Lip gloss is that makeup product that never goes out of style. Matte liquid lipstick had its decade, and now everyone's back to something shiny, sticky-in-a-good-way and easy to reapply on the bus.
The best lip gloss is the one you'll actually keep in your bag — which usually means it can't cost a small fortune.
So here are seven glosses worth your money, from a £9 e.l.f. lip oil to the Charlotte Tilbury the beauty influencers love talking about.
The best part? Every pick has a student discount attached, and we've compared the prices across every retailer that stocks it, because the same gloss can swing by a fiver depending on where you click.
Same energy as our guide to the best skincare products for students — just shinier.
Last updated: 3rd September 2026. Prices get checked weekly, so bookmark this one and check back before you buy.
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Why it's worth swapping your lippy for a lip gloss
Let's face it - lip gloss is the lowest-effort makeup there is. No mirror needed, no lip liner, no reapplying after every sip.
Most modern formulas double as a treatment too; think all the good stuff – hyaluronic acid, peptides, squalane — so it's skincare that happens to look good on a night out.
It also survives student life better than most things in a makeup bag. Glosses are cheap enough to replace, small enough to lose without crying, and forgiving enough to apply in a lecture theatre without anyone noticing. Try that with a winged liner.
What are the best lip glosses for students?
e.l.f. Glow Reviver Lip Oil — best gloss under a tenner
The one to buy if you want to spend the least and still get something genuinely good.
It's a sheer, squalane-packed oil-gloss that leaves a wash of colour rather than a full tint, and it doesn't do the gluey thing cheap glosses usually do. Rose Envy is the shade everyone seems to love and buy, but there's plenty to choose from.
All the retailers seem to have it for a bargain at £9, but e.l.f.'s own 20% student discount takes it to £7.20 — so it's worth checking that out.
Retailer | Price | Student Beans discount |
|---|---|---|
£9.00 | 20% student discount + free shipping (Beauty Squad signup required) | |
£9.00 | ||
£9.00 | ||
£9.00 |
If you're building a whole routine rather than grabbing one thing, our rundown of what's in the team's Superdrug baskets is a good place to start.
KIKO Milano 3D Hydra Lipgloss — best high-shine, low-stick finish
KIKO is the quiet overachiever of high-street makeup, and the 3D Hydra is the reason people keep going back.
It's a proper glass-lip shine with hyaluronic acid in it, and crucially it doesn't glue your hair to your mouth the second there's a breeze. The clear shade layers over anything, but there are just under 30 shades to pick from, and different varieties of this classic.
Retailer | Price | Student Beans discount |
|---|---|---|
£12.99 | ||
£10.39 (was £12.99) | ||
£13.00 |
P.Louise Lip Drip Keychain Lip Gloss — best for clipping to your bag
People are loving the Rhode lip case, but let us introduce you to P.Louise's Keychain lip gloss.
The keychain clip is as ideal as it seems; it hooks onto a bag strap or your keys, which means it's the one gloss you won't leave in a coat pocket in October and rediscover in March. P.Louise built its following on TikTok and the formula backs it up — pigmented, cushiony, not remotely sticky.
The 15% student discount takes it to £11.05. There's also a 3 for £15 multibuy running on the site, which stacks with the student discount and is the cheapest way to get three. Boots is no longer selling the exact lip gloss, but they are selling a P.Louise lip oil (Stay Shining Mini Keychain Lip Oil) that will also do the job.
Worth bookmarking alongside our roundup of the top trending brands at Boots right now.
Retailer | Price | Student Beans discount |
|---|---|---|
£13.00 | ||
£9 |
REFY Lip Gloss — best your-lips-but-better tint
REFY's whole thing is making you look like you woke up well-rested and expensive, and the gloss is no exception.
It's a 13ml tube — noticeably bigger than most — with a soft, buildable tint and a non-sticky slip. One USP about this lip gloss is its metal applicator, which is very sleek and gives your lips a great finish.
Retailer | Price | Student Beans discount |
|---|---|---|
£16.00 | ||
£16.00 |
Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer — best one-shade-suits-everyone
The gloss that started the whole lip gloss revival, and still sets the benchmark.
Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb is engineered to flatter every skin tone, particularly the original shade – Fenty Glow. The shea butter formula is cushiony rather than tacky, and the wand is large in the best way.
If you only own one gloss, own this one.
Retailer | Price | Student Beans discount |
|---|---|---|
£16.00 (was £20.00) | ||
£20.00 | ||
£20.00 | ||
£22.00 |
Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm — best for lips that need looking after
The one that launched a thousand TikToks, and it earned it.
Now we know it's not exactly a lip gloss, but it deserved its own section after making waves this year.
Shea and murumuru butter make it thicker and more comforting than a standard gloss, but it still gives that wet-look shine — so it works as a balm when your lips are wrecked from library air con and as a gloss when you're going out. It comes in a chunky 15g tube, which is roughly triple what you get in most glosses, so the £23 stings less than it looks.
Cult Beauty's 20% student discount is the best route at £18.40 — nearly £5 off, and a fiver's a fiver.
Retailer | Price | Student Beans discount |
|---|---|---|
£23.00 | ||
£23.00 |
Charlotte Tilbury Collagen Lip Bath — best plumping splurge
As Charlotte herself would say, "Darling - call this the birthday-present gloss."
Marine collagen and peptides give a genuine subtle plump rather than the tingly-burn approach, and Pillow Talk Medium is the shade that made it famous.
At £28, it's the splurge of the list, but it lasts, and it feels like it costs what it costs.
Retailer | Price | Student Beans discount |
|---|---|---|
£28.00 | ||
£28.00 | ||
£28.00 |
There's more where that came from in our pick of the best Charlotte Tilbury products to grab with a student discount.
Is a lip gloss set better value than buying singles?
Usually, yes — if you'll actually wear all the shades. A set of three or four glosses typically works out 30–40% cheaper per tube than buying them one at a time, and sets are how most people end up with a clear gloss, a nude and a red without paying full whack for each.
The best-value one right now is P.Louise's 3 for £15 multibuy, which stacks with the 15% student discount. Charlotte Tilbury's Beauty Icons and Iconic Beauty Kits run up to 30% and 50% off respectively before the student discount goes on, and LOOKFANTASTIC's beauty boxes are worth watching around payday.
The trap is a gift set built around one shade you want and three you don't. Check the shade range before the price.
Are lip gloss phone cases actually useful?
They're everywhere on TikTok right now — a phone case with a gloss tube slotted into the back, so you physically cannot leave the house without it. Genuinely handy if you're the sort of person who reapplies in every bathroom mirror.
Fair warning: they're a marketplace product, not a high-street one. ASOS and Urban Outfitters UK don't stock them, so you're looking at Temu — which does have a dedicated lip gloss phone case category and an extra 30% student discount — or Etsy sellers.
Prices swing wildly, so check that the gloss holder actually fits a standard tube before ordering, and don't expect the included gloss to be the good stuff. Buy the case, keep your KIKO in it.
FAQs
What's the difference between a lip gloss and a lip oil like The Fat Oil?
Gloss is about finish, oil is about care. A gloss is built to sit on top of the lip and reflect light — thicker, shinier, more pigment, shorter wear. A lip oil like The Fat Oil Lip Drip is a nourishing base first: lighter, more slippery, sheerer colour, and it sinks in rather than sitting on top.
The line's blurring, though. Most of the picks above are technically hybrids — the e.l.f. Glow Reviver and the Summer Fridays Dream Lip Oil are both oils with enough shine to work as glosses. If you want colour that shows up in photos, buy a gloss. If your lips are permanently chapped from the library air con, buy an oil.
Which lip gloss lasts the longest?
Pigmented, thicker formulas outlast sheer oils every time. The Fenty Gloss Bomb and the P.Louise Lip Drip hold up for hours; the lighter oil-glosses need topping up after a drink or a meal. Nothing survives a full night out without one reapplication, whatever the packaging claims.
Does lip gloss expire?
It does — usually 12 to 18 months after opening, and the little jar symbol on the packaging tells you which. If it smells off, separates or goes claggy on the wand, bin it. Sharing glosses is also how cold sores travel, so keep yours to yourself.
Can you use a student discount on makeup that's already reduced?
Sometimes. ASOS applies its 10% to full price and sale, and LOOKFANTASTIC's extra percentage stacks on already-reduced stock. Others limit codes to full-price items only, and most brands exclude new arrivals and gift cards. The exclusions are always listed on the brand page, so check there before you get to checkout.
Ready, set, buy. Browse all makeup student discounts today and get yourself feeling glam. For more on beauty, check out our life and wellbeing guide.
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