Glossy Lips Are Back—And There’s No Age Limit

Who among us didn’t go through a M.A.C Lipglass phase at some point? But glossy lips aren’t only for the young. In fact, a chic ad campaign recently had me reaching for a tube. The brand? Luxe organic cosmetics company Kjaer Weis, featuring sixtysomething model Michelle Stevens Childs. The look? Long greyish hair, subtle smoky eyes and naturally flushed, high-gloss lips.

For founder Kirsten Kjaer Weis, using gloss on more, ahem, mature lips makes total sense. “I see it in myself—as you age, your lips either shrink a little bit or you start having small lines around them,” she says. Many of her clients worry about lipstick bleeding, whereas gloss requires less effort. Before applying it, she lines lips with a neutral pencil in order to define the lip line, especially if it’s faint or ridged. Another option, drawing just outside the lip line, helps volumize a petite pout.

Kjaer Weis says what feels new about gloss this time around is the formulas. “My own experience with lip gloss of the past had always been that silicone stickiness,” she says. Today’s clean beauty options, including the ones from her eponymous brand, are like skin treatments with slickening ingredients, such as rosehip and sunflower seed oil, rather than petrolatum, along with the added lustre of a cosmetic. “This sounds weird,” she says, “but I sleep with lip gloss on and wake up with super soft lips.”

Tools to get the look:

Kjaer Weis Lipgloss in Fascination, $52, thedetoxmarket.ca.

Wander Beauty Lip Retreat Oil, $26, sephora.ca.

Marcelle Forever Sharp Waterproof Lip Liner in Mauve Taupe, $12, marcelle.com.