Who doesn’t want a shiny lip that doesn’t require eating a greasy plate of pork chops napkin-free? Every cosmetic company makes at least one reliable lip gloss, but you might prefer to use ones with organic formulas. The natural ingredient company 100% Pure Cosmetics makes a few glossies to choose from.

A 100% Pure Brand Ambassador confirms that their old school line, Fruit Pigmented Lip Gloss, is being phased out to focus on new lines being developed in the “near future.” Two recently launched lines are available now. Their Lip Caramel is a thicker “liquid lipstick” that highlights the #1 ingredient, Achiote Seeds. The other addition, Gemmed Lip Gloss, contains gemstones for glimmer.

The Deal

The new glosses have 25-27 listed ingredients, bumping the list of contents up from 14 in the original Fruit Pigmented Lip Gloss ($19 $13.30) line. A lipgloss can be made with a bit of Vitamin E, wax, and color, so what’s the deal? The product development team at 100% Pure deems* using a bunch of ingredients provides “a wider variety of vitamins and nutrients that all work together.” 8-10 of the ingredients in both new formulas are identical to the old formula- pomegranate, shea butter, Vitamin E, and fruit pigments of cherry and peach, for example.

Feel It

1. Lip Caramels ($25) = thick + messy + soft

This is a major letdown unless you like having cocoa butter-tasting lip color bleed and smear around your mouth à la a nine-year-old trying on her big sister’s lipstick.

The Boast = Achiote seeds (Bixa orellana) = Annatto (think a block of that orange-yellow cheddar cheese). It adds a large dose of color due to the chemical compound Bixin.

Bixin = C25H30O4 = a carotenoid = think sweet potatoes

History & Chemistry = known as the lipstick tree, it is traditionally used in South and Central America to beautify the lips. Cuba and Colombia use the seeds as an aphrodisiac. The bixin molecule, initially isolated in 1875, transitions from cis to trans upon extraction. The most commercially used type is Norbixin- a demethylated derivative.

2. Gemmed Lip Glosses ($25) = sticky + shimmer/2

Its #1 ingredient vegetable glycerin keeps this on the viscose side. Vaseline with some shimmery mica added is a doable substitute.

It wasn’t broken, so why’d you fix it? Okay, it didn’t sell like you wanted. Creating a combo of the Caramel and Gemmed formulas may feel as light and smooth as the original, but with more pigment.

*This is not a paid endorsement or advertisement for any brand shown.