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The best Glossier products that are worth the hype, from cult classics to worthy newcomers

With dewy formulas, fragrances and new arrivals to choose from, these are the real holy grails

Helen Wilson-Beevers
Thursday 04 May 2023 16:56 BST
The buzzy, beauty editor-approved brand needs no introduction
The buzzy, beauty editor-approved brand needs no introduction (iStock/The Independent )
Our Top Picks

When it comes to beauty shopping, Glossier is a popular name famous for cult classics such as cloud paint, boy brow and milky jelly cleanser.

Originally landing in 2014, the brand’s launch heralded the beginning of the minimalist make-up trend. Products focus on a natural finish, skincare ingredients and fun colours. The simple, statement pink and red packaging is immediately recognisable, and it adds to the brand’s playful feel.

A global go-to with a loyal social media audience, the hashtag #Glossier has over 1.7bn views on TikTok, and has 2.7m followers on Instagram. Plus, the brand is a firm favourite amongst make-up artists such as Katie Jane Hughes, beauty editors and celebs like Gigi Hadid.

In terms of being purse-friendly, it’s an accessible collection to explore, with products positioned in the affordable to mid-range price bracket, and most are under £25. Brand-new launches to join the range include a refillable deodorant, rollerball version of the you fragrance and colourful lip crème line, G suit.

There’s no doubt the brand is a big beauty name, but do its buys stand up to the ever-growing hype? Here at IndyBest, we’ve put a few Glossier products through their paces to bring you our comprehensive verdict.

How we tested

We tested a selection of Glossier products over several weeks, including new launches and cult classic favourites. Our reviewer incorporated the skincare, make-up and fragrance goodies into their everyday routine and looked at formula, efficiency, and results. Plus, we considered packaging aesthetic too. Read on for our full tried and tested list of the best Glossier buys.

We tried the products over several weeks (Helen Wilson-Beevers)

The best Glossier product for 2023 are:

  • Best overall – Glossier future dew oil serum hybrid: £23, Glossier.com
  • Best skincare buy – Glossier milky jelly cleanser: £16, Glossier.com
  • Best for eyebrows – Glossier boy brow: £15, Glossier.com
  • Best lip colour – Glossier g suit: £18, Glossier.com

Glossier future dew oil serum hybrid

best glossier products skincare makeup boy brow
  • Best: Overall
  • Size: 30ml
  • Key ingredients : Jojoba, grape seed, evening primrose and rosehip oils and sugarcane squalane
  • Shades: N/A

This oil serum hybrid is designed to be used as the last step in your routine and we love the glowy finish we’ve seen. The iridescent bottle has a futuristic finish to mirror its name, and our tester appreciated the pump nozzle for mess-free application. We added a couple of pumps to our face after the rest of our skincare, and immediately noticed a gleaming, dewy finish – which we’re pleased to note was apparent throughout the day, too.

Vegan-friendly ingredients include jojoba, grape seed, evening primrose and rosehip oils, as well as hydrating sugarcane squalane. Whether our skin is feeling tired, dull, or dry, future dew has fast become our quick daily pick-me-up. Plus, it works brilliantly as a highlighter too.

  1. £23 from Glossier.com
Prices may vary
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Glossier milky jelly cleanser

best glossier products skincare perfume makeup boy brow cloud paint
  • Best: Skincare buy
  • Size: 177ml
  • Key ingredients : Rosa damascena water
  • Shades: N/A

A soothing and refreshing skincare buy, this gentle cleanser has a clear jelly consistency which goes milky when mixed with water and feels creamy on skin. It’s designed to be applied straight onto dry or damp skin, before adding water to wash your face thoroughly. The vegan-friendly cleanser doesn’t foam up and being non-comedogenic, it won’t clog pores either if you’re prone to breakouts. Ingredients include rosa damascena water, and we could detect this in the comforting, slightly sweet powdery scent.

We have found milky jelly cleanser efficient for removing a light layer of base, although it’s best paired with a more hardwearing cleanser for heavier make-up days. Our tester has sensitive skin and they like this for a calming face wash.

  1. £16 from Glossier.com
Prices may vary
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Glossier deodorant

best glossier products skincare perfume makeup boy brow cloud paint
  • Best: Bodycare buy
  • Size: 65g
  • Key ingredients : Coconut oil, superfruit elderberry extract and potato starch
  • Shades: N/A

This deodorant is made without aluminium, and instead includes ingredients such as coconut oil, superfruit elderberry extract and potato starch. We quickly noticed how moisturising it felt on our skin, and there’s no hint of annoying powdering residue. The chunky holder looks particularly chic for a deodorant and the wide shape of the stick provides easy underarm coverage. There are unscented or scented options, depending on your preference, and the vegan-friendly refillable product comprises a case and separate stick (£15, Glossier.com), which can be bought separately when you need a top-up.

  1. £18 from Glossier.com
Prices may vary
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Glossier you eau de parfum

best glossier products skincare perfume makeup boy brow cloud paint
  • Best: Scent
  • Size: 50ml
  • Key ingredients: Pink pepper, ambrox, ambrette seeds and iris scent
  • Shades: N/A

Glossier’s you perfume is the brand’s signature fragrance, and this fresh scent has become something of a cult classic since its 2017 launch. Created to adapt to the wearer’s skin and smell slightly different on everyone, notes include slightly spicy pink pepper, velvety ambrox and earthy iris. We’ve found the overall effect is a refreshing, warming, powdery, floral, sparkling scent mix. It’s also presented in a stylish pink Glossier bottle, complete with a thumb indent detail and a contrasting red lid.

We love wearing this perfume and find it a joy to experience wafts of the invigorating scent throughout the day. It’s long-lasting too and lingers on skin for hours on end. Plus, there’s a new rollerball version to try too, which is an ideal 8ml handbag size (£23, Glossier.com).

  1. £49 from Glossier.com
Prices may vary
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Glossier balm dotcom

best glossier products skincare perfume makeup boy brow cloud paint
  • Best: Multi-tasking buy
  • Size: 15ml
  • Key ingredients: Castor jelly, shea butter and synthetic beeswax
  • Shades: Nine

This small tube of salve has several multitasking purposes, and it can be used on lips, cuticles, and patches of dry skin. The tube has a slanted tip for easy application, and its thick, comforting consistency offers smoothing coverage minus any greasiness. We like having a tube to hand for popping on a chapped pout, as the conditioning balm soaks in and leaves lingering moisture. Key ingredients include castor jelly, shea butter and synthetic beeswax. Balm dotcom has recently been reformulated without the inclusion of lanolin, which is good to know if this is a component that irritates your lips or skin.

  1. £11 from Glossier.com
Prices may vary
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Glossier lash slick, black

best glossier products skincare perfume makeup boy brow cloud paint
  • Best: Mascara
  • Size: 8.5g
  • Key ingredients: Vegan biotin and black pigment highlighting polymers
  • Shades: Two

Available in both black and brown, this buildable mascara comes with a flexible brush for reaching inner lashes. It’s both fragrance-free and ophthalmologist-tested, should you be shopping for sensitive eyes.

The look this mascara creates is a natural one, and whether you fancy wearing one coat or three, it is easy to add extra layers without seeing clumps or spikiness. Although not specifically sold as a tubing mascara, it does gently coat each individual lash. As such, during wear we saw lightly lengthened and lifted eyelashes, and the mascara feels comfortable throughout the day too.

Removal is simple and doesn’t require much effort, as it’s water-resistant rather than waterproof. Ingredients include vegan biotin and black pigment highlighting polymers.

  1. £16 from Glossier.com
Prices may vary
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Glossier boy brow

best glossier products skincare perfume makeup boy brow cloud paint
  • Best: For eyebrows
  • Size: 3.12g
  • Key ingredients : Beeswax, carnauba wax and hyaluronic acid
  • Shades: Five

One of Glossier’s most raved about buys, brow boy is a staple for shaping and defining eyebrows. Available in five shape options, these include clear, brown, blonde, and black. Inside the compact tube is a tiny brush, and it easily grips brow hairs to add definition. Key ingredients include beeswax and carnauba wax for achieving that famous brow hold, minus any flakiness or stiffness. Meanwhile, skincare favourite hyaluronic acid is in there too, for softening and hydration.

We used gentle strokes of the brown shade to brush through and build up our brows, with it being a super speedy process to achieve a shaped, fluffed up or natural look. Our tester is usually someone who faffs about trying to get an optimum brow shape, but with boy brow their routine is a lot quicker.

  1. £15 from Glossier.com
Prices may vary
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Glossier cloud paint

best glossier products skincare perfume makeup boy brow cloud paint
  • Best: Cheek colour
  • Size: 10ml
  • Key ingredients: Collagen
  • Shades: Eight

The first thing we like about cloud paint is its fun packaging, which mirrors a little tube of paint and looks cute in our make-up bag. Available in eight options covering peach, fuchsia, nude, and mulberry tones, we sampled the vibrant poppy red spark. After squeezing the lightweight cream blush out of the tube, we dabbed it onto our cheeks. At this point, it quickly became clear that as it was highly pigmented, a tiny bit of cloud paint would deliver excellent colour payoff.

Because spark is quite bright, it can be blended in to create a healthy looking flush or built up for a bolder cheek finish. The rosiness cloud paint added to our cheeks also came with a dewy finish and we didn’t see any streakiness either. It can also be dotted onto lips, and we found the colour stayed put throughout most of the day.

  1. £17 from Glossier.com
Prices may vary
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Glossier ultralip

best glossier products skincare perfume makeup boy brow cloud paint
  • Best: Moisturising lipstick
  • Size: 3g
  • Key ingredients: Watermelon seed oil and jojoba seed oil
  • Shades: Nine

As lipsticks go, Glossier’s ultralip is extremely smoothing and softening. The angled bullet glides easily across lips, to provide a glossy, hydrated finish. There are nine shades available, including pink, red, orange and mauve, and we sampled the earthy nude trench shade.

Vegan-friendly ingredients include watermelon seed oil and jojoba seed oil, and application feels supremely comforting. In fact, it’s much like spreading a salve across lips, and the colour coverage is both even and smoothing. The moisturising lipstick gently sinks in during wear, and there’s not a hint of greasiness or stickiness in sight. We’ve been reaching for ultralip to provide lip colour when our pout is dry or chapped too, and enjoy its moisturising feel as much as the finish.

  1. £14 from Glossier.com
Prices may vary
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Glossier g suit

best glossier products skincare perfume makeup boy brow cloud paint
  • Best: Lip colour
  • Size: Not specified
  • Key ingredients : Rose wax silica and shea butter
  • Shades: Nine

G suit is Glossier’s latest launch, and it landed on 25 April. The lip crème comes in nine shades, including peach, pink, red and orange. We tried the deep burgundy shade shift and were wowed by the rich dark red tones. It has a doe foot applicator with a defined tip, which we found offered easy coverage and pout precision, minus any mess.

G suit offers an instant pop of vibrant colour with a demi-matte finish, and it effortlessly elevated our make-up look. Vegan ingredients include softening rose wax silica and nourishing shea butter, and the formula does feel gently smoothing. It works well layered on top of ultralip too, for particularly parched pout days.

  1. £18 from Glossier.com
Prices may vary
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The verdict: Glossier products

For a hydrating skincare pick-me-up offering a luminous glow, we love the future dew oil serum hybrid. Meanwhile, boy brow is an undisputed cult classic for shaping, defining, and fluffing up brows. Finally, if you’re looking for a fresh, signature scent, you is a sparkly fragrance blend of spicy, velvety and crisp notes that smells different on each wearer’s skin.

For perfecting a bare-faced finish, read our edit of the best BB creams

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