My Beloved Teenage Lip Gloss Is Back — & Better Than Ever

They say you never forget your first — and, let me tell you, I will never forget my first big-girl beauty product: Stila's twist-up vanilla lip gloss. I was just a wee 13-year-old whose eventual beauty career was still just a twinkle in my eye, but swiping the sticky gloss in its now-discontinued shimmering beige shade was an unforgettable kind of transformative magic. Aside from being a powerful sensorial memory from my early teen years, lip gloss also continued to be a Big Deal into the 00s, too; Lancôme's Juicy Tubes weren't just makeup, they were a full-on experience. Fast forward [redacted] years since my teenage youth and I've yet to forget that iconic glamour-filled tube. So, naturally, you can only imagine my sheer delight when Stila announced that it was relaunching the gloss as part of its brand-new Autumn collection. Join me for a trip down one particularly glossy-lipped memory lane below with my full review on Stila's new and improved Lip Glaze.

Featuring a fully reformulated gloss with all the shine and none of the stickiness, Lip Glaze is, dare I say, back and better than ever. Unlike many glosses both then and now, Stila's is crafted with a retro twist-up, brush-tip applicator — which has always reminded me of painting my lips à la the "Honor To Us All" scene in Mulan where Mulan is getting a pre-matchmaker appointment makeover. The tube feels almost identical to the original (except reimagined in a matte gold sheen) but has gotten another 2020 update: hydrating and plumping benefits...

...And no, it doesn't burn or tingle like other plumping glosses on the market! It feels minty-fresh. The shade I'm wearing (pictured right), Kitten, is a beautiful upgrade from my beloved glittery beige colour of yore. My only gripe? If you're not careful, the twist-up tip can result in a lot of product overflow — but it's nothing a conservative number of clicks (1-2 max) can't fix for the perfect amount to apply to your pout.

Whether it's your favourite beauty product, an ice cream flavour, or a guilty-pleasure TV show, we've likely experienced (at one point or another) the heartbreak of having something we loved dearly suffer an untimely discontinued demise — and Stila has successfully brought one of my cult-favourites back to life in a bigger and better way. We may have seen a resurgence in all things matte over recent years (aka the 235151 liquid lippies), but I have a strong feeling that glosses are making their long-overdue triumphant comeback. And regardless of whether it's the nostalgia or the flirty 'n fun factor, I am Here. For. It.