TotalBeauty.com average member rating: 3.8* Why: A reader says, "The consistency is a bit sticky, so I had to put my hair up to prevent it from sticking to my lips. As far as the applicator is concerned, it was basically useless and clumsy to apply. You HAVE to use a separate lip brush to get all the product out if you're going to use this gloss. I paid $20 [with tax] for this product and it was a complete waste." Another agrees, "The brush is like three stiff strands of grass that bend the wrong way when you put it back in. The [tube's] size is smaller than my pinky. [Plus], it's so sticky that I have to wear my hair back if I wear it. The shades are great, as are most of her shades. But her gloss is worse than the 99 cent Chapstick I loved in 5th grade."
TotalBeauty.com average member rating: 3.5* Why: "I really liked the color, but it smelled funky. Even worse, the liquid gloss part was sticky like glue and greasy like heavy ointment. Then, soon after I applied it, it became dry, and my lips looked chapped," explains a reader. Another says it "looks ridiculous after a few hours. When the glossy topcoat started to wear off, I was left with clumps of color in the lines of my lips. If I smiled and you looked closely, you could see the tiny little stripes." One reviewer sums it up by saying, "you'll spend the day looking like the Joker," if you choose to wear this.
TotalBeauty.com average member rating: 3.3* Why: Readers say, "overall [this product has] no color, no fragrance, no taste, [and] barely any shine, [which] equals a bad lip gloss in my book." Another says the product doesn't have "enough color pay-off, is slightly on the tacky side and disappears from my lips rather quickly." One reviewer says, "I try to use a gloss that is advertised to do a bit of 'plumping.' At least two other sites had said 'THIS IS IT!' so of course I had to try it. It is absolutely no different — if not even stickier — and less adherent than some of the less expensive lip glosses that aren't even advertised as having a 'plumping' effect."
TotalBeauty.com average member rating: 3.0* Why: Readers say this is a "great concept, horrible product." One reader says, "the stain itself smells like some horse hoof balm I can't remember the name of. The application is just about impossible to accomplish in anything but a hit-and-miss-a-spot fashion. The little sponge is always either too wet (hit) or too dry (miss) leaving my lips looking as if I had been attacked by a shaky drunk with a marker pen." She goes on to say it "tends to [bleed] into the fine lines around my mouth in a roadmap pattern. And as an added bonus, it wears off quickly, but... not in an even or attractive way... Too much money for an effect you could get with a packet of Kool Aid and a wet cotton swab."
While some women battle shoe addictions, we here at Total Beauty have a bit of a lip makeup obsession.
Whether it's about getting our hands on a new "it" shade or snapping up a lip gloss that claims to make us look like a movie star (Angelina Jolie to be specific) and help us eat less — we just can't put an end to the madness.
And while some of these said lip products really do all they claim — like the ones on our editors' favorite lipsticks list, many don't live up to the hype. Like the ones on this list that readers say are simply a waste of money — even if they cost less than a dollar.
So why do we think lip gloss is so important anyway? Besides the fact that it's responsible for giving our lips lust-worthy shine and pop of color with little effort, apparently men — like babies (sorry we couldn't resist making the comparison) are attracted to shiny things. Want proof? Well, when we recently asked Ky Henderson, Editor-in-Chief of ModernMan.com and dating columnist, which kind of lip makeup guys prefer on women, he responded, "a lot of guys find lipstick off-putting, so stick to lip gloss when possible."
This doesn't mean you should forego lipstick altogether, but it proves that a go-to lip gloss is essential. So when searching for your next makeup bag staple, definitely avoid these 13, which our readers say are the worst.
From glosses that "smell like moth balls" and "feel like little bits of broken glass," it's safe to say that these are best left in the 99 cent bin.
Now, see the 13 worst lip glosses that readers say are "worse than the Chapstick I loved in 5th grade."
