Winter Skin Prevention and Repair Guide: All About the Lips, Part 1

Harsh winter winds can create the worst of chapped, cracked, dried-out lips, and when that happens, it’s a rough time, figuratively and literally speaking.  Lips should be smooth and soft to the touch, especially for those who want to wear lipstick.  Rougher surfaces make it difficult to both apply lip color as well as have it look nice.  Some suffer from chapped lips throughout the year, but take heed, there are some solutions.

Eminence Citrus Lip Balm ($24.00) comes in fun packaging, as it’s a dome-shaped lip balm jar.  It’s light and easy to carry around with you in your purse (though too tall to comfortably fit in your pocket).  I must first confess that I’m a touch of a germaphobe, so sticking my finger continuously into the same jar is not something that I go headlong into.  On that note, I make sure that my lip-balm-applying-finger is clean (and my lips are relatively clean, too).  I loved the scent of this, pure lemony citrus, and it went on very smoothly with a touch of a buttery feeling.  However, it was not oily, too slick or thick, for me.  I love Vaseline for a cheap drugstore solution, but it does have a bit of an ooey-gooey, goopy feeling that can be too much for some, and I tend to only use it as a night time solution.  I felt like this kept my lips hydrated for several hours without need to re-apply, which was great.  At $24.00, the price tag may be steep for some readers.  It’s definitely a balm full of essential ingredients, like shea butter and sunflower seed oil (subsequently, Vitamins A, D, and E), along with beeswax and salicylic acid (anti-inflammatory, reduces surface impurities), hawthorn berry (antioxidant, Vitamin B and C), peptides (encourage collaged production), and paprika (adds a bit of plumpness to lips).  So perhaps because it really does seem like the overachiever of lip balms, getting that much infused into your lips justifies the cost.

Principessa Bacio Me Lip Balm ($11.00) is a lip balm packaged in a cute tin.  I found this container to actually be a bit hard to open, and I felt like I really had to work it to open.  It’s definitely not something you should try shortly after moisturizing!  The texture of this product reminded me more of jelly than of a thinner balm, so for those who like thicker, slicker treatments, this one is definitely something to consider.  It contains both shea butter and Vitamin E to help keep lips super soft.  Since it has a jelly-texture, you get some sheen out of the balm, which is nice for days lazing around the house or running out to get the mail.  If you wanted to wear lipstick over this, it might not go so well.  Lipgloss?  Perhaps, but this is a lip balm I would probably use on its own rather than underneath lip colors and glosses.  In fact, if you find yourself always wearing lipstick and gloss, this would work better as a night lip treatment.  This lip balm is small enough to fit in your purse and light enough not to add much weight.  It’s durable (it is a tin, afterall), so you won’t have to worry about it breaking or cracking.  The price point is manageable, a little less than a typical lipgloss.

Von Natur Essential Lip Treatment ($11.00) is an 85% organic lip care solution for those who want slightly plumper lips in a very stimulating fashion, along with the promise of redefining the tissue around the lips to help reduce wrinkles.  Let me say that I could not handle this product myself.  I only used it three times, and one time I removed it immediately.  The product warns that it may tingle or you may feel heat, but it was just too much for me.  I might have sensitive lips, but either way, I just couldn’t take the heat so I got out of the kitchen!  To be sure, I am not a fan of many lip plumpers in general because the tingling sensation is more than I care to deal with (plus, my lips are plump naturally, thankfully, so I’m less inclined to suffer an ounce for something I don’t really need!).  As I have tried DuWop Lip Venom in the past, I would say the sensation is on par with it in terms of intensiveness.  This lip treatment has DMAE (recommended ingredient for healthier skin) and antioxidants, which, as we’ve learned, are all good things to find in any product designed to moisturize and better the skin.

Stay tuned for part two of this series covering LUSH’s Lip Service, Treat’s Cacao Lip Scrub, Clinique’s Superbalm Moisturizing Gloss, and Elizabeth Arden’s Eight Hour Lip Protectant.