Your Lip Balm Is Making Your Lips Drier

Our lip area is more prone to dryness than the rest of our body as it doesn’t have a cover of sebum that protects it from environmental elements. Thanks to lip balms as they help us combat these issues and keep our lips plump and hydrated. But did you know that certain balms can make your lips more chapped and irritated?

Ingredients to Avoid In Lip Balms

1 || Exfoliators: Ingredients like menthol, salicylic acid, and phenol are often used to slough dry flaky skin. These exfoliators may temporarily cool and soothe irritation, but their long-term effect is removing the outer layers of the skin making it susceptible to dehydration, redness, and burning.

2 || Fragrance: The idea of a fragranced lip balm is fun, but it can be so irritating causing the lips to get more chapped. Although some people may believe that the burning sensation experienced after using lip balm is a sign that it’s working, the truth is that any form of discomfort, including burning, stinging, or tingling, may indicate that the product is irritating.

3 || Allergens: Ingredients such as lanolin, parabens, phenol, or salicylic acid can irritate sensitive skin.

Ingredients to Look For

1 || Humectants & Occlusives

Products with hyaluronic acid or glycerin are great options. Other ingredients you need to look for in your lip balms are the ones that help lock in moisture via a physical barrier and shield lips from dry air, wind, and cold like beeswax, petrolatum, coconut oil, shea butter, mineral oil, and squalene.

2 || Sunscreen

Yes, your lips can get burnt exactly like the rest of your skin, so SPF is crucial in lip balm products. Our lips have very little melanin; the pigment that protects against UV damage. Which makes the lips more likely to get burned.