I don’t tend to get excited about lipglosses (apart from crystal-clear pristine ones, see Gloss Prodige in the last “Thing of Beauty” feature) but the new Urban Decay Ultra Nourishing ones have really grabbed my attention. It helps, I suppose, that they are packaged nicely – in the metallic finish du jour, rose gold – and it also helps that they are part of an already-successful marketing strategy, the NAKED range. Lots of people now have one or more of the three NAKED eyeshadow palettes in their makeup collection; the comprehensive selections of suit-all neutrals have become essential kit for those wanting to achieve dramatic smokey eyes as well as more subtle daytime looks.

The newly launched Ultra Nourishing Lipgloss offering could never compete with the eyeshadow palettes in terms of versatility or novelty – there’s only so much you can do with a lipgloss – but they are far from being a redundant addition to the line. They are, by quite a stretch, the nicest lip-gloops (in my book, anything with a wand applicator qualifies as “gloop”) to have landed on my desk in a long time. Most good glosses these days are non-sticky-yet-hi-shine, but these are properly, properly plumpy and nice. They feel like a balm but they glaze your lips to perfection, smoothing over the chapped bits and the fine lines and the small pieces of croissant that have attached themselves to your mouth. 

It’s true that most of the nine shades are reasonably similar, but these lip gloops are all about choosing the right NAKED shade to suit your lips – it’s not about finding a bold, statement colour. Even the bright coral shade, “Streak”, looks reasonably muted once on the skin. But again, this is “my lips but better” territory; this is about turning your mouth into some kind of Hollywood version of itself without too much effort whatsoever. Let’s take a look at Nooner, which is my favourite nude shade:

A pinkish nude that doesn’t deaden the face and is absolutely perfect for daytime wear.

And now, straight away for easy comparison, this is the bright coral pink, “Streak”:

You can certainly see the difference, I hope, but it’s a subtle one – as I said, the NAKED Nourishing Lipgloss isn’t about the statement lip or the “pop of colour”, it’s just about adding a tone or tint that will polish up your look.

The texture of the gloss is unbelievably juicy; there’s hyaluronic acid packed on in there (holds on to water and plumps out the skin), avocado oil, shea butter and even a touch of rosehip oil. Lovely! I’ve been comparing it to some of the “dupes” that I’ve seen mentioned around the internet but I don’t think that the bargain versions come close in terms of formula. This feels nourishing and moisturising even once I’ve removed the gloss at the end of the day. And if the top glaze comes off through eating or drinking or what have you, it still seems as though there’s a balm or “treatment” layer working away underneath.

Has anyone else tried the Nourishing Lipgloss from Urban Decay? I’d love to know what you think. I get very excited when something comes along that has a very long list of “pros” and no “cons”, but I also feel a bit anxious, as though I’m missing something blindingly obvious about them that would shatter my dreams. I’m always nervous when things seem too good to be true, but until I hear otherwise, these are firmly secured in my daily makeup bag.

Urban Decays’ NAKED Nourishing Lipgloss comes in nine shades – they cost £14 each at Debenhams.com