I Tried Live Tinted's Unity Balm Gloss, and Damn — Look at That Highlight

I've been following Deepica Mutyala's journey and her brand Live Tinted for a while now, so I jumped at the chance to test out her latest product, the Unity Balm Gloss. I also recently interviewed the beauty-influencer-turned-entrepreneur, where we bonded over our similar South Asian backgrounds and not seeing anyone who looks like us in media growing up.

The Unity Balm Gloss costs $20 and promises all shine and no stick. While talking to Mutyala, she said she wanted the product to have dual purposes: "I loved the idea of combining a balm and gloss into one product, and I thought, why does it have to be separated? Why not create a face gloss experience where you can really get the most out of this product?" she told me. "We worked hard and put a lot of effort into making sure that the [Unity Balm Gloss] had no stickiness to it and that you could use it as a beautiful face gloss. I love using it on the days I'm not wearing any makeup and just have it on my skin."

The first thing I noticed about the product when I used it was the smart aluminum tube packaging and burnt orange branding. When I applied the balm onto my lips, I felt a hit of hydration almost instantly. Over the course of the day, I didn't notice any cakiness on my lips and they didn't become super dry, which is usually the case with some lip balms.

Then, I used the product as a highlighter. I put a little too much on my cheekbones and had to rub it in a bit more, but I noticed a nice highlight form. Just keep in mind that a little goes a long way when using the product as a highlighter, so don't go overboard. (Unless you want to, of course — no judgments here.) The only downside is that the squeeze tube lets out a lot of product after you open the cap and break the seal, but for me, that's not a major dealbreaker when it comes to balms.

Check out the product in action ahead, and then shop it if you're feeling inspired.