If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to spend less money on beauty products you see on TikTok, we suggest staying far, far away from the #fentybeauty corner of the app. We’re well aware of Rihanna’s affinity for making bangers when it comes to music and makeup, so it was less than shocking to discover that yet another Fenty Beauty item was racking up millions of likes. This time around, makeup fanatics on the app are swooning over Gloss Bomb Heat in Hot Chocolit, so we decided to put it to the test and see if it’s deserving of all of that Internet airtime.
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We’re no strangers to Fenty’s Gloss Bomb lip glosses here at Allure. This hydrating, non-sticky formula has already picked up three Readers’ Choice Awards and consistently gets top billing in the bestsellers section of beauty retailers like Sephora and Ulta Beauty. Swap out the shimmers, add in some tingly, lip-plumping ingredients, and you get Gloss Bomb Heat, a spicy sister product to this iconic formula. The regular Gloss Bomb and Gloss Bomb Heat even share a couple of shades, including Fu$$y, a sheer pink, Fenty Glow, a neutral rose, and Hot Chocolit, a tawny brown.
Gloss Bomb Heat owes its lip-plumping abilities to the “Plump Job Complex,” a blend of ingredients that includes ginger root oil and capsicum fruit extract (chili pepper). “Ginger root oil can help with boosting microcirculation to give lips a more rosy look and capsicum irritates the lip a little to cause the plumping look,” notes cosmetic chemist Ginger King. King also highlighted methyl nicotinate and tripeptide in the formula, both of which add to the product’s plumping effect.
The lip-plumping ingredients in this version of Gloss Bomb definitely bring the heat, but luckily shea butter and vitamin E in the formula are there to nourish your lips and lock in moisture. Vitamin E is an antioxidant that Beverly Hills-based board-certified dermatologist Ava Shamban, MD, previously called a “workhorse of a vitamin” because of its anti-inflammatory and hydrating capabilities. Peterson Pierre, MD, a board-certified dermatologist at the Pierre Skin Care Institute in Thousand Oaks, California also previously recommended looking for lip plumpers that contain conditioning ingredients like shea butter and ceramides for a smooth finish.