3 Lip Glosses That’ll Put You in a Good Mood

The weather in New York sucked all winter. It snowed every week, and temps ranged from nine to seventeen degrees, and my hair and skin are a dry disaster because of it. True Detective is over until next season, and I spilled nail polish on my Isabel Marant booties. My five-year-old daughter would rather watch Frozen for the eleven-thousandth time instead of practicing her letters, and Tinder is not working in my favor. I’m in a terrible mood, you guys. The kind of mood where you want to tell complete strangers to suck it, for no reason at all.

This is not good.

But there’s a cure. And I’m not talking about low-grade antidepressants or diving headfirst into a bottle of Jack. It’s going to sound trite, but sometimes all it takes to lift my mood a bit is the right lip gloss. I have my own little stash of  gloss lithium I like to call my “Happy Girl Glosses.” As you might imagine, they come in delicious scents, lovely textures, and fun hues. Basically, they make my lips look and taste Skittle-sensational, and for three or four hours (until it fades), I feel almost spritely. Almost. Here, my favorite get-glad glosses:

Bath and Body Works C.O. Bigelow Lemon Pomegranate Lip Cream | $7.50

This lip cream is, in a word, delectable. Forget the fact that this clear shine keeps my lips moisturized and glossy for ages—the best part is that it tastes like pink lemonade. But, magically, in a grownup way.

Hourglass Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipstick in Riviera | $28

Hourglass Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipstick manages to come in gloss form, but goes on matte, like a lipstick—I love the velvety texture. And Riviera, the bright tangerine shade, is so breezy-cheery it can’t help but be mood-lifting.

Yves Saint Laurent  Golden Gloss Shimmering Lip Gloss in #47 | $30

Now this is a brilliantly glitzy topaz hue that’s so show-stopping, you barely need any other makeup. Nothing makes you feel better than being the most dazzling person in the room!

Tia Williams has been a beauty editor for 15 years, at publications like Elle, Glamour, Lucky, and Essence.com. Back in 2005, Tia created one of the first beauty blogs, Shake Your Beauty, where she wove her love of products through hilarious vignettes from her life as a beauty expert and mom living in Brooklyn. She’s also written several books, including the best-selling novel The Accidental Diva and supermodel Iman’s The Beauty of Color. Follow Tia on Twitter @shakeyourbeauty.