This answer is one that tends to change from person to person, as different ingredients seem to suit different lips and lip balm preferences. My personal preference is for ingredients that infuse lips with moisture (seeing as lips don’t produce their own oils), as opposed to barrier ingredients (namely petrolatum jelly, a common component to many lip products), which do little more than sit on the outside and create a shiny coating. For me, once they’ve come off, my lips feel even dryer than before.
So I look for anything featuring butters, waxes and oils. My top pick right now is Good Skin Megabalm Ultra Soothing Lip Treatment, $20, from selected Target stores (it contains muru butter) – I also love Shizen Lip Hydrating Serum, $24.95 from Adore Beauty, with its beautiful essential oil blend.
Beeswax and lanolin are two other goodies. They work by both moisturising, but also protecting lips as they also have occlusive properties. Find them in Burt’s Bees Beeswax Lip Balm ($6.95 from David Jones and selected pharmacies) and The Body Shop Lip Care ($20.95, see The Body Shop).
Badger Balms from DJ’s and selected health stores contain no petrolatum and are completely organic with waxes and fruit oils! Have been using them for years. I recommmend the Lavender and Orange, and the price range is around 13-19 dollars
Comment by Anonymous — November 12, 2008 @ 5:42 pm
shizen is a great product to use, as it doesnt have any of those barrier things Kat was talking about- i always have a pot situated nearby
Comment by Annie — November 17, 2008 @ 12:58 pm
The Perfect Potion lip balm is THE best lip balm I have ever used. Trust me, I’m somewhat obsessed with lip products. I second the Shizen serum too.
Comment by Bec — November 17, 2008 @ 3:24 pm
the best lip balm i have ever used is suvana organic lip balm its got honey and paw paw in it and no petrolatum. it really is great and only 9 dollars
Comment by melissa — November 21, 2008 @ 11:27 am
I just bought Korres Natural Lip Butter from Sephora for $9USD. It’s a bit pricey but it doesn’t have petroleum in it. I’m still confused as to why I didn’t choose a cheaper option that has petroleum in it. If it’s that bad, wouldn’t the US FDA have already disproved it?
Comment by BlairTee — December 22, 2008 @ 7:03 pm