Lip glosses and oils play a huge role in making our lips look juicy. Each lip combo is complete once that sheer coat locks everything in. Although we adore both lip products, most of us can’t help but wonder - what is the difference? On the surface, both beauty products seem to do the same thing. At least, that’s what we think. According to makeup artist Chrishana Allen, lip glosses and lip oils may be cousins but are not twins.
There’s more to products than what’s on the surface. Each one is made up of different ingredients tailored to serve different needs. Allen explains the key differences between each product, its longevity, and how we can determine if a lip gloss or lip oil is best in our routine. With more beauty brands releasing lip oils and glosses, having insight into each product's benefits can prevent us from wasting money on products that don't satisfy our needs.
The Difference
“Lip oils and lip glosses differ in texture, color, and benefit,” says Allen. She continues to explain that lip oils nourish and protect our lips from dehydration. Similar to how body oil deeply hydrates our skin. “Conversely, lip glosses provide a super glossy finish and come in various high-pigmented colors,” adds Allen. We’ve seen an abundance of this in beauty brand launches. Fenty Beauty is one of many brands that have launched a series of lip glosses to their line. The various colors add to any makeup look, while lip oil can be worn on a casual, fresh-face day.
Beauty Makeup GIF by e.l.f. CosmeticsGiphyWhich One Will Provide Lasting Moisture?
It’s natural to believe lip oils are the key solution to long-lasting moisture. The real answer? It depends. According to Allen, many lip glosses on the market are formulated with hyaluronic acid and other moisturizing properties. These ingredients can help provide a level of hydration for a few hours. If you’re looking for something long-lasting, then it’s recommended that you grab your favorite lip oil. “Lip oils are made with moisturizing oils that can lock in moisture, which leaves your lips feeling more hydrated throughout the day,” says Allen.
"Lip oils are made with moisturizing oils that can lock in moisture, which leaves your lips feeling more hydrated throughout the day."
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How Can We Decide Which Product Is Best for Our Needs?
With so many products on the market, it can be overwhelming to determine which will satisfy our needs. Allen advocates for us, asking ourselves what is most important to us to make a concrete decision. She asks us, “Do you want a product that provides a light sheen with many nourishing oils that penetrate your lips? Then go for a lip oil. Do you want to moisturize your lips with a high-quality shine and excellent color payoff? Then go for lipgloss.” Being intentional about our needs will ultimately lead us to the product that will satisfy us.
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While an evolution is a natural progression that happens as businesses grow, a rebrand is a total change. Lola tells xoNecole, "A total rebrand is necessary when a business’s current reputation/what it’s known for is at odds with the business’s vision or direction.
"For example, if you’ve fundamentally changed what your product is and does, it’s likely that your brand is out of alignment with the business. Or, if you find your company is developing a reputation that doesn’t serve it, it might be time to pump the brakes and figure out what needs to change.
She continues, "Sometimes you’ll see companies (especially startups) announce a name change that comes with updated messaging, visuals, etc. That usually means their vision has changed or expanded, and their previous branding was too narrow/couldn’t encompass everything they planned to do."
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The Brand Doula was born in 2019, and its focus is on putting "the experiences, goals, and needs of women of color founders first," as well as brands with "culture-shifting missions."
According to Lola, culture-shifting is "the act of influencing dominant behavior, beliefs, or experiences in a community or group (ideally, for the better)."
"At The Brand Doula, we work with companies and leaders that set out to challenge the status quo in their industries and communities. They’re here to make an impact that sends ripples across the market," she says.
"We help the problem solvers of the world — the ones who aren't satisfied with 'this is how it's always been' and instead ask 'how could this be better?' Our clients build for impact, reimagining tools, systems, and ways of living to move cultures forward."
The Brand Doula has worked with many brands, including Too Collective, to assist with their collaboration with Selena Gomez's Rare Beauty and Balanced Black Girl for a "refresh," aka rebrand. For businesses looking to rebrand, Lola shares four essential steps.
1. Do an audit of your current brand experience — what’s still relevant and what needs to change? Reflect on why you’re doing the rebrand in the first place and what success would look like after relaunching.
2. Tackle the overall strategy first — before you start redesigning logos and websites, align on a new vision for your brand. How do you want your company to be positioned moving forward? Has your audience changed at all? Will your company have a fresh personality and voice?
3. Bring your audience along the journey — there’s no need to move in secret. Inviting your current audience into the journey can actually help them feel more connected to and invested in your story, enough to stick around as changes are being made.
4. Keep business moving — one of my biggest pet peeves is when companies take down their websites as soon as they have the idea to rebrand, then have a Coming Soon page up for months! You lose a lot of momentum and interest by doing that. If you’re still in business and generating income, continue to operate while you work on your rebrand behind the scenes. You don’t want to cut existing customers off out of the blue, and you also don’t want so much downtime that folks forget your business exists or start looking for other solutions.
While determining whether the rebrand was successful may take a few months, Lola says a clear sign that it is unsuccessful is negative feedback from your target audience. "Customers are typically more vocal about what they don’t like more than what they do like," she says.
But some good signs to look out for are improvements in engagement with your marketing, positive reviews, press and increase in retention, and overall feeling aligned with the new branding.
For more information about Lola and The Brand Doula, visit her website, thebranddoula.com.
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