The Viral Tower 28 ShineOn Lip Jelly Convincing Me to Like Lip Gloss Again
Main image – Courtesy of writer
Lip glosses, balms, tints, oils, treatments, and lipsticks have been dominating my social media pages over the past 6 months, with hundreds of new products and brands popping up claiming to be the next big thing in lip care.
Even though I find it quite satisfying to watch a makeup tutorial and observe how these products are applied and how they look, lips aren’t my main focus when it comes to doing my makeup. I’m a serious blusher and mascara gal.
I’m partial to a Paw Paw balm for its versatility and natural ingredients, but I rarely want to draw attention to my lips with a gloss because they’re quite thin. I do like a lipstick and lip liner combo and I usually slightly overline my cupid bow. However, I typically wear purple/brown shades and I prefer a matte finish.
What drew me to this lip gloss, though, is that it’s supposed to be an “alternative lip gloss for people who just can’t bear lip gloss. Made with the same conditioning plant-based oils as their iconic, original {ShineOn Lip Jelly}, Tower 28 Beauty’s ShineOn Milky Lip Jelly has everything we love about a juicy gloss with none of the hangups…”
Not being a massive fan of lipgloss, especially sticky ones, I was excited to try this jelly out to see whether it could be a lip product I could get behind (and who doesn’t need an extra shot of lip hydration?!)
Image – Courtesy of writer
The product details
Tower 28 says their ShineOn Milky Lip Jellies (£18.00 from Cult Beauty UK /$16.00 from Tower 28 US) contain hydrating oils, are non-sticky and high-gloss, vegan, and safe for sensitive skin, “Unlike traditional lip gloss that coats lips with a layer of shine while leaving lips dry underneath, this jelly formula is made with a unique blend of 5 nourishing oils to soothe + protect lips.”
Those natural hydrating ingredients include castor seed oil, raspberry seed oil, rosa canina seed oil and rosemary leaf extract.
All sounds great to me.
They have a light food-grade beachy coconut flavour and, although the brand makes no claims about plumping ingredients, it does say that the shine and hydration can make lips appear fuller.
There are 2 types of lip jelly from Tower 28 – their classic lip jellies and their milky lip jellies – I’ll be trying the milky lip jelly in shade coconut, which is a semi-sheer milky rosy colour.
While the regular lip jelly collection has 7 shades, there are 6 shades in the milky collection (sesame, coconut, pistachio, cashew, oat, and almond), housed in a round plastic 3.9ml/0.12fl oz tube – you get quite a lot of product in this!
Image – Courtesy of writer
First impressions
The box is really pretty, with lilac, orange, and pink patterns on it – very Gen Z. But, it’s what’s inside that matters more.
The tube is fine, it’s just a see-through plastic tube with the brand logo on it. Nothing exciting or out of the ordinary, but I do like that you can see the actual product and shade rather than having to unscrew the wand or squeeze the product out to actually see it.
The scent, which is coconut, isn’t the best in my opinion. It smells kind of coconutty. But what I will say is that it smells natural, and I prefer a slight natural scent rather than an overwhelming synthetic one. I usually hate it when a lip product gets into my mouth because I find it makes my throat very dry, but I haven’t had that issue with this product and if it does get into your mouth it just has a slight coconut taste.
The shade matches my lips pretty well, so the colour is very sheer on me – not that this is much of an issue. If I was going to repurchase it, I’d probably go for a deeper brown like their cashew shade or a purple hue like sesame.
When I pulled the wand out of the tube, I noticed there was quite a lot of product on it, but swiping it over my lip was really easy and the texture is quite thick and buttery. It feels very hydrating and – as promised – it’s not sticky at all!
So far, I quite like this jelly.
Image – Courtesy of writer
My results
This feels really nice on the lips. I often find myself biting dry skin off my lips fairly often (gross, I know, but common?), especially if I’m feeling a bit anxious, but this jelly hydrates enough so that my lips don’t feel flaky or dry. It reminds me quite a lot of the Rhode Peptide Lip Tint, and the texture is pretty similar in my opinion.
Before applying the lip jelly. Image – Courtesy of writer
A word of warning – be careful when pulling the wand out of the tube! Because so much product is saturated on the wand, I noticed it can drip off if you pull it out too fast, so, slowly does it with this. I also wiped off a tiny bit of excess into the neck of the bottle to avoid applying too much.
Because this product is so sheer, it gives a really natural look. But if a bolder, brighter lip is more your thing, this is a great product for applying over your favourite lipstick to add some gloss and hydration.
There’s nothing standout about this lip jelly and longevity, I find lipgloss or lip balm doesn’t last long and requires topping up throughout the day – the same goes for this product. While it’s lovely when it’s on the lips and it does leave them feeling softer and hydrated, within 15 minutes or so the glossy finish is gone.
One thing I will say is, my lips are left smooth and moisturised without a dry or flaky patch in sight!
After applying the lip jelly. Image – Courtesy of writer
What other users are saying
There are some very mixed reviews for this lip jelly! One user on Reddit writes “I love the milky shades (the semi-sheer), it’s a good consistency, not too thick nor too thin and looks super glossy and works well just by itself! the sheer ones, unfortunately, are not it for me. I find it to be pretty thick and have an odd taste and smell to it, but the pigment is definitely there and strong.”
While I think the formula is quite thick, I personally like the texture and it feels super hydrating.
And some people are really against the scent/taste “Is it just me who thought they freaking STANK? like mine smelled disgusting and i only owned it for like a couple days. i got sesame in a set and i didn’t realize it was semi-sheer, so i didn’t like the thickness and the opaqueness of it, i guess i could say.” I can sort of understand this, if you were expecting a very coconutty smell – this jelly doesn’t provide that.
On the other hand, another Reddit member writes “I loooove the milky shades. The other ones seem to dry out my lips but the milky jelly ones are perfect and super hydrating. I wear them even at night instead of a lip mask.”
And over on the Tower 28 website, another user says “I can’t imagine my makeup without this lip gloss! It’s non-sticky, long-wearing and the Coconut color is just adorable!”
It seems the jury is (sort of) out on this one.
@celestethomasrn It’s actually a moisturzing treatment that makes lips look plumper! #nontoxicbeauty #cleanbeauty #fragrancefree
Overall value for money
The price is pretty standard for makeup/beauty products these days, since prices are constantly rising. But would I buy it again? I don’t think so. I know I’ll enjoy using this up, but, for me, it isn’t worth the £18.00/$16.00 price tag for something that’s basically just a moisturising lip gloss.
I’d be more likely to repurchase the Rhode Peptide Lip Tint because it contains peptides and has a plumping effect, and it looks pretty similar when applied.
I like that the Tower 28 Milky Lip Jellies are made with plant-based ingredients and that they’re safe for even sensitive skin, these are definitely huge plus points, but I think I just expected that little something extra considering it’s almost £20.
But, there are some cheaper alternatives! People seem to like the NYX This is Juice lip glosses, which are basically half the price of the Tower 28 jellies and apparently provide the same shine and hydration.
The takeaway
Overall, I do like this lip jelly. It doesn’t dry my lips out, it feels really hydrating, the scent is gentle and non-synthetic, and it has some lovely plant-based ingredients. If you like a sheer gloss that isn’t sticky, or you have sensitive skin, you might really like this product!
While I probably won’t buy again, the price isn’t out of the ordinary for a quality lip gloss and you get a lot of product in the tube. But on that thought, I’d be more likely to spend that amount of money on a skincare or lip product that has active ingredients, amino acids, or some sort of plumping agent.
Get Glowing!
