The Most Recommended Lip Balms in the Mixed Makeup Facebook Group
Lips are weird. I mean, they’re beautiful and useful, but they’re also really super-weird. They’re a major part of our faces, yet their skin is drastically different from the rest of our facial skin. It’s thinner, it’s a different color, it doesn’t sweat, and it’s basically devoid of natural oils. If our facial skin is glossy poster board, our lip skin is flimsy tissue paper.
Because lips are so much more prone to dryness than the rest of our faces, they’re best off being moisturized with products made specifically for them, i.e. lip balm. After soap, lip balm is probably the first skincare product most people self-administer, because even at a young age, chapped, cracked, flaky lips can pose an uncomfortable and unsightly problem. Even though it’s one of the most familiar, long-standing products in our routines, it seems everyone is still looking for the lip balm to end all lip balms.
It’s one of the most common pleas for product guidance in the Mixed Makeup Facebook group: What’s the best balm for my tattered, desiccated, frangible lips? OK, so I haven’t seen anyone use those exact adjectives, but still. The quest is constant and seemingly never-ending — until now. I’ve rounded up the lip balms most frequently recommended by our nearly 25,000 members. (And if that’s not a convincing testimonial, I don’t know what is.)
The original, fragrance-free Glossier Balm Dotcom has become one of the most beloved lip balms well beyond the borders of the Mixed Makeup Facebook group thanks to its combination of castor oil, beeswax, and lanolin. The conditioning blend is also found in the seven other flavored and tinted iterations, like Cherry and Coconut.
Another option available in a variety of shades, Fresh’s Sugar Lip Treatment has been my personal favorite lip balm for years — and I’m not alone. Every time I stray from the incredible silkiness and lemony scent of the original untinted stick just to see if there’s something I may like more, I end up crawling back to it and quickly remembering why I’m willing to spend $24 on a lip balm.
What sets FAB’s Ultra Repair Lip Therapy apart from other lip balms is the inclusion of incredibly soothing colloidal oatmeal. But what it excludes is notable as well: If you prefer your lip balms petroleum-free, this is a perfect pick.
Don’t get thrown off by the whole “sleeping mask” thing. While this little jar is full of ingredients that make it a fabulous overnight lip treatment — like vitamin C, beta-glucan, and hyaluronic acid — there is no shortage of fans who have made this K-beauty formula their go-to daytime lip balm.
As the brand’s name suggests, this “multipurpose superbalm” is made with lanolin, a waxy substance found in sheep’s wool. And that’s it. That’s all she wrote. It’s just lanolin, which has a remarkable moisturizing effect on chapped skin. (But keep in mind, this is not an ideal option for vegans.)
Jack Black’s Intense Therapy Lip Balm may not make your lips glossy — it’s arguably the most matte formula on this list — but it will make them feel more comfortable with the shea butter and avocado oil found in every flavor. And it’s hard to get mad at its SPF 25.
Bite Beauty is best known for its phenomenal lip colors, but anyone who’s applied lipstick to super-chapped lips can tell you it’s more or less a strangely textured disaster. Luckily, Bite has the perfect vegan, agave-infused balm to prep your lips for their (or any other brand’s) lipstick. It’s especially effective with Bite’s equally adored lip scrub.
Mixed Makeup Facebook group members rave about this lip balm — but there’s a catch. The “highly filmogenic formula,” made with shea butter and beeswax among other reparative ingredients, is technically not available in the U.S. Luckily, there are a couple internet retailers who will ship it to the states, so Americans can get in on the major moisture.
Sometimes, the most effective formulas are the least expensive. (Isn’t it great when that happens?) Coming in under five bucks, Aquaphor’s comforting, fragrance-free lip balm seals in moisture so dry, cold air can’t yoink it out of your lips.
Cover image by silviarita
