Why I don’t believe in lip balm.
Ready for this… I don’t think lip balm works. Where did this come from? Thank you for asking. Well it’s a theory I came up with about a year ago now and decided to try some other methods. I haven’t looked back since. Really it is all hydrating versus moisturising but it was something I played around with for my skin before I realised hey this might work for my lips too.
As a kid of the 90s and early 00s my Lip Smackers were everything to me. My personal favourite flavour was lime but really anything with a little glitter won me over pretty solidly. That then graduated to using a myriad of lip balms over the years multiple times a day. And when I say multiple I don’t mean like three or four times. I mean literally every half hour if not more. I cannot tell you how many bloody tubes of Lucas’ Papaw Ointment I have gone through over the years. Let me take you on a little journey…
After high school when I got my job and started investing in my skin a bit more I began to discover that no matter how much lip balm I put on my lips they just would not stay moisturised. This all culminated when I got a really minor operation but after my lips just never recovered from being open in a cold room with that delightful breathing tube they put in. They were so split and cracked and even when they had “healed” they would get chapped EVERY SINGLE DAY regardless of the weather. So, I went to heavier products containing lanolin and while it worked for about a week my issue came back, and it really seemed to make it worse. I started this weird routine of switching between lanolin-based lip balms and my beloved papaw ointment, whichever seemed to make my lips feel moisturised.
My go to lip mask: Patchology FlashPatch 5 Minute Lip Gels
Not long after this, I stumbled across lip masks. Or more specifically the Tony Moly Lovely Lip Patch at a little Asian beauty store in the shopping centre I worked in. This really helped to turn my lips around and bring me back to just papaw a few less times a day but I was still using a lip mask a week. After a couple of months of this the Tony Moly Lip Mask blew up online, so it became really hard to find. I used them whenever I could get my hands on them but reverted back to using too much lip balm again.
That was when I had my realisation about lip balm. I have spent RIDICULOUS amounts of time researching skincare and incorporating what I have learnt into my routine. And I had recently just discovered that my skin was dehydrated which is why it wasn’t really improving no matter what I did. And honestly hydrating your skin is so much more important than moisturising because it goes deeper. The best products I found during this period for my skin was Bioderma’s Hydrabio collection as they help rehydrate your skin and teach it to stay hydrated.
One day after forgetting my lip balm my lips were absolutely HORRIBLE, I realised maybe my lips were just dehydrated. Why the hell do I need a separate product for my lips when I use like three layers of serums and moisturiser on my face specifically to hydrate my skin? And holy shit it changed everything. I started applying all my serums and moisturisers to my lips as I went, and it improved them in ways I never thought. I would use a light dab of papaw ointment after eating just to help keep it locked in during the day BUT THAT WAS IT!
The Chemistry Brand Hyaluronic Concentrate - Hyaluronic Acid is awesome to boost up the skins hydration
This has pretty much stuck to present day! I haven’t used much papaw ointment in the past couple of years, but I have taken my lip mask love to another level using the Clinique Pep-Start Pout restoring night mask in place of any lip balm during the day. But my lips are so much healthier and balanced, so it doesn’t even affect them changing between skin products and using lip colours! They even look significantly plumper than they used to before I made this discovery. And now lip masks are just a fun extra addition I use to boost them up every so often instead of an item I struggle to go without.
I honestly couldn’t recommend changing over like this enough because I cannot believe how much time, money and energy I wasted on lip balm over the years. Throughout this post I’ve scattered a heap of my favourite products that I find have really helped my lips for you to have a look into if you feel like you may be in the same boat. Let me know if you do the same already or if you switch over, let me know how you go!