This Iconic Color-Changing Balm Delivers A Your-Lips-But-Better Look

Cult Status is TZR’s series that highlights an iconic item from brands both established and buzz-worthy. In these features, you'll discover the fascinating history of how one extra-special piece exceeded expectations and became a forever product. This time, the focus is on Dior Beauty’s Dior Addict Lip Glow.

The internet’s outrage in response to a beauty brand announcing a reformulation of a cult-favorite product should never be written off as an overreaction. When a certain lipstick shade, volumizing mascara, or gourmand fragrance has been your signature for years, you build an emotional connection to it. Swiping, brushing, or spritzing it on is part of your daily routine — and it’s been the one constant through all of life’s plot twists. So, of course, a formula change that alters the look and feel of your favorite product is understandably going to make you crash out a bit. Thankfully, when Dior Beauty decided to kick off 2025 with a revamp of its Dior Addict Lip Glow, the aforementioned scenario was well-avoided. Under the direction of Peter Philips, Dior Makeup’s image and creative director, the custom color lip balm, which adapts to your skin’s pH level, are now available in warm undertones thanks to a clever rework of the original — without sacrificing the hydrating benefits, of course.

These new shades provide an even more modern way to enhance your natural lips. “We keep working on the formula to make sure that the product evolves and grows and the [ingredients] never gets dusty or outdated [...] and to make sure that the product feels new over and over again,” Philips says of the relaunch.

Keep reading to discover what makes Lip Glow so special, and why it continues to be the balm that’s on everyone’s lips — literally.

The Making Of An Icon

When Lip Glow launched in 2008 Instagram and TikTok didn’t exist, and thus, neither did the concept of virality as we know it today. Instead, beauty products became popular through celebrity endorsements, magazine spreads, and good old fashioned word of mouth. So what set this lip balm apart from all of the others on the market? Its innovative “color changing” capability. Yes, thanks to its “Color Reviver” technology derived from hero ingredient, eosin, the balm adapts to the pH of the lips, creating a tint that’s unique to whoever is wearing it.

“When Dior Addict Lip Glow was launched in 2008, it was a product that was innovative and it stood out from what was available on counters at that time. It was surprising and also performing,” Philips shares. “It also became ‘viral’ before we even knew about the term ‘viral’. The product always finds its way to a new generation of clients, and the people who get a Dior Addict Lip Glow tend to come back for more.”

Dior Lip Glow 2.0

Fast forward to the present and the brand has expanded the Lip Glow’s shade range, offering warm tones, in addition to the original cool tones, for the first time. Philips says they were able to create this new color palette of shades by tweaking the colorant compounds of the hero ingredient, eosin.

“The strength of Dior Addict Lip Glow is how it reacts to your natural PH. Up until now the result always turned in a cold undertone makeup finish. For years our labs have been working on a formula to have a warm undertone makeup finish and with this range of shades we want to show the world that we cracked the formula and we are able to expand the makeup finishes,” Philips explains. “The range of shades is surprising, cute, and won’t disappoint.”

The new lineup includes 20 shades, including Tangerine, a juicy orange hue, and Gummy, a coral pink. There are also two fresh limited-edition coon tones like frosted Icy Blue and the zesty Citrus.

Aside from providing a complementary tint and hint of shine, the balm is formulated with 97% natural origin ingredients that replenish and seal in moisture. The mix includes cherry blossom oil, which helps prevent lips from drying out and strengthens the skin barrier, shea butter to soothe and soften, and sunflower and rice waxes to nourish skin. This reformulation also promises to keep lips moisturized for up to 48 hours and smooth for up to eight hours, respectively.

Lip Glow’s packaging also received a makeover, now housed in a pink couture case emblazoned with the signature Dior Oblique logo.

And of course, no Dior Beauty launch is complete without a star-studded campaign. The brand has chosen Anya Taylor-Joy, Willow Smith, and Jisoo to be the new faces of Lip Glow. In the images they playfully demonstrate just how versatile the lip balm can be.

While this relaunch has undoubtably reignited youthful energy into the brand’s fan-favorite product, it’s not the first time they’ve reintroduced it to a new audience. In 2018, Dior launched matte and holographic finishes of the lip balm (called Dior Addict Lip Glow Color Reviver Balm at the time) with a campaign fronted by Bella Hadid.

The Takeaway

In a time where social media feeds are starting to look homogeneous, individuality is celebrated (and sought out) more than ever. And that’s exactly why nearly 20 years later, Lip Glow has continued to be a mainstay in countless beauty routines. With both cool- and warm-tones available, there’s an option to enhance everyone’s skin tone and personal shade preferences.

And as Philips states, the possibilities on how to incorporate the balm into your makeup looks, are truly endless. “It looks great on a glowy, dewy natural look, but also on a full-glam eye and cheek look where you would want to add a more subtle lip,” he says.