glosses on the market.”
Key ingredients: peptides (palmitoyl hexapeptide-12 and palmitoyl tripeptide-1), kokum and mango seed butter, cloudberry oil, acai sterols | Shades: 4
Best for Lip Lines: Kosas Wet Stick
Why it’s worth it: We know Kosas’s Wet Stick is technically a lipstick, but its ultra-moisturizing feel and sheer pigment lean much more balm than conventional lipstick. This lineup of 12 shades has a nude and pink for all skin tones but our editors’ love for this balmy lipstick runs deeper than tint. We love swiping on its slightly slippery, lightweight formula for its barely-there feel and conditioning results. Speaking of its formula, it contains the works, in terms of moisturizers: squalane, ceramides, hyaluronic acid, and firming peptides, to be exact.
Tester feedback: “The glide on a Kosas Wet Stick is unparalleled—you truly have to try it out to understand just how smooth, creamy, and (yes!) pigmented this balm is,” says shopping director Shanna Shipin. “Part of the reason I have so many (somewhere in the realm of a half-dozen) is the luxe experience of application. While there isn’t incredible staying power, in true Kosas fashion, the stick is infused with skin-loving ingredients like ceramides and squalane that hydrate and moisturize, leaving my lips feeling protected—and naturally amped up. I also love the shade range with Wet Stick; there’s everything from neural mauves to totally moody browns.”
Key ingredients: squalane, ceramides, hyaluronic acid, peptides | Shades: 12
Best Nourishing: Augustinus Bader x Sofia Coppola The Tinted Lip Balm
Why it’s worth it: Augustinus Bader’s collabs constantly hit (Exhibit A: the priming moisturizer Bader created with Victoria Beckham), and this time the brand is diving into lip care with the help of decorated director Sofia Coppola. Each tube of this lightweight lip balm contains the brand’s signature ingredient, TFC-8, a complex composed of amino acids, lipids, and emollients to leave your lips looking supremely supple. Each of the three reds deserves copious selfies, so there’s no question that Coppola was involved in developing the color options.
Tester feedback: “My stan-level love for Sofia Coppola’s work isn’t the only reason why I love this lip balm,” says commerce writer Jennifer Hussein. “The shades are so stunning that I can see Marie Antoinette or Priscilla Presley adding them to their vanities. Each tint hits that sweet spot between totally opaque and transparent, so I oftentimes wear it as my only lip color for minimal makeup days.”