, noting every formula covered. Our starting point: a list of 177 lip balms — from run-of-the-mill ChapStick to formulas from luxury beauty brands — all available for purchase nationwide at a wide variety of retailers. A single question drove our research: Does this lip balm really work? Our main focus was on which formulas moisturized the most, be it with hydrating ingredients like ceramides, beeswax, and oils, barrier agents such as petrolatum and dimethicone. We also wanted to find a lip balm that could protect delicate lips from the elements — particularly sun — and appeal to a broad audience: tints, flavors, and gloss didn’t make it far. Our first step was to take a deep dive into the balms’ individual ingredients, and we quizzed aestheticians and dermatologists on what to look for and what to avoid. We nixed anything with camphor, phenol, or menthol. These ingredients in so-called “medicated” lip balms bring on a tingly, cooling sensation — one most of us associate (wrongly) with winter-worn lips becoming moisturized.
“I can’t think of one instance when I would ever recommend a ‘medicated’ lip balm over a moisturizing one.” “We often use phenol in cosmetic chemical peels,” says Ploch. The acid acts as an exfoliant, and, in theory, exfoliating flaky lips is a good thing. “But dry, chapped lips need repair, not exfoliation. Therefore, phenol can cause severe irritation,” she explains. Menthol and camphor are what provide that temporary cooling sensation and work to numb or anesthetize the lips — but they can actually burn when applied to chapped skin. All of this can make the lips more sun-sensitive, too, Ploch adds. That tingly feeling is pretty popular though: We found formulas from some of the biggest names in balms, including Carmex, Blistex, SoftLips, and ChapStick, contained at least one of these three ingredients. And avoided the most common allergens. Allergens can be tricky to target — an ingredient you love may make your best friend break out in hives.
But our experts helped us pinpoint the most common irritants, and if those ingredients didn’t contribute to a more-moisturizing balm, we gave it the boot. We were surprised the list included vitamin E. While this antioxidant is lauded for its anti-aging properties — and thus is often touted as a stand-out lip balm ingredient to combat fine lines around the lips — “in terms of hydration versus dryness, it’s actually pretty neutral,” says Ploch. Peter Lio, an assistant professor of clinical dermatology at Northwestern University, adds this fun fact: A 2001 dermatological study found an astoundingly high 33 percent of participants experienced contact dermatitis (an itchy allergic reaction) to vitamin E, which is why we left behind familiar formulas from EOS, Neutrogena, Maybelline, and Burt’s Bees. Fragrances and dyes were more obvious to cut: While they’re not all bad, they are common irritants, and tints and scents also tend to be drying — even if they are all-natural.
As the 2016 class-action lawsuit against EOS Lip Balm shows, a product that claims to be 99 percent natural, organic, and gluten-free can still result in contact dermatitis. Even scents you loved in the past might not be fair game, says Lio. “Many people can become allergic to certain fragrance mixes over time,” he explains, “which can result in red, swollen, and itchy lips.” Beeswax is one of the ingredients that could cause an allergic reaction, but because its moisturizing benefits are so great (and it’s such a common ingredient in lip balm) we decided not to eliminate products that included it. That said, beeswax often contains propolis, a natural “glue” made by honey bees to build their hives, which has been shown to be an increasingly common irritant, so we made sure to look for an option without it. Lanolin is another one: a moisturizing alcohol derived from wool that has been linked to contact dermatitis in some people. While we didn’t actively eliminate any products with lanolin, that ingredient didn’t show up in any of our top picks — so no worries there.
What about just one ingredient?Pure petroleum jelly is the go-to lip balm for many and for good reason: It’s an impenetrable occlusive that seals in moisture, and it has virtually no history of irritation (which is why it’s used on babies to treat diaper rash). If you like the way it feels on your lips, have at it. You’re not going to find a cheaper option. “I recommend avoiding formulas with tons of extra ingredients in general,” says Lio. “Since each ingredient has the potential to cause irritation or allergy, it’s best to pick something simple.” Ultimately, the very best lip balms contain the ingredients necessary to moisturize and shield lips — and little else. As a consumer, looking at the number of components likely isn’t top-of-mind, but Lio’s advice is sound: Why expose your lips to 19 or 20 potential irritants when five will get the job done? We found plenty of our remaining options contained as few as four materials, while the most complex — such as the “intensively reparative” La Mer Lip Balm — boasted 52.
Aside from the outliers, our list at this point consisted of a solid group with 10 to 15 ingredients, and a second set that had up to four times that. We lobbed off that second set, separating the simpler formulas from the more extreme. Some hands-on sampling helped narrow the field. Any with a strong scent — think lemongrass, pomegranate, or “sliced peach”— were easy cuts. This knocked out all six tubes of Kiss My Face, which, with Badger, was the most prevalent brand in our top 25 balms. Any balm that left a lot of shine, sheen, or color on the lips was out — sorry Smith’s Rosebud Salve. Oddly shaped tubes too bulky for pockets were also set aside unless their scent and overall feel trumped the inconvenience. (All our EOS contenders were cut before hands-on testing, but still: in what universe are those golf balls the right idea?!) Over a series of applications, including four hours-long flights, a sinus infection intense enough to warrant a trip to urgent care, and summer heat that spiked near 100 degrees, we whittled the contenders down.
