Clarins Instant Light Lip Comfort Oil in Honey

Clarins' spring collection, appropriately named Garden Escape, contains a little tube which I reckon is going to be the front runner of a new beauty trend for 2015.  Instant Light Lip Comfort Oil is one of the first lip oils to emerge in the market, and it's available in two shades - this one, which is called Honey, and an online exclusive called Raspberry, which is a soft pink.

Supplied with a big, firm applicator, it's clearly more of a treatment product than it is a colour product.  Honey looks yellow in the tube, but applies clear - in the photo above my lips are a little red from doing lots of swatching, and the Lip Comfort Oil has added only the shine.

The premise of lip oils is similar to lip balms, just made with more oil and less wax.  This one is made of 100% natural oils, and includes hazlenut oil as a natural preservative.  With all that oil included, I was expecting Lip Comfort Oil to be, well, oily, and to leave my lips slippy.  The texture is actually much thicker than I expected - it's the texture of liquid honey without the stickiness, and if it didn't have the word oil on the tube I don't think I'd describe it as an oil at all.

So, if it's essentially a thick, non-sticky clear lipgloss which feels remarkably light on the lips, what's the point?  As a treatment product, it definitely imparts plenty of moisture into the lips - akin to the moisture I get from my favourite Lanolips balms - whilst at the same time giving a lovely glossy finish.  If you're looking for a glossy effect with serious conditioning benefits, it's great - but it's still not really an oil in the traditional sense.

If you're curious, you'll find these online and in store in February, costing £18.

Disclosure: PR sample

This post originated at www.londonbeautyreview.com. If you're reading it elsewhere, it's been stolen, violating my copyright.