Bingsoo is the undisputed dessert of Korea. Sweet, delicate, and creamy, shaved ice is often paired with condensed milk and chocolate or espresso for decadent flavor, or strawberry and melon for a fruity bite. The treat is integral to Korean cuisine, and serves as an inspiration point to Glow Recipe’s latest debut, its Glass Balm collection.
Glow Recipe cofounders Christine Chang and Sarah Lee wanted to their first tinted lip product to be as juicy as Bingsoo. “When you have shaved ice, there’s a bit of sheerness, the glossiness that shines through from the ice,” Lee says. So as a balm, this translates to a subtle wash of color with a glistening, high-shine finish, offering non-sticky comfortable wear with a plush, smooth feel.
Glow Recipe Glass Balm
- Why We Love It: “This product summed up in a in a sentence is lasting hydration meets glassy lip shine,” Chang details. The formula draws upon hyaluronic microspheres and glycerin to flood the lips with moisture for a smoother, plumper pout; not to mention, each shade features a fruit extract that corresponds to its name which deliver a range of antioxidant benefits and protect from free radical damage. The finish, as Chang describes, is glossy as can be, but never sticky.
- Key Ingredients: Hyaluronic microspheres, glycerin, fruit extracts
- Finish: Glossy
- Shades: 4
- Size: 50 ml
What sets this lip balm apart from others on the market is its composition; unlike its competitors, it delivers lip care as the primary benefit, and color as secondary. Addressing your pout’s hydration levels, it does so primarily with hyaluronic microspheres: “Just imagine on your lip surface, as soon as you apply the gloss, there’s a ton of little spheres rolling on the surface of your lips and filling in the [dry] gaps,” Lee explains. “[It] creates this nice plump volume, but it’s essentially just giving more hydration, and penetrating in layers of your lip skin with hyaluronic acid.” She likens these microspheres to “hydration magnets” which keeps hydration stuck under your lips, a process that ensures moisture and shine are maintained for hours. (12 hours, to be specific, according to the brand’s clinical trials.) This moisture retention is amplified by the inclusion of glycerin, too. “Food is never a flavor for Glow [Recipe], it’s always an antioxidant-rich fruit active, so all the fruits in here, including raspberry extract and kakadu plum (rich in vitamin C), are all meant to serve a purpose in the formula,” Chang explains.
These fruit extracts provide a through-line for the formula and the shades. Watermelon Bingsoo, a soft pink hue, for example, draws upon watermelon extract, while Blackberry Bingsoo, a more red-forward color, harnesses the antioxidant properties of blackberry extract. “[These] are here to make sure you’re getting that antioxidant benefit because you’re wearing it all day, and antioxidants are important to neutralize free radical activity on the skin,” per Chang. The collection also features a stunning cherry-forward shade called Strawberry Bingsoo, and Ice Bingsoo, a versatile clear gloss.
The colors themselves are meant to be buildable, like that of its Dewy Flush blush which debuted earlier this year. “If you want more color, you can achieve it,” Lee explains. The team wanted the wearer to have flexibility and versatility with it; for saturated color with a glassy finish. “But this is our way to say, if you’re not a makeup user per se, you can still enjoy this and look amazing—like natural but enhanced. If you’re a full-beat person, just add a couple more layers and you’re going to get that finish.”