It all started with a Balm Dotcom. I bought one, and then another, and another and before I knew it I was knee deep in Cloud Paints and Milk Jelly Cleanser and well and truly a Glossier Gal.
The millennial skincare brand launched in 2014 off the back of Emily Weiss’ blog, Into The Gloss, with just four products to choose from. But now, eight years later, the back-to-basics beauty brand offers a stripped back selection of around 40 carefully curated products, many of which were born from customers saying ‘we wish you had an X’ or ‘you need to make a Y’.
The ethos behind the brand is one that aligns with the kind of products I want to sit proudly on my skincare shelf or in my makeup bag. Inspired by real life, Glossier offers products created with actual, realistic beauty routines in mind – including makeup, skincare, body care and fragrance.
Emily said: “When I started Into The Gloss, I wanted to make beauty as much of an element of personal style as fashion. As I interviewed hundreds of women, I became more and more aware of how flawed the traditional beauty paradigm is. It has historically been an industry based on experts telling you, the customer, what you should or shouldn’t be using on your face.”
Built on fun and individuality, I love that Glossier is on a mission to democratise beauty with products that are functional for every single day use, all the while in stunning pink packaging;
I’ve used Glossier products for the last two years, forever recommending them to friends and family (who get 10 per cent off with my referral link). And as a millennial looking for effortless but gorgeous beauty products that are an absolute joy to use, here are my six top picks trialled in my 20s.
Balm Dotcom
My love for Glossier started with this cult-favourite, multi-purpose lip balm when I picked up the flavour ‘birthday’. The clear, subtly sparkly balm smells just like cake and feels so hydrating on chapped and dry skin.
The balm comes in a selection of different fragrances, some which apply sheer, like mint coconut and lavender, and others which have a slight tint like cherry and cookie butter, which are the other two I have.
The soothing cruelty-free balm uses nature’s heavy-duty moisturisers like castor oil, beeswax, and lanolin to offer a dense, waxy texture that stays in place to seal in moisture. They come in at £10 each but you can often get a set of three for the reduced price of £25, or £22.50 with my code.
The cookie butter balm was initially a limited edition Christmas release but has been so well loved by fans it’s here to stay, and it smells just like Lotus biscuits.
Milky Jelly Cleanser
I’m all for a gentle cleaner and the Glossier Milky Jelly Cleanser is a really lush creamy gel face wash that’s suitable for all skin types and doesn’t leave your eyes feeling irritated. This is because instead of using traditional soap, Glossier used Poloxamer – a mild cleansing agent that’s found in contact lens solution, so it’s safe for eyes.
Cruelty free and vegan, the non-comedogenic cleanser won’t block pores and changes from a jelly consistency that dissolves oil, dirt, and makeup, to a milky texture for conditioning the skin. I really like these transforming cleansers, like the Liz Earle Cleanse and Glow, and they’re suitable for use daily, twice daily or for the double cleansers among us, four times a day if you really want.
A smaller pump-action bottle comes in at £8 where you can decide if it works for you, and if you fall in love you can bag 177ml for £15.
Cloud Paint
The liquid blush that made me fall in love with liquid blushers, Cloud Paint is described as the ‘most user-friendly blush under the sun’. The buildable gel-cream blush comes in some seriously stunning colours, but as a pale girl, puff and dusk work best for me, the former being a light pink and the latter a nudish brown.
My favourite way to apply this product is to put a small amount on the fleshy part of my palm beneath my thumb before pressing it into my cheeks. This offers a totally seamless look which is sheer to start, but quickly builds for a pop of colour without going overboard.
Glossier say that Cloud Paint has ‘special blurring pigments’ which provide a more soft-focus look with a dewy finish that sits really nicely on the skin.
Boy Brow
Boy Brow is the Glossier product I hear people talk about most online, and it’s no wonder with luscious, bushy brows well and truly on trent. This brushable, creamy wax visibly thickens, shapes, and grooms brows into place so you can create perfectly prepped and pristine brows, achieve that lamination look, adjust go wild and untamed.
I love that Boy Brow doesn’t leave hairs feeling hard or crispy, but instead leaves them soft and flexible while offering a natural looking tint – for reference, I use the auburn shade, but you can get a clear gel if you’d prefer.
It’s really easy to use and the wand is tiny for really precise application. You just brush the £14 product through the hairs to fluff them up, before going in with it’s absolute bestie, Brow Flick.
Brow Flick
Glossier understands that the noughties were a tough time for those of us now in our 20s and 30s, and Brow Flick is the answer to those previously overplucked and now slightly-sparse brows.
The smudge resistant microfine detailing pen has a brush-tip which allows beauty buffs to create incredibly realistic hair strokes that start sheer and can be built up for a really strong arch.
The long wearing brow babe comes in three shades, blonde, brown and black, and can be used to extend the tail, add depth to sparse areas, or like me, use it to create a fluffier arch for bigger looking brows.
Like Boy Brow, this vegan and cruelty free product is £14, but you can get them both in a bundle for £25 and they really are a match made in heaven.
Lash Slick
No makeup look is complete without mascara, or at least not when your lashes are as fair as mine, which is where Lash Slick comes in. The lengthening mascara is so weightless and doesn’t clump or crumble throughout the day, either.
It offers a slight ‘extension’ finish thanks to teeny-tiny fibres that coat each individual hair for maximum definition.
It’s water-resistant, not waterproof, which means it stays in place without smudging or flaking for up to 12 hours, but then removes easily with warm water and Milky Jelly Cleanser when you’re ready to take it off.
Lash Slick comes in at £14 and uses nourishing ingredients like Pro-Vitamin B5 and Biotinyl Tripeptide-1, to really help support and care for your lashes.
You can find all of Glossier’s products on their website here and bag 10 per cent off with my referral link.
