My lips felt like parchment. Then I remembered this little tube from a brand founded by a Senegalese-American woman who literally flew back to Dakar to learn her grandmother’s shea-butter ritual.
That’s not marketing fluff. That’s the recipe. And it works because she didn’t try to improve it — she just bottled it.
Ami Colé calls this a lip oil. It’s $24. Claims to hydrate for 8+ hours — which I rolled my eyes at, because most lip oils give you 45 minutes of hope and then vanish.
Thick, Not Sticky
It’s the consistency of melted honey — stays put, doesn’t drip down your chin.
One-Swipe Pigment
Sheer but not invisible. I use “Berry Bliss” and it looks like I bit my lip, not like I panicked with a crayon.
Zero Scent
No fake vanilla or candy. Smells like nothing. My coffee didn’t taste like lip gloss.
Photo: Lidye / Unsplash
The base is raw shea butter from a women’s cooperative in Kaffrine. It’s mixed with moringa oil and baobab — not fillers or weird polymers. You can feel the difference on application.
- Shea Butter: Soaks in fast, doesn’t sit greasy
- Moringa: Lightweight antioxidant, softens cracked edges
- Baobab: Vitamin C booster, fights flakiness
- Jojoba: Mimics skin’s natural sebum, no rebound dryness
Photo: Arteida MjESHTRI / Unsplash
First swipe: feels like a warm balm, not a slick oil. Absorbs in about 15 seconds. No tacky layer. I forgot I was wearing it — that’s the highest compliment.
Week two: I stopped reaching for my laneige mask at night. That’s never happened. My lips just… stayed soft. The only downside? The doe-foot applicator picks up a lot of product — you only need one dip.
Photo: Karly Jones / Unsplash
After three weeks: no more peeling at the corners. My lip line looks smoother — not fuller, just healthier. Still need balm after a heavy meal, but it’s the first oil that doesn’t make me reapply every hour.
This is what happens when a brand actually listens to their grandmother instead of a focus group. Buy one, try it for a week, then tell me I’m wrong.