This article originally appeared in the July 2016 issue of ELLE.
The time in my when I felt my absolute most attractive was not the time Mark Wahlberg told me I was sexy. That was 2000: My friend and I spotted his hulking figure in the lobby of an awards show, and after a quick Cheshire Cat do-I-have-anything-in-my-teeth grin at each other, we intrepidly made our way over. I was wearing a fringy skirt from Patricia Field and artfully smeared black liner.
"Excuse me, Mark? Hi," I said. "We just wanted to tell you that Boogie Nights is our favorite movie. And we think you're really hot."
"Well, thank you," he said, scanning us from head to toe, not leering exactly, but close. He was even brawnier than he looked in the movies, with powerful, oddly hairless forearms. At the time, he'd just about shaken his bad-boy rap, but I still got a delicious whiff of it standing next to him. "You ladies are very beautiful, very sexy."
That felt good, but it wasn't The Time. Nor was The Time the day that a three-person glam squad (beauty editor perk!) descended upon my house to do my makeup for a black-tie wedding. All their artfully applied shadows and fluttery lashes added up to something that was objectively pretty. But I looked like a girl wearing makeup, not quite like me.
The Time was a June evening maybe two years ago. I'd gone for a run in one of those gentle summer rains and, back at my apartment, had forgone ablutions in the interest of getting to an outdoor concert in Prospect Park on time. I fished around in my purse, came up with a clear Nars lip gloss, and smeared it on. Running out the door, I caught a glimpse of reflection, and let me tell you, I sparkled. My only embellishment was the sheen on my lips and that of my skin, gleaming with raindrops and the flush of exertion. The overall effect was warm and lustrous, yet leisurely, like I'd swallowed and now exuded the very essence of summer. Since then, every time I've readied myself for a momentous event—and especially around this time of year, when scorching days fade into balmy nights and you just want to feel light and airy, unencumbered—that's the moment I channel.
Me and everybody else, apparently. "In summer, you wear less makeup; it's the natural inclination," says Nars director of global artistry, James Boehmer, "and transparent, glossy things seem more fun." Shiny, happy gloss also feels invigoratingly new again to P&G global creative design director Pat McGrath. "What I've seen on social media in recent years is heavily applied power to create dimension in the face," McGrath says, diplomatically referring to makeup techniques such as contouring that, depending on their execution, either make one look gorgeously sculpted or utterly over the top. "Naturally, trends tend to go from one extreme to the other, and right now there is a need for freshness in makeup. Gloss, either on the skin or lips, can really bring that look to life."
Reigning makeup artists, perhaps both in response to and rebellion against the pervasiveness of matte—did a supersaturated, opaque red lip (itself a reaction to the saccharine overdose of gloss that preceded it) not feel like the official beauty emblem of polished, strong femininity over the past few years?—are now tempering the look, strategically placing high-shine effects on lids and cheeks. Says Boehmer, "When it's in used in little touches, it's a great way to accentuate and add light to a feature. When it's everywhere, it looks like you're sweaty." Maybelline New York global makeup artist Yadim says the impact of good gloss is all in how, and where, you wield it: "A hint of dewiness on the cheeks is youthful, but punch it up and it reads more athletic. A spot of shine on high points of the face exaggerates bone structure to make all your features pop in an elegant way. Shine on the lids is playful."
On the fall 2016 runways of Valentino, DKNY, and Marchesa, skin itself went high shine; the look, Boehmer says, was "like the skin had heat to it and was a little steamy, like you've just come out of a sauna." Makeup pros are very good at MacGyvering that effect using old-school backstage staples such as Vaseline and Aquaphor; Yadim repurposed Maybelline New York Baby Lips gloss on models' lids at DKNY. Yes, Kate Moss is said to sometimes sweep Vaseline over her lids in lieu of eye shadow, but I'll stick to the recent batch of eye-specific glosses, which are way more comfortable and zero percent goopy. A new crop of shine-bestowing products makes it less daunting for mere mortals to get next-level luster home: Pat McGrath Labs Golden Shiny Stick Highlighter + Balm Duo, a dual-ended luminizer and all-over balm that McGrath debuted at Valentino, imparts otherworldly radiance; Paul & Joe Beaute Eye Gloss & Lip Gloss Duo stick gives a double dose of sheen.
By far the easiest place to wear gloss is also the most obvious—and has the sexiest connotations, if you ask McGrath, whose "ultimate glossy-lip muses are Grace Jones and, of course, Jerry Hall." As for me, the free-association result of hearing the words lip gloss goes something like this: summer camp, first French kiss, Mandy Moore, breathless, heat, and, finally, M.A.C. Lipglass—the most valuable thing a girl in my middle school could own. For Peter Philips, the creative and image director of Dior Makeup (his shellacked-lip look at the maison's spring show verged on blinding), lip gloss conjures "the gesture of applying it all day long when you're young, and the licking of your lips—it's that teasing sexiness."He adds that compared to, say, a matte red, lip gloss is "more playful. It changes; it's this constant play of reflection of light that makes your lips look rounder and more voluptuous."
If your own lip gloss reverie gets derailed right around "Ack, ponytail stuck to my face again," fear not: Thanks to new formulas, it's now possible to glisten with Jerry Hall intensity sans stickiness. Among the best is Dior Addict Ultra-Gloss, a collection of 18 dazzlingly glassy, hyaluronic acid–spiked infusions that come in clear, shimmer-flecked, and iridescent tints. "The great thing is the formula has a bit of stretch in it," Philips says. "When you apply it, you don't need a thick glaze. It's very elastic and nourishing." And then there's lip oil! It's a whole new thing, emerging as the latest breed of gloss-with-benefits. Julep Your Addiction Tinted Lip Oil has a base of camellia, rose hip, and avocado oils—versus glosses, which typically contain a mix of oils and other emollients—and sinks in as a face oil would, rather than coating lips, to impart low-watt gleam.
For those who like a subtler tastefulness of matte, bear in mind that gloss, too, can have a certain minimalist appeal. "I think it's so cool if you're doing a big eye statement, like a dirty, chunky, fucked-up mascara look, and then you do a clear lip gloss with that, because something with color could look cheesy," says Boehmer, who favors Nars Triple X Lip Gloss for its staying power and resplendent sheen. "Clear lip gloss and black eyeliner are the perfect companions."
Before piling it on, some lip gloss guidance: "Use gloss in the center of your lips so it stays on better, makes your lips look fuller, and creates textural depth," Boehmer says. "You don't need gloss migrating over the lip line, like you ate fried chicken." If you have thin lips and you're set on making them look fuller, Philips says to avoid dark, pigmented glosses; the color overpowers the light-reflecting quality that gives the impression of fullness. "Your lips will look like this little, thin stripe of color." For bold color plus shine, as seen at Louis Vuitton and Kenzo, McGrath, who created the former look, painted models' mouths a matte cranberry, then daubed a thick layer of gloss on top.
This post has been updated.
