Lip oil is a novel delivery platform designed to provide nourishment and colour to the lips. The trend was sparked with the launch of Clarins Instant Light Lip Comfort Oil1 which the brand describes as: “a lip care treatment infused with all the power of plant oils to nourish and enhance your lips’ natural beauty.” This launch was followed with Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) introducing Volupte Tint-in-Oil2 which YSL describes as a: “revolutionary lip color with a lip tint suspended in a deep conditioning oil.”
Both of the above key launches major on containing vegetal oils, and make claims around their conditioning, nourishing and softening attributes. We have seen a trend for vegetal oil-based products for face and body care recently, so it is no surprise to see such oil formulas finding a novel home in colour cosmetics. In fact in the UK for instance the market for face oils increased from £3.2 million in 2013 to £3.9 million in 20143 accordingly to NPD Group,4 representing a 23% year-on-year growth.
Lip oil applicators
The lip oils we evaluated had quite large, spongy paddle applicators. This allows the product to either be dabbed onto the lips or applied for full-coverage gloss. The process of dipping the applicator in the oil and then dabbing or spreading onto the lips may however be seen by some consumers as a step backwards in times where a lot of innovative (and perhaps more ‘handbag-friendly’) pen-type packaging formats for lip products are available.
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