One of my greatest accomplishments is that I have a hair tie and lip balm in every single coat. When the pandemic comes, I will not have a ready stock of canned goods, but I will have soft lips and the freedom to pull my hair away from my face. In 85 percent of those coat pockets is Fresh’s Sugar Lip Treatment. For over ten years, this has been my favorite tinted balm, one I started buying long before I became a beauty editor. I know other people love the waxy feel of Chapstick, Vaseline, or Glossier’s Balm Dot Com, but I’ve always preferred more of a moisturizing, satiny glide.
The brand’s newest shade, Icon, is as close as you can get to a red lipstick in the form of a balm. On the lips, it become a very pretty stain of sheer, blue-based red. Think of lips stained by sangria, but evenly colored and without that weird ring. Think about the soft faded color your lips get from red lipstick at the end of a good night. Think about the softest red in Mark Rothko’s Untitled. The color is muted enough that you don’t need a mirror to apply it (convenient!) and it won’t get all over your teeth. If you are someone who has always looked longingly at those who have made red lipstick “their thing,” this is a great set of training wheels.
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