The Girls Who Gloss

Why do most teenage girls never leave home without lip gloss? Shilpa Dubey finds it's less about beauty, more about boundaries in a world demanding constant perfection

- Shilpa Dubey

It's 11 PM at a club in Mumbai, and you've just taken over the bathroom. You and your squad have burst through the door, laughing, shrieking. There is that particular frequency of joy in the air that exists only when you're young and the night feels full of possibility. You crowd around the mirror, digital cameras out, and start taking pictures.

But, strangely, you're not doing touch-ups. No mascara. No lipstick. Just... gloss. Every single one of you pulls a gloss out from a purse, a pocket, even one tucked into a bra. It's like a ritual – swipe, pout, back to the dance floor.

We're watching what you do for your pictures... and why.

It's Everywhere

Open Snapchat. Scroll Instagram. Walk through literally any public space. We see you shine. Dior Addict. Fenty Gloss Bomb. The classic Glossier Lip Gloss. You're collecting glosses with an almost reverent dedication.

This becomes obvious instantly on your dressing table. Not the eyeshadow palettes or lipsticks most millennials grew up with, but an army of glosses. When we dropped into a suburban Mumbai student dorm, the average count of glosses we found among a small group of teenage beauty consumers was 11 each. Eleven ways to shine.

“TBH, I own way too many!” laughs creator Shreemayi Reddy, 27 now, who shares the Gen Z obsession with glosses. “There are always at least two in my bag, and 20 more on my vanity. I go for nude glosses or clear ones.”