This gloss feels really nice and hydrating. Some glosses make my lips feel horribly tacky. Since this is a gloss there is still some amount of tackiness, but hardly any in comparison to other brands. Additionally, as a gloss this has an incredibly decent wear time that you usually only experience with lipsticks or stains. As far as taste and smell, I'm not detecting any. The mechanism to raise it is by clicking the bottom button. However, there is no way to lower it so be sure to raise it in only small increments and control the urge when you first get it to raise it way up to get a good look. It has the tiniest bit of a pink hue to it. Actually it's more of a barely-there pink hue. I was a little hesitant to order since "glitter" is not my thing. Luckily, the second image the vendor shows with the words "star like, sparkling lips' is inaccurate. The third image with the words "high shine, glazed, glossy, however, is very accurate. The specks of glitter are very small and this creates more of a very subdued yet beautiful iridescent effect like that seen in the "high shine" image rather than the overly glittery look in the "star like" image. If you're looking for a very glittery, sparkly sheen, this is not for you. If, instead, you want look that is more of a subdued shimmer, you'll be as happy as I am with this gloss.