It’s been a protracted time since we felt the necessity to sing Lil Mama’s, “My lip gloss is popping, my lip gloss is cool…” But with the quantity of ooey gooey lip products currently overflowing from our makeup bags, the song has never felt more relevant. That decade-defining anthem, timed with the recognition of Lancôme Juicy Tubeswas lip gloss’ peak… until now. Twenty-some years after the aughts, we’re much more obsessive about glazed lips, largely because today’s formulas do greater than just add shine, and so they aren’t in any respect sticky.

Because of glossy recent launches from Topicals, Neutrogena, and Gucci, our lips are currently commanding an elevated level of attention. Summer Fridays (Allure’s recent One to Watch honoree) and Fenty Skin’s latest formulas each include a jumbo applicator that makes applying them a breeze. Lip products from Saltair, U Beauty, Good Light Cosmetics, and Too Faced are also on the list of glosses which have recently entered our personal collections. Amidst all the novelty, we’re still clinging to some veteran lip products like MAC Lip Glass and the Tatcha Kissu Lip Mask.

What makes these newer formulas so plush and collectible is how they feel while you glide them across your lips — plus, the high-shine glossy look and gooey texture you get. “You usually find a mix of hydrocarbon ingredients in lip oil and gloss formulas because they’re excellent gelling and thickening agents for anhydrous applications,” says cosmetic chemist Amanda Lam. The ingredient mix she’s referring to includes hydrogenated polyisobutene, ethylene-propylene-styrene copolymer, and butylene-ethylene-styrene-copolymer — the mix of those ingredients gives our favourite lip products their ooey gooey, yummy texture.

Nobody in our office is picking only one favorite: Allure editors have loads of ooey-gooey options on standby — on a recent Tuesday, we counted 19 different lip glosses between two editors’ desks alone. Ahead, a number of the glossy balms, glosses, and oils that Allure editors like to have on their lips.

Kara McGrath, deputy digital director