Glow Recipe Just Launched A Lip Treatment — And It’s Not What We Expected

Having already rebranded the watermelon as the ultimate skin-care ingredient (read: masks, moisturisers, mists, and more), Glow Recipe has now set its sights on a totally new product category: Lip care.

Launching today, the K-beauty brand is making its foray into the world of makeup-meets-skin care with the arrival of Watermelon Glow Lip Pop, a category-defying lip treatment that exfoliates, softens, and tints lips all in a matter of swipes.

I bet you’re wondering at this point, how does one tiny tube actually do all that stuff? Co-founders Christine Chang and Sarah Lee were inspired to create their dream lip product after years of personal struggles with parched puckers — a beauty dilemma that fans also lamented in the comments of Instagram posts. Ahead of its launch, I gave Glow Recipe's first-ever lip product a go — and here are my unfiltered thoughts.

I’m not really a lipstick person, mostly because I don’t love how lip colour tends to feel like it’s “sitting” on my lips, coupled with the fact that it gets everywhere/pulls a disappearing act whenever I take a sip of water (which is often) or snack at my desk (also often). This is partially because my lips get dry easily — especially during the winter — which doesn't exactly set 'em up for success when layered with a coat of matte red.

If you look closely, you can actually see the tiny flecks of coconut sugar, which provide a supremely gentle physical exfoliation while gentle AHAs smooth lip texture. However, the feel of the balm on your lips isn't gritty or scratchy; the tiny granules dissolve on contact, resulting in born-again, moisturised lips thanks to coconut and watermelon seed oils. At £19.50, it's a bit pricey for a tiny tube, but if you're serious about taking care of your lips (or stan Glow Recipe), then it's worth the purchase.

But we haven't even gotten to the fun part: The other half of Lip Pop's magic is the fact that the formula reacts to the pH of your lips to leave behind a bespoke pink stain on your lips; a few swipes gets you a just-bitten effect, but you can layer it on (as Lee did, during our meeting) to a more saturated hue. That said, I prefer to wear Lip Pop as a primer for my favourite MLBB lipstick, since it makes rough patches and dryness a thing of the past. That is, until I refill my water bottle...