Is winter finally approaching the northeastern United States, just in time for the holidays? In anticipation, I’m stocking up on lip balms for the colder, drier weather. If you’re doing the same thing, and you’re feeling a need for something a bit fancier than ChapStick, something less ubiquitous than the reliable Burt’s Bees, or just a change from that greasy tin of Smith’s Rose Salve you’ve been carrying around for months, here is a six-pack of lip balm ideas.
The happy badger mascot of the Badger Balm line would make anyone smile, and the feel and scent of Badger Balm’s Lavender & Orange Lip Balm are even more smile-inducing. As the company’s slogan boasts, all Badger Balm products are “100% natural, mostly organic, totally good!” This balm is an emollient blend of olive oil, beeswax, and aloe vera, fragranced with essential oils of lavender, sweet orange, and Sicilian orange. It will heal your mouth and cheer your spirit. $3 for a stick; $5 for a tin (shown), available at badgerbalm or drugstore.com.
Skye Botanicals Tika Botanika Rose Lip Balm is my favorite recent discovery from the shelves of my local health-food store. This is another all-natural balm, and its rose scent comes from real rosa damascena oil. Its texture is smooth and silky, and its easily absorbed formula is mixed mainly from jojoba oil and soothing comfrey. This balm is very softly tinted a natural pink shade with alkanet root, and if that weren’t enough, it even has a charitable mission. It’s made in Costa Rica, and all net profits from its sales go back to that area, into a university scholarship fund for local students. $4 at skyebotanicals.
The weeks-long onslaught of holiday sweets has already begun, but Ganache for Lips can offer you a harmless moment of sugar surrender: real Scharffen Berger chocolate gives this light balm its scent and its flavor. My favorite pick is Chocolate Hazelnut, and many of the other choices sound equally tempting. Even if dessert-flavored products don’t suit your own taste, Ganache’s gift sets, available in two different boxes of four flavors each, are perfect treats for the sweet tooths on your gift list. About $4 at amazon or beautyexclusive.
Perfumeria Gal Fragranced Balm is, literally, the pretty face of this group: its tin is decorated with an Art Nouveau design like an Alfonse Mucha poster. I usually avoid balms that contain petrolatum and paraffin, but Perfumeria Gal has seduced me nonetheless. Red Currant is my favorite flavor, because the product is just as enticing as its container: a shiny balm with luscious deep cassis color and a tart-sweet, mouthwatering fragrance. About $6 at hamptonct or beautyhabit.
When you’re feeling particularly chilly and glum in mid-winter, and your lips are in danger of becoming chapped or cracked, a luxury lip treatment can make all the difference. Nuxe Rêve de Miel Honey Lip Balm is an indulgence, but a very effective one. It smells like honey topped with a slice of lemon, and it has few equals in nourishing and smoothing the fragile skin of the lips. Its thick consistency and its waxy little exfoliating particles make it difficult to use under lipstick or gloss; instead, I think of it as a night cream or overnight mask for the mouth. $21 at your-cosmetics.
I’m going to cheat here by recommending one lip balm that is unscented and unflavored, just in case you’re in a minimalist mood. Malin + Goetz Lip Moisturizer is a clear gel packaged in a tube, and it’s anything but natural — in fact, it has an unpronounceable ingredients list — but its formula works wonders. If you apply it at bedtime, it miraculously stays in place all night, moisturizing and protecting the lips. Used lightly in the daytime, it works under lipstick, or even over lipstick as a clear gloss. $12 at malinandgoetz.
Have a favorite lip balm, scented or unscented? Please share!
Robin, I miss L'Occitane Creamy Honey Lipbalm on your list.
Think their lipbalms are excellent.
Jessica, had to LOL as I sit here with some gloopy Smiths Rose balm on my lips, hands and elbows.
This is more of a gloss than a balm, but I love the Davies Gate Peppermint Gloss–it's moisturizing and has a good kick of peppermint, with a sexy sparkly sheen. They also promised hints of honeysuckle and freesia, but I don't manage to discern those. Still love it though!
Hi Marianne! I did have a tiny jar of L'Occitane's Honey balm once,and you're right, it's delightful. Similar in some ways to Nuxe's balm, actually. I love the whole L'Occitane Honey Harvest line!
Hi Pia! If the Rose balm works for you, don't let me turn you against it!
Davies Gate is one of those lines that I keep overlooking, for no good reason. Thanks for the reminder! I'll keep an eye out for the Peppermint gloss.
Actually, I agree on the Rose balm, it's great for overall usage, but it is greasy and like you I'm not generally as keen on petroleum based concoctions anymore! Look forward to trying the ganache balms at some point too!
Love that whole LOcc. HH line too.
This one: http://kioskkiosk.com/p/381/Lip_Body_and_Other_Salve_Set
It's extremely versatile, as stated here, effective, very inexpensive, readily available in pharmacies here in Sweden, and it has a pleasant, dry and unobtrusive vanilla fragrance. The consistency is waxy, so it goes on smoothly and leaves a thin, non-sticky layer that stays for quite a while, moisturizes, protects against harsh weather and leaves a discreet sheen. I always carry one of these in my purse. I like unfussy, efficient lip balms, and this one is perfect for cold weather especially.
I've never heard of this! Thanks for the suggestion. I love the military/pharmaceutical packaging, and it certainly does sound effective!
What a fun post! I'm a huge fan of Rosebud Salve, and unlike most people here, I find it the perfect texture – not greasy at all, and a great balance between a balm and a gloss.The new Minted Rose flavor (they have it at Sephora) is delicious. I also love DDF's SPF 15 Lip Balm – again, a wonderfully smooth, gloss/balm texture with a yummy peppermint flavor. But at $16 for a small-ish tube, I don't buy it very often.
Hi Kiki, and thanks! That Minted Rose flavor does sound nice. The DDF folks do seem to know what they're doing with skincare etc., although I agree, their prices can run a bit high.
Fun post, Jessica! I found a website called thebodyneeds.com through MUA. They have a line of handmade, all natural lip balms called Perfect lip balms. They come in a delightful selection of flavors in 5 gram jars for less than $2 US each. I bought the key lime and I love the flavor and consistency, so I'll definitely be going back for other flavors (IIRC, there's root beer, among many others
Hi Jessica there is another lipbalm that I have used a lot, just a very simple one, nothing fancy and the name is Labello. There are a few different Labello's but the one I am writing about is the with the yellow cap and SPF 15. At the beach in the summertime Labello yellow is what I use to protect my eyelids and my ears from sunburn, and it works and doesn't irritate the eyes.!!..:).
It's cheap but good.
So nice to exchange ideas about lipbalms, good idea Jessica.
Hemp Lipbalm by The Body Shop maybe old fashioned but it's good too I think, and is smells nice and greenish.
When there is a blizzard the good old Vaseline is excellent protection.
Rosarita, It's amazing how many new-ish natural product lines I keep learning about. I hadn't heard about this one yet, so I'll definitely take a peek!
Ah yes, I remember that Hemp balm in the little metal tin! I still like some of the old-school Body Shop products. And I loved their Apricot lip balm, the really shiny one, when I was in college.
I've used the Labello Rose as a daily balm, and it works very well under lipstick. I've also noticed that the Labello line is finally becoming easier to find in the US (online, at least)!
Thanks for all the great suggestions! I use Nars Rain every night and it's wonderful under lipstick. Also I just got Preserves Wine Blot lip therapy SPF 20 it's loaded with grapeseed extract. The company is 29 (sold at Neiman Marcus). I like that they don't have a flavor or scent because some my lipsticks are pretty strongly rose scented already.
Dear Jessica.
I was about to tell you about the Perfumeria Gal's balm.
I gave one to my mother as a gift a while ago, it is peach scented and just makes you wanna eat it like jam
The badger sounds nice and the packaging looks fun
So perhaps I will give it a try.
As I am a man I am not fond of scented lip balms, so I use
Enydrial, Baume Labial Hydratant from Roc Dermatologoc.
It is fragrance free ,pretty sticky and much in the malin+goetz vibe.
But works very very good.
Regards from Springtime (Argentina)
P.
Hi Jessica, It is not a lipbalm but Clinique's Glosswear For Lips Sheer Shimmers
is an excellent product for nighttime. Lips stay soft and smooth all night long and waking up with a hint of color on the lips (Mystic, for me) is so nice when looking in the mirror early morning… 
Oooh, lip balms! Love 'em!
Of your list, the only one I have and use all the time is the Nuxe: it's really lovely (it's scented with grapefruit, btw). I've often been tempted by the Perfumeria Gal ones, but never actually bought any.
Anyway, I'd rather have a tube or a stick – easier to use, imo. My current ones are:
Burt's Bees original. Not at night, though: the mint keeps me awake. LOL!
Durance Baume à Lèvres: tastes of honey – delicious
Badger Chai Rose (stick): wonderfully fragrant
and the one that's really my favourite at the moment:
Fresh & Wild Vanilla Honey: I could eat it just like that.
All the above are paraben and petrochemical free. I don't always stick to that rule for the rest of my face or body, but I do for my lips and eyes.
Must go and try your selection, J.
I can vouch for the badger balm – I have a stick of their Cinnamon Bay balm in my car and it's great stuff – actually penetrates the lips and makes them feel soft and comfortable rather than sticky.
I haven't used any of the others but I use Nuxe family/SOS balm as my overnight lip treatment and it's fantastic. It's also a great overall skin balm for bits of you that get chapped and sore and dried out (noses with colds, hands that have done far too many dishes, cheeks that have been wind-bitten skiing, elbows, knees, heels and cuticles anytime…).
NARS has a lip balm?! Verrrry interesting.
Greetings to you, P.! We're having a freezing, snowy day here in the New York City metro area, so your suggestion sounds particularly good right now!
The Badger Chai Rose was the last Badger scent that I used, and it's another of my favorites! I would wear it as a perfume, too, if I could.
I'm not familiar with Fresh & Wild, but I'll look it up. I prefer stick balms when I'm on the go, since they're quicker to use and my fingers are often contaminated from the subway, etc.!
Hi Wordbird! It's true, as the weather gets colder and colder, there are more and more spots that need a bit of balm! My cuticles and fingertips are really damage-prone. A good lip balm works everywhere, in a pinch!
My favorite lip balm is Fresh's Sugar Lip Balm. There's no petroleum and it goes on silky smooth. Its got a lemony/sugary fragrance to it. Its a little pricey at $22.50 (sephora) but in my opinion its so worth it.
I used to have a fetish for lip balms, buying them ALL THE TIME! Lucky for me that lip balm worked so well – its severely curbed my fetish. So now I focus that energy on perfume – HA!
My runner-up is CO BIgelow's Ultra Mentha Lip Shine. It feels so good on a winter's morning.
Hi Chocopina, Fresh Sugar balm does seem to have many fans! I believe it was reviewed on NST at some point (by Anjali).
Another of my sweet-flavored favorites is LUSH Honey Trap balm. It's sold in a tin, and it smells like vanilla and honey, with hints of citrus and mint. It's creamy and very moisturizing!
Just one more temptation for you.