Like it or not, lipgloss will have its moment again. After oodles of years of matte lips everwhere, gloss is coming back with a vengeance – and if anything is an indicator for that, it’s Fenty Beauty’s lipglosses. When the brand launched, Gloss Bomb, their universal lipgloss, was the only lipgloss they released, and just this month, they launched another one with big fanfare. And I pitted it against a lot of other high-end options in my Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb comparison.

Fenty’s Gloss Bomb in Fenty Glow: I didn’t like it initially

Fenty Beauty Glossbomb comparison
Yup, didn’t like it a lot at first, but look at the state of the tube: I finished it.

I got Fenty Glow, the nudey rosewood shade with a bit of shimmer, right when it launched. Aaaaand – I was disappointed (same as Astrid, btw, who wrote about it here). Sure, it’s nice – it’s like the lowest common denominator in gloss form. It’s a basic colour, has a basic texture, and a basic scent (vanilla, oh my).

In short, it’s a great everyday staple for about everybody. No matter age, gender or skintone, anyone can wear this. Will they love it? That’s another question. Will it suit them? Doubtlessly. Because, truly, it’s just a slightly coloured shimmery gloss. Of course it suits everyone (as long as you like shimmery lips, that is). But slowly, I started to understand the magic of Riri’s gloss, when I started to pit it against my favourite high-end glosses.

Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb comparison

MAC Grand Illusion Duochrome Lipgloss comparison
The new-ish Grand Illusion Glosses aren’t bad, but Fenty Glow still blows it out of the water.

MAC

This isn’t even a contender. MAC’s lipglass is notoriously sticky, and Gloss Bomb isn’t sticky, ever. There are some glosses in MAC’s range that I like, as the Cremesheen Glasses and new-ish Grand Illusion Glosses, mainly because they offer the whole trinity of requirements I demand from a truly great lipgloss: great colour range, pleasant feel on the lips and a moisturizing formula. But then, they have either been discontinued to the bare bones of the range (Cremesheens) or only appear in MAC’s various LEs, and who’s got time for that!

Tom Ford

Yes, as much as it pains me to admit (I’ve got a totally unreasonable aversion of Tom Ford Beauty): Their Ultra Shine Lipgloss is great, but expensive and not as moisturizing as Fenty’s. Whew! (I mean, $48?! Aren’t you happy it’s not as great?)

Chanel

Chanel, MAC, Tom Ford, Fenty lipgloss comparison
Itty bitty Chanel lipgloss, because I’ve to admit that I own the newest iteration of Chanel’s lipgloss, Rouge Coco Gloss, only as a GWP. This one’s Arthur, btw.

And again, yes, Chanel’s Rouge Coco Gloss is truly great, but expensive, AND not as moisturizing as Fenty. It has an impressive colour range, though.

Fenty’s Gloss Bomb, revisited

Fenty Beauty Glossbomb review
Yes, it’s completely empty. (But I have a new one lined up already.)

And so it came to pass that I somehow used Gloss Bomb a lot, just because it was there. The packaging is annoying af (it leaks), but it lived on my work desk and boy, what a staple: I can wear it on its own – juicy mlbb look. I can wear it over matte lipsticks and it just makes my lips looking good and not to change another lipsticks’ colour too much.

While it has nothing special about it, it has its versatility: and a moisturizing, non-tacky formula that mirrors its high-end peers – and it’s truly universal colour. Isn’t it great that Fenty Beauty gives you the bare bones of a makeup look (base, gloss, liner, red lip) that caters to absolutely everyone (like the foundation that comes on a myriad of shades), and then you get the blue highlighter and green lipstick that might be for a very small group of people? I love that in a line that truly goes all out, and gives you the most basic look at the same time.

And yes, I used it up. My makeup is mostly basic, and this summer with all its challenges (heat, travel, moving) I went bare-faced most of the time. And you know, that was fine too. And Fenty’s Gloss Bomb was on my lips most of the time.