Fresh Sugar Shine Lip Treatment

Last week, when I was browsing at Sephora, I saw that Fresh had a new lip product: Sugar Shine Lip Treatment ($18.50). As something of a Fresh groupie, I circled around it for a few hours, thinking, "Do I need another clear lip treatment?"

Sugar Shine Lip Treatment is a high-shine lip treatment that moisturizes, promotes suppleness, and improves lip definition.  It works to promote suppleness and improve the definition of the lip area while preserving moisture for up to six hours. The high-shine treatment enhances the natural color of the lips while offering essential nourishment. It can be worn alone or on top of your favorite Sugar Tinted Lip Treatment [really any lip color] for smooth, youthful-looking lips.

I parsed that marketing blurb and decided it would offer me shine and moisture. It was a go! The lure of the Fresh brand and my endless fascination with moist lips sealed the deal. I ordered it.

I am wearing for the fourth time it as I write. Although it appears to have a slight, light pink color in the tube, it's clear. There is absolutely no sense in taking a swatch photo. What you will see is clear lip gloss. I can make it shine with a direct hit of sunlight, but why bother? Is it shiny on my lips? Not particularly.

I can feel it on my lips; it's not weightless. It's not sticky either, but its feel on my lips is a clear reminder that I've applied it. Does it make my lips plump or youthful? Of course not. Most of those claims are silly - no matter which brand makes them. I know some of you don't like certain kinds of sunscreens, but this product offers none. I give it a demerit for that. Our lips are sensitive to sun exposure, and they burn just like the rest of our skin. SPF protection would have differentiated this new product.

Is it hydrating? Yes, for however long it lasts. Here are the major players in the ingredients.

• Sugar (Fresh signature): Attracts and seals in moisture. 
• Commiphora Extract: Promotes suppleness and helps smooth rough lips. 
• Cupuaçu and Mango Butters: Help nourish, soften, and restore suppleness.
• Hyaluronic Filling Spheres: Help make the lips appear fuller. 
• Black Currant Seed and Grapeseed Oils: Help hydrate and protect.

The only bone I can pick with Fresh's description of the ingredients is their description of hyaluronic filling spheres. Hyaluronic acid is nature's sponge. It gloms onto moisture and keeps it in the skin. Moist lips might be fuller lips, but in my case, that isn't often the case.

Fresh is really good about disclosing all ingredients, so there is the list...
Diisostearyl Malate, Polybutene, Tridecyl Trimellitate, Isostearyl Isostearate, Silica Dimethyl Silylate, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Dipalmitoyl Hydroxyproline, Sucrose Tetrastearate Triacetate, Commiphora Mukul Resin Extract, Theobroma Grandiflorum Seed Butter, Mangifera Indica (Mango) Seed Butter, Sodium Hyaluronate, Ribes Nigrum (Black Currant) Seed Oil, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Tocopherol, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Fragrance, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Ci 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Trihydroxystearin, Bht, Butylene Glycol, Caprylyl Glycol, Ci 77491 (Iron Oxides), Ci 75470 (Carmine), Hexylene Glycol, Polyglyceryl-3 Polyricinoleate, Propyl Gallate, Limonene, Citral, Linalool, Benzyl Alcohol, and Phenoxyethanol.

The product has no overt scent - just a slightly fruity hint you have to purposely smell to notice - so the fragrance was probably added to mask one of the other ingredients - a common practice.

I'm not sure this new product offers any advantages over Fresh's Sugar Advanced Therapy Lip Treatment ($25). I like it's gloss-like formula and texture, but not enough to recommend that you run right out to buy it, especially if you already own the Sugar Advanced Therapy Lip Treatment, which I do. At $18.50, it is less expensive than the other. Regardless, I'll stick with Sugar Advanced Therapy Lip Treatment.

Fresh says Sugar Shine Lip Treatment is proven to preserve moisture for six hours. I have not experienced that, but I don't get that from any lip product during the day. After an independent consumer testing panel (of undisclosed size) used Sugar Shine Lip Treatment:

• 97% reported smoother lips;
• 94% felt their lips were softer, more supple, and healthier-looking;
• 84% said it conditioned and protected their lips;
• 84% immediately noticed their lips looked radiant;
• 81% felt it hydrated and moisturized their lips.

You be the judge. Lip products are so personal. You can purchase Fresh Sugar Shine Lip Treatment at Sephora. Just don't expect miracles.

Photo courtesy of Sephora