15 Best Lip Balms to Keep Lips Hydrated and Smooth
Chapped lips aren’t a good look on anyone. And there’s nothing fun about them that makes you want to show them off. That’s where the best lip balms come into play. These master-crafted lip treatments work wonders on compromised lips, restoring them to kissably soft, smooth lips. But perusing pages upon pages of lip balms to find the best ones can be a downright daunting task. So, in true Dermstore.com fashion, we did the work for you and narrowed it down to these 15, which our editors feel are the best lip balms for every need your lips may have.
Our Top Picks:
Best with SPF: jane iredale LipDrink Lip Balm Best for Glossy Finish: By Terry Baume de Rose Lip Care Best for Hydrating: tarte Maracuja Juicy Lip Hydrating Balm Gloss Best for Dry Lips: RMS Beauty Daily Lip Balm Best for Tinted: bareMinerals Dewy Lip Gloss-Balm Best for Chapped Lips: Morrocanoil Lip Balm Best for Moisturizing: MDSolarSciences Hydrating Sheer Lip Balm – Shimmer Best for Long-Lasting: Dr. Whitney Bowe Beauty Tri-Liptide Peptide Lip Enhancing Treatment Best for Barrier Repair: Dr. Dennis Gross DermInfusions Plump + Repair Peptide Lip Treatment Best with Hyaluronic Acid: Revision Skincare Tinted Youthfull Lip Replenisher Best for Sensitive Lips: ANFISA Skin An-Gloss Lip Balm Best with Peptides: Paula’s Choice Pro-Collagen Peptide Lip Balm Best for Cracked Lips: Allies of Skin Peptide & Ceramide Lip Balm Best for Overall: Furtuna Skin Lip Butter Best for Doctor-Approved: Dr. Barbara Sturm Lip Balm
What is Lip Balm?
Lip balm is a waxy lip product housed in a bullet and tube just like lipstick. The hydrating formula adds moisture to the lips while helping protect them from harsh environmental factors like the sun, wind, and cold, which can wreak havoc on lip health. Often rich in vitamins, minerals, and lip-regenerating oils, lip balms can veer toward basic or add a benefit, like a plumping effect or a hint of color. Ultimately, the lip balm you choose should shield them from dryness, cracking, peeling, and irritation, keeping the lips healthy and youthful.
Shop the Best Lip Balms
Best with SPF: jane iredale LipDrink Lip Balm
$25.00
No matter if traditional or tinted lip balm is your preference, there’s no need to worry about UV rays penetrating your lips and causing damage. This lip-saving formula packs a powerful punch in the moisture department, SPF 15 offers up much-needed protection, and a blend of waxes and oils provides antioxidant defense.
Key Ingredients: Titanium dioxide, castor seed oil, carrot seed oil, avocado oil, lotus flower extract, green tea leaf extract
Beauty Insider Tip: Apply the lip balm under or over your favorite lipstick for SPF sun protection
Best for Glossy Finish: By Terry Baume de Rose Lip Care
$60.00
Not all lip balms have to be boring, and this one is a perfect example of a nourishing lip balm that leaves behind a semi-glossy finish. Deemed the Rolls-Royce of lip care, this best-selling, non-sticky formula provides a hint of plumpness and fullness, along with intense nourishment, for seriously moisturized, regenerated lips you can see and feel.
Key Ingredients: Rose blossom essential wax, shea butter, vitamin E, ceramides, hyaluronic acid microspheres
Beauty Insider Tip: For an even more glossy effect, apply the lip balm over lipstick
Best for Hydrating: tarte Maracuja Juicy Lip Hydrating Balm Gloss
$27.00
With a multitude of colors to choose from, this 3-in-1 lip balm does it all—it hydrates, adds color to the lips, and leaves behind a glossy finish. The buildable coverage can be dialed up or down, and the more balm you apply, the more color you lay down. But here’s the best part: the hydrating gloss-meets-balm leaves dry lips swathed in moisture for up to 12 hours.
Key Ingredients: Superfruit complex, Maracuja oil, vitamin E, Cushion Comfort Complex
Beauty Insider Tip: The hydration that this lip balm delivers lasts for hours and wears even better when lip primer is used
Best for Dry Lips: RMS Beauty Daily Lip Balm
$26.00
Treat perpetually dry lips to this ultra-hydrating, lip-softening balm that goes to work instantly. Offering a light wash of color (there’s also a clear, non-tinted option), this easy-to-wear formula drenches the lips in a wash of hydrators without that greasy or heavy feeling that so many lip balms leave behind.
Key Ingredients: Coconut oil, candelilla wax, cocoa seed butter, carnauba wax, castor seed oil, jojoba seed oil
Beauty Insider Tip: All shades of the lip balm are flavorless and fragrance-free
Best Tinted: bareMinerals Dewy Lip Gloss-Balm
$25.00
Consider this lip balm your go-to for days when a light wash of color on the lips is the only accessory you need. Packed with a bevy of moisturizing ingredients for long-lasting hydration, we love every sheer shade of this cushiony soft, non-sticky solid gloss-balm, which makes the lips feel softer and smoother with each use.
Key Ingredients: Meadowfoam seed oil, sea buckthorn oil, sesame seed extract
Beauty Insider Tip: For luscious-looking lips, pair the balm first with lip liner and then apply a lip oil on top for an extra layer of nourishing shine
Best for Chapped Lips: Morrocanoil Lip Balm
This ultra-nourishing lip balm is like a tall drink of water for dry, chapped lips. Packed with hyaluronic acid, argan oil, and argan butter, it instantly hydrates for super soft, smooth lips that make every trace of chapping disappear.
Key Ingredients: Argan oil, argan butter, hyaluronic acid, peptides
Beauty Insider Tip: Mix the two tinted shades together for the perfect-looking berry lip
Best for Moisturizing: MDSolarSciences Hydrating Sheer Lip Balm – Shimmer
$26.00
This lightly tinted, shimmery lip balm is a must-have for hydrating dry lips while preventing unnecessary sun damage. Packed with SPF30, vitamin C, shea butter, and jojoba oil, the lip softening and smoothing formula provides all-day hydration and comes in seven buildable yet sheer shades, so there’s something for everyone.
Key Ingredients: Vitamin C, shea butter, jojoba, avocado and olive oils
Beauty Insider Tip: For optimal sun protection, always apply the lip balm to the lips at least 15 minutes before sun exposure and reapply every two hours.
Best Long-Lasting: Dr. Whitney Bowe Beauty Tri-Liptide Peptide Lip Enhancing Treatment
$34.00
This award-winning lip treatment offers long-lasting hydration with a high-shine finish while targeting the common signs of aging lips. Thanks to immediate hydration, the formula restores plumpness to the lips and adds definition over time, thanks to a unique blend of hyaluronic acid and biomimetic peptides. Pair it with your favorite in-office lip treatments for even better results!
Key Ingredients: Biomimetic peptide, hyaluronic acid, squalene, shea butter, ceramides, orchid extract
Beauty Insider Tip: Most immediate lip plumpers irritate the lips and cause vasodilation, but this one uses peptides for a more natural way to enhance the lips without any irritation or stinging.
Best for Barrier Repair: r. Dennis Gross DermInfusions Plump + Repair Peptide Lip Treatment
$45.00
The lips are one part of the face where a compromised skin barrier is likely to happen, especially as the seasons change. This multitasking lip treatment works hard to restore the skin barrier to its normal function while adding volume for fuller-looking, more defined lips.
Key Ingredients: Hyaluronic acid, peptide complex, bisabolol, trehalose
Beauty Insider Tip: Opt for this lip treatment if lip filler or a lip flip isn’t an option for you (for whatever reason!)
Best for Hyaluronic Acid: Revision Skincare Tinted Youthfull Lip Replenisher
$44.50
Perfect for dry lips, lip lines, and volume loss, this hyaluronic acid-rich lip balm helps to plump and hydrate the lips with a hint of pink color that adjusts to your pH levels. The cooling applicator soothes and refreshes the lips, leaving them shiny and with an enhanced contour.
Key Ingredients: Hyaluronic acid, vitamin C, green tea, vitamin E
Beauty Insider Tip: For the best results, glide the formula onto the lips in a massaging motion
Best for Sensitive Lips: ANFISA Skin An-Gloss Lip Balm
$45.00
Suitable for even the most compromised of lips, this award-winning formula provides long-lasting hydration and enhanced fullness while soothing the lips on contact. Perfect for when you want a glossy finish but a buttery-smooth formula, the nourishing and protective lip balm is a must-have purse staple.
Key Ingredients: Ceramides, peptides
Beauty Insider Tip: For added benefits, wear the lip treatment as a leave-on for long-lasting moisture
Best with Peptides: Paula’s Choice Pro-Collagen Peptide Lip Balm
$24.00
Peptides are a known ingredient that plumps the lips, and this lip treatment contains three times the amount of pro-collagen peptides for visible fullness, smoothness and nourishment both instantly and over the long-term. We like that the balm has a sheer pink tint that goes on like a lip treatment, but with the shine factor of a non-sticky gloss.
Key Ingredients: Peptides, parkii butter, sesame seed extract
Beauty Insider Tip: Perfect for thinning and aging lips, the lip treatment is ideal for anyone wanting to soften or hydrate the lips while adding fullness to them
Best for Cracked Lips: Allies of Skin Peptide & Ceramide Lip Balm
$25.00
Dry, cracked lips can be painful, and selecting the right lip balm is key. This one contains a blend of high-performance actives that rebuild the barrier while offering immediate relief. Plus, it works wonders to improve lip elasticity and mitigate tightness from cracking, keeping the lips well moisturized for hours on end.
Key Ingredients: Sea buckthorn oil, avocado oil, peptides, ceramides, vitamins C and E, sunflower seed oil, shea butter
Beauty Insider Tip: For the best results, glide the formula onto the lips in a massaging motion
Best Overall: Furtuna Skin Lip Butter
$45.00
This buttery-rich lip balm is a must-have for nourishing dry lips. Packed with plant-based butters and ingredients, it instantly restores moisture to the lips while reinflating them, leaving them perfectly soft, supple, and smooth.
Key Ingredients: Organic olive oil, olive squalane, shea butter, sodium hyaluronate
Beauty Insider Tip: For an extra dose of nourishment, exfoliate the lips first before applying the lip butter
Best Doctor-Approved: Dr. Barbara Sturm Lip Balm
$55.00
Created by doctor Barbara Sturm, this ultra-light, silky formula helps soothe and hydrate dry lips when it’s needed most. Perfect for shielding the lips from the sun, heat, and temperature changes, it leaves them with a soft, pretty glow and never skimps on moisture.
Key Ingredients: Vitamin E, lanolin, beeswax, shea butter, avocado oil, cocoa butter, coconut oil, sunflower seed oil
Beauty Insider Tip: Use this multi-use product to highlight your cheekbones, brow bones, or add a light sheen to your eyelids.
FAQs
What ingredients should you look for in lip balms?
There are plenty of good-for-your-lips ingredients in lip balms that help to nourish, hydrate, and restore the skin barrier. Some of the more commonly used ingredients to look for in lip balms include:
- Beeswax, which gives lip balm its staying power
- Cocoa butter for protection and a cushiony feel
- Coconut oil, which gives the product some slip and comforts the lips
- Vitamin E helps to moisturize the lips and protect against free radical damage
- Hyaluronic acid for deep, long-lasting hydration
- Glycerin, which softens the lips and moisturizes
- Shea butter conditions and heals the lips
- Plant-based oils that nourish and soften dry lips
- Ceramides to help strengthen the skin’s barrier
Can you overuse lip balm?
Technically, you can overuse lip balm, but doing so is a lot harder than it appears. Even if you apply your favorite lip balm upwards of five times per day, you still aren’t overusing it. Where problems arise is when chronically dry or chapped lips aren’t properly addressed, and lip balm is used as a band-aid solution; some ingredients can further dry out the lips, leading to overuse of the product. Rather than overapplying the lip balm, identify the root cause of the dryness and treat it so that the balm itself acts more like a hydrating sealant.
The Bottom Line
At the end of the day, proper lip care is essential for a healthy pucker, and while lip balm can make a world of difference, choosing the right one is rule number one. The best lip balms can hydrate and nourish the lips while adding volume and enhancing their fullness, but all lip balms work best when used appropriately. So if long-term dryness, chapping, or cracking is an issue and you’re not sure what to do, see your dermatologist for a proper assessment and a little help picking out the best lip balms for you.
Elise Minton Tabin is an award-winning beauty journalist, editor, and beauty expert with more than 16 years of experience. She previously held the title of Executive Beauty Editor at NewBeauty magazine, where she reported on beauty, plastic surgery, anti-aging, health and wellness. She was also instrumental in the launch of the beauty supplement brand Hush & Hush. A self-professed beauty junkie and retinol and sunscreen pusher, Elise knows what’s new, what works and who’s the best to go for every procedure under the sun. Follow Elise on Facebook, Instagram, and on her beauty blog, elisetabin.com
