Eliza Approved spotlights those hero products worth the spend. Whether it’s classic favourites or what’s landed on our beauty editor’s desk this week, you can put your trust in our recommendations.
Here’s the thing that as a beauty journo, I’m ashamed to admit: I suck at applying lipstick. While I’ve mastered a sharp eyeliner wing and perfected a soft contour, achieving the perfect lip has always evaded me. I’ve tried everything and anything; lip liners, liquid lipsticks, even that weird TikTok Q-Tip hack, but my lipstick never looks perfect, and so, most days I just don’t bother.
The most painful part about all this is my unattainable-yet-beloved relationship with red lipstick. Whether it’s a soft Parisian blotted lip or a beautifully carved out dolce vita-inspired shade, I am obsessed with how it looks. Unfortunately for me, my red lipstick reality is more scary clown than French chic, and I live in perpetual envy of everyone I see pulling it off when I walk down the street – or most importantly, in the Eliza office, where I now spend many of my days.
So when Hourglass’s Phantom Volumizing Glossy Balm, £35, Sephora, dropped onto my desk a year or so ago, I was wary. But after my very first swatch, I knew these gold-gilded lipsticks were never going to leave my bag.
To be honest, I’ve always found that Hourglass’s lipsticks have served me well, even with my clumsy approach. The super thin lipstick bullet and long packaging that houses Hourglass’s Confession Ultra Slim Refillable Lipstick, £35, John Lewis, eased my application woes, but its super pigmented formula is definitely more for the lipstick pros out there, and in the end just made me nervous as usual.
Hourglass’s Phantom Volumizing Glossy Balm: my verdict
This is how Hourglass’s glossy balm found its way into my pedantic, non-commital heart.
- Price: RRP £35
- Key ingredients: A conditioning complex containing mango seed butter, avocado oil and shea butter
- Benefits: Hydrating, plumping, conditioning, good colour pay-off
- Application: Twist-up applicator
- Colour: 12 shades available
What’s the formula like of the Hourglass Phantom Volumizing Glossy Balm?
When you pop the lid on this, it gets even better. While the lipstick bullet isn’t as nifty as its Ultra Slim cousin, the oval flat shape is still smaller than a regular lipstick, which I find makes it a lot easier for tracing the contours of my lips.
Firstly, the aesthetics of this product need to be given a standing ovation: its slim, sleek, golden reflective packaging not only looks incredibly expensive, but makes it a damn sight easier to locate it at the bottom of your tote bag on the tube or in your seemingly endless clutch bag in the club toilet on a night out (I’m a stickler for practical applications).
This packaging helps to justify the higher price point, which I know is not super accessible. However, IMO, it’s totally worth the extra spend – especially as a special treat.
Now to the formula. Hourglass describes this as a three-in-one hybrid lip product, and honestly, it’s one of the rare times I’ve found a brand description to live up to the actual reality. When you apply this to the lips, it glides on like a balm. No quibbles.
Its staying power is surprising too; much more than that of a normal balm, and from what I’ve found, even some regular lipsticks. Of course, I find I need to re-apply after eating, but again, the same has always been said for normal lippies.
It’s still sheer (perfect if you’re a matte-a-phobe like me), but packs a serious level of pigment that in my opinion, takes it way beyond a tinted balm to the lipstick league. One swipe will deliver a punchy wash of colour, another will take you into serious statement lip territory, without the commitment of a classic satin or matte pigment.
Less than perfect application? Doesn’t matter; this formula melts into the lips in such a way that it’s pretty much impossible to go wrong.
What is the finish like?
Last, but most definitely not least, is the finish. Not only does it give my lips a high-shine lacquered look (without straying into the vinyl territory), but I always notice my lips looking plumper before I’ve even finished applying it. As someone who’s had lip fillers in the past, this genuinely gives your lips the kind of volume that could fool people into thinking you’d had a quick trip down tweakment lane.
What about the shades?
The shade range of 12, although tightly edited, I think is the perfect amount. At the moment, you’ve got the option of pretty pinks, romantic purples, brown-toned nudes and some heartbreaking reds. Because of the sheer finish, all of the colours work universally across different skin tones (Hourglass’s website gives some great visuals to see how each shade looks).
Much to my joy, Hourglass has also recently added an extra four shades to its lineup: ‘Desire’, ‘Sense’, ‘Rise’, and ‘Impulse,’ which are a cool beige, a cool pink, a peachy beige and a deep red, respectively. I’ll be taking one of each please.
Swipe and shop: Hourglass Phantom Balm new shades
*Eliza may earn commission on sales from these product links
Currently my favourite shade is ‘Slip,’ which I am wearing in the picture above, but the new crimson shade ‘Impulse’ is quickly gaining my affections, giving my lips a low-maintenance but high impact merlot tint.
In short, this balmy hybrid delight has instilled me with such a failsafe confidence that I’ve been swiping this on with reckless abandon, often without consulting a mirror. In all of my bags now resides at least one shade of the Hourglass Phantom Volumising Glossy Balm, and it doesn’t even matter which, because I know they all. Look. Amazing: there, I said it.
Consider my aversion to lipstick well and truly ghosted.
;
