With '90s beauty trends back in full force, all things shimmery seem to be firmly placed on everyone's lips. But the new Lancôme Le Metallique lipsticks takes everything we love about 2016's best lip looks (think Pat McGrath glitter kits and Sigma Beauty holographic glosses) in a fresh, slightly unexpected way. The metallic lacquer is honestly a three-way hybrid of the shiniest gloss, all of the metallic pigmentation ever, and part hydrator, too. (Because let's be real, the latest liquid mattes, as much as we love them, can be drying sometimes.) We were lucky enough to test all 13 shades of the Lancôme Le Metallique lipsticks (tough job, right?), and we found them to be the chicest combo of glitter, shimmer and sheen, altogether in one tube that we've seen in quite some time—that also don't leave lips flaky, dry, or chapped.
Some of other favorite lipsticks we're bringing into 2017:
- This $5 Drugstore Liquid Lipstick Is Better Than Ones 5 Times the Price
- See This Drugstore Lip Paint on Three Skin Tones
- These Wine-Shaped Lipsticks Are Perfect for Any Vino Lover
We know, we know. A gloss that hydrates and drops serious color payoff? Hard to believe, but hear us out. Because lipstick lovers, we know just hearing the word "gloss" can you off in fear of hair-to-lip stickiness, at the very least. So when we unscrewed the top of the new Le Metallique lacquers off, pulling out the flat, fluffy applicators and heard that squishy noise, our "stickiness alarm" went off. (You know what we mean.) But, several of our lip gloss-loving staffers instantly fell for the wand alone, citing they could practically use the applicator's precise cut to line their lips.
Others were a bit skeptical of the color payoff—those would be Allure's matte-or-die crowd—but were pleasantly surprised at the buildability the lacquer has. Because while some of our favorite lip glosses are perfect to use over a lipstick, the pigments in this formula provide intense color all by themselves. Now, depending on how dark the shade of the particular metallic lipstick is, one coat can give lips a more sheer wash of color, but two helps the hue become more opaque, with an almost heavy metal-like appearance. Regardless of how much you use, the end result is undeniably all kinds of shimmery—some people even thought one of our editors was trying out the holographic Unicorn Tears lip gloss instead.
And that other thing that bugs us about both liquid lipstick and lip gloss? The dehydrated, chapped lips they can leave behind. (Yea, we may have mentioned that.) Thanks to ingredients like vitamin E and grapeseed oil, both emollients, the metallic lipsticks actually coats lips with moisturizing ingredients—even in a Polar Vortex. The one downside? It transferred from our lips to our coffee cups, but that's to be expected with this kind of formulation. (It's not like every product can do every single thing, obviously.)
With 13 different shades including a soft rose gold, a vibrant orange and a crystalline blue—not to mention metallic-themed names like Magnetic Mauve, Molten Magenta and Iron Nude—we can see this Instagram candy (we mean, lip glosses) selling out fast. They're great on their own, layered atop your favorite matte formula, or mixed together—especially if you want that unicorn tears look.
The Lancôme Le Metallique lip glosses are available starting January 1 for $22 exclusively on sephora.com and at Sephora stores.
Now, learn some of our favorite lipstick hacks:
