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The best plumping lip glosses do exactly what you think: provide a shiny color payoff with the appearance of fuller lips. Like the cherry on top of an ice cream sundae, plumping glosses are a finishing touch on your overall makeup look, whether worn alone or layered over your favorite lip liner for an all-around juicy pout. These formulas go beyond your standard lip gloss for surface-level shine; they rely on hydrating ingredients, light-reflecting particles, and subtle plumping agents like hyaluronic acid, pepper extract, or peptides to enhance your lips’ natural shape.
Vogue’s Favorite Plumping Lip Gloss
- Best Lip Treatment: La Mer The Lip Volumizer Lip Gloss, $90
- Best New Launch: Valentino Puffer Gloss, $38
- Best for a Subtle Plump: Dior Lip Addict Lip Maximizer Gloss, $40
- Best With Peptides: Grande Cosmetics GrandeLips Plumper, $27
- Best Lip Oil: YSL Beauty Loveshine Plumping Lip Oil Gloss, $40
In This Story
- What’s the difference between a plumping lip gloss and a lip plumper?
- Do plumping lip glosses really work?
- How to apply a plumping lip gloss
- Meet the experts
According to celebrity makeup artist Ash K. Holm, whose makeup brushes have graced the faces of Ariana Grande and Megan Fox, plumping glosses are perfect for a temporary makeup enhancement to add some oomph to your beauty look. They might not replace filler or Botox, but you don’t (always) have to experience needles or uncomfortable stinging to add a bit of volume; more mild formulas opt for a minty cooling sensation to increase blood flow to your lips temporarily. “Some formulas even include active ingredients that stimulate collagen production over time, offering a more long-lasting result,” Holm previously told Vogue.
With that in mind, here are nine formulas to consider for a needle-free fuller pout.
Best for a Subtle Plump: Dior Lip Addict Lip Maximizer Gloss
- Why We Love It: Dior’s lip products remain buzzy and worth the hype, from the fan-favorite lip oil to the plumping gloss. Packed with volumizing spheres and hyaluronic acid, this gloss is formulated for added fullness and hydration. Celebrity makeup artist Dom Della assures that, unlike other super-spicy plumping options, this offers more subtle results with a cooling minty tingle. The formula’s lightweight feel layers well with or without lip products; wear on bare lips or atop lipstick.
- Key Ingredients: Cherry oil, hyaluronic acid
- Shades: 40
Best Lip Treatment: La Mer The Lip Volumizer Lip Gloss
- Why We Love It: Thanks to La Mer’s Miracle Broth, this volumizing gloss delivers visibly softer, nourished, and plumper lips over time. Holm considers this product more of a treatment than a gloss: “It smooths, hydrates, and plumps over time, leaving a silky, balm-like finish. It’s definitely an investment, but it’s worth it.” The resulting iridescent shine is just the cherry on top.
- Key Ingredients: Hyaluronic acid, coconut oil
- Shades: 5
Best New Launch: Valentino Puffer Gloss
- Why We Love It: Charli XCX was recently spotted carrying this plumping gloss at Coachella. Now you, too, can rock the same look as the brat in chief with Valentino’s newly launched Puffer Gloss (which happens to be my new favorite plumping lippie too). It’s designed to increase blood flow to the lips through a blend of peppermint oil and vanillyl butyl ether; there’s no burning or stinging sensation here, just an almost indiscernible cooling tingle. Meanwhile, hyaluronic acid, ceramides, and vitamin E add extra moisture without the sticky feel of traditional glosses.
- Key Ingredients: Hyaluronic acid, vitamin E, ceramides, peppermint oil
- Shades: 7
Best Lip Serum: Bobbi Brown Extra Plump Lip Serum
- Why We Love It: Bobbi Brown’s plumping lip serum conditions and volumizes through a formula packed with moisture-boosting botanicals such as meadowfoam-seed oil, cocoa-seed butter, and shea butter. Meanwhile, grapefruit-peel oil and sodium hyaluronate help plump by stimulating blood flow.
- Key Ingredients: Sodium hyaluronate, grapefruit-peel oil, meadowfoam-seed oil, avocado oil, jojoba-seed oil, castor oil
- Shades: 10
Best Lip Oil: YSL Beauty Loveshine Plumping Lip Oil Gloss
- Why We Love It: Many already know and love the Loveshine lip-oil stick—Vogue.com editor Chloe Malle included. Now it’s time to add the oil-infused plumping lip gloss to your beauty bag for a pout that radiates juicy shine. It’s formulated with spicy ginger oil and hyaluronic acid, and a quick tingle leads to softer, smoother lips sans stickiness. Thanks to the plush doe-foot applicator, you can quickly layer on one coat for a fresh, sheer finish or go bolder with additional coats for a more opaque color payoff.
- Key Ingredients: Vitamin E, hyaluronic acid, ginger oil, pepper oil
- Shades: 9
Best With Peptides: Grande Cosmetics GrandeLips Plumper
GrandeLIPS Plumper
- Why We Love It: Grande Cosmetics’ lip gloss works quickly to plump your lips in five minutes or less, making it a makeup-bag staple for when you need both hydration and volume on the go. According to Holm, this gloss provides more than just immediate effects. “It’s all about the long-term benefits,” she says. “With hydrating ingredients and peptides that boost collagen production, your lips [will] feel softer and look fuller with consistent use.”
- Key Ingredients: Hyaluronic acid, vitamin B3
- Shades: 6
Best High Shine: Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb Heat Universal Lip Luminizer + Plumper
- Why We Love It: If it’s good enough for Rihanna, it’s certainly good enough for me—and RiRi knows more than a thing or two about a glossy pout. Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb’s plumping formula features ginger-root oil and pepper extract along with vitamin E and shea butter for a balanced blend of volume and hydration. Take your pick of six creamy shades ranging from rich brown to super sheer; all will give your lips a high-gloss shine.
- Key Ingredients: Ginger-root oil, capsicum-fruit (pepper) extract, shea butter, vitamin E
- Shades: 6
Best Drugstore: Maybelline Lifter Gloss Lifter Plump
- Why We Love It: Fair warning: This plumping gloss features a chile-pepper-infused formula that undoubtedly brings the heat. While that spicy sensation won’t last long, you’ll be sure to notice the results: Lips look visibly fuller, with a hydrated, plump appearance and a glossy, high-shine finish. Infused with hyaluronic acid, it delivers an extra moisture surge to keep lips feeling soft and nourished. “I love how versatile it is,” Holm previously told Vogue. “You can use it alone or as a topper for lipstick.” Best of all, you can pick it up at your local drugstore without breaking the bank. Celebrity makeup artist Kasey Spickard also loves Maybelline’s plumper gloss for an affordable yet high-performing option with an impressive shade range.
- Key Ingredients: Chilli pepper, tocopheryl acetate, lactic acid, peppermint oil, coconut oil
- Shades: 8
Best for Maximum Plump: Too Faced Lip Injection Power Plumping Lip Gloss
- Why We Love It: All the same volume and spice of the original Too Faced Lip Injection plumper, with the added perk of nine shades and finishes to choose from. Go full-on glitter, or lose the sparkle and opt for a standard high-shine finish.
- Key Ingredients: Microcrystalline wax, tocopheryl acetate, sodium hyaluronate, lactic acid
- Shades: 9
Everything You Need to Know
What’s the difference between a plumping lip gloss and a lip plumper?
Plumping lip glosses differ from standard lip plumpers in more than just ingredients. The key difference? Immediate gratification. “Plumping lip glosses are usually shorter term in terms of the effect you get,” Spickard says. “Typically plumping glosses include ingredients like peppermint or capsicum (a.k.a. pepper) to plump the lips upon contact. Standard lip plumpers work more like treatments that increase lip volume over time with peptides, collagen, and hyaluronic acid.”
Do plumping lip glosses really work?
The pros concur that plumping lip glosses do work, but users should have realistic expectations. “Lip-plumping glosses are great for adding instant volume, shine, and hydration, but they’re not a substitute for more permanent treatments like fillers,” says Holm. While your lips won’t maintain a fuller appearance long-term, plumping lip glosses are great for enhancing a makeup look.
The tingling effects of the glosses, because of the aforementioned ingredients, irritate the more sensitive skin on the lips, increasing blood flow and causing slight swelling and a natural flush to the lips. Other ingredients like hyaluronic acid increase hydration in the lips, adds Spickard.
How to apply a plumping lip gloss
Spickard suggests two methods for applying the best plumping lip glosses. “You can apply a plumping lip gloss as a pretreatment to plump lips before any other lip products,” he explains. In this case, you would wipe off the gloss before going in with liner or lipstick, though you can reapply a gloss swipe as a finishing touch for added shine.
Meet the experts
- Ash K. Holm is a celebrity makeup artist based in Los Angeles best known for creating glamorous beauty looks on her star-studded clientele, which includes her long-time client Ariana Grande, as well as Kim Kardashian, Megan Fox, and more.
- Dom Della is a celebrity makeup artist based in Los Angeles whose clients include Noah Cyrus, Kris Jenner, and Demi Lovato.
- Kasey Spickard is a professional makeup artist based in New York and Los Angeles with more than 10 years of experience in the beauty industry. Spickard has worked with clients such as Jenna Lyons, Kamie Crawford, and Brynn Whitfield.
