Over the past year, but especially the last six months, the rise of the tinted lip balm has been a favorite among brands. What’s not to love? You get the moisture of a treatment, some of the shine of a gloss and some of the color of a lipstick… without the heaviness. In the clean beauty world, tinted lip balms align perfectly with the effortless aesthetic and ‘no makeup makeup’ looks we see from most of these brands. So which one is my favorite? What’s the best tinted lip balm comparing Ilia, Lawless and Beautycounter? Let’s compare!
For today’s comparison, I want to focus on a few different categories and rate the tinted lip balms from 1-5, 1 being the worst and 5 being the best.
The categories will be:
Top to Bottom, 3 swipes of each: Ilia – Hold Me, Beautycounter – Plush, Lawless – Baby Doll
Let’s start with the first formula I tried from Ilia.
Ilia’s Tinted Lip Balm Overall Brighter, Darling score – 28/35, avg. 4
The second tinted balm I picked up were from Beautycounter.
Beautycounter’s Clean Swipe Hylauronic Lip Balm Overall Brighter, Darling score – 23/35, avg. 3.29
The most recent formula I picked up was the Lawless Forget The Filler Plumping Line Smoothing Tinted Balm Stick (what a name)!
Lawless Forget The Filler Plumping Line Smoothing Tinted Balm Stick Overall Brighter, Darling score – 22/35, avg 3.14
So when we look at all aspects of these balms, my personal favorite apparently comes down to Ilia as number one! This actually surprises me because I don’t reach for this balm as often as Beautycounter or Lawless. My biggest con with this formula is how pigmented it is and they don’t have any lighter, softer (more nude/neutral) shades. I purchased the lightest one and to me, it is more bold than I am used to for every day on me.
Beautycounter provides a great, middle of the road option. She’s not too pigmented, not extremely hydrating, and not the most expensive.
Lawless has the most buttery, treatment-like feel and my favorite shades, but price, the flavor and ‘clean’ rating don’t make me as happy.
What do you think of my thoughts on these three? Have you tried them? What do you think?
*I am a Beautycounter consultant, so if you choose to try the balms or anything else on the website, I’d love if you check out with me on the website and try using the code CLEANFORALL20 or CLEANFORALL30 to get $ off your first purchase 🙂
-Steffanie