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Cold weather, biting winds and skin-sapping central heating can all leave your face feeling drier normal during the winter months. Especially on your lips, where the skin here is thinner and more delicate. Which is why a good lip balm should be a cold weather essential.
But gone are the days when your only choice was a hard, unexciting stick of ChapStick. Nowadays lip treatments offer so much more, whether that be smart skincare technology, a mouth-watering fragrance or a hint of colour. The humble lip balm now fully deserves its spot in your make-up bag.
OK!’s beauty editor Laura Mulley puckers up to put them to the test…
Beauty Kitchen Abyssinian Oil Handbag Beauty Balm
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An intensely hydrating, multi-purpose balm made from 100 per cent naturally derived ingredients. It can be used not only on the lips but also as a cleanser, moisturiser – even an eyebrow shaper.
Laura says: “Softer than your average lip balm, you only need a tiny amount of this to coat the lips in a nourishing layer of hydration, and I love the subtle botanical smell. It also works brilliantly as a cleansing balm, or for soothing patches of dry, chapped skin.”
You’ll find a pot of this multi-purpose balm in this month’s OK! Beauty Edit box, along with six other brilliant vegan beauty must-haves.
Get your clean, greenOK! Beauty Edit Box here – from just £13*
Augustinus Bader The Lip Balm, buy it here for £30
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This luxurious lip treatment contains the same science-led, skin-rejuvenating complex found in Bader’s cult favourite face cream
Laura says: “I’ve been desperate to try Augustinus Bader’s face cream since it quickly became a regular in the bathroom cabinet of numerous celebrities, from Victoria Beckham to Margot Robbie, but until I can afford to fork out £200 I’ll happily treasure this lip balm. Light yet nourishing, it instantly feels like it’s doing lips some real good. The only downside is that it does wear down quite quickly (or maybe I just love using it THAT much).”
Emma Hardie Amazing Lip Balm, buy it here for £13.99
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This chic pot of balm contains moisturising moringa oil – which you’ll also find in Emma Hardie’s iconic cleansing balm – and has a light minty scent and a subtle pink tint.
Laura says: “This immediately melts into a very thin, almost watery texture on the lips – great if you hate the feel of thick balms, but it didn’t seem quite nourishing enough for my perpetually chapped lips. I can’t say I particularly noticed the tint or the mint (which is actually fine by me, as I don’t really like either in a lip balm).”
Milk Makeup Melatonin Overnight Lip Mask, buy it here for £20
A blend of shea butter, hyaluronic acid and berry extracts plus lavender and chamomile extracts to calm the skin.
Laura says: “Thick and pleasantly sticky, this cocoons the lips in a rich blanket of balmy goodness, softening my chapped skin in minutes. I always have a lot of lip balms on the go but I find myself constantly reaching for this throughout the day (not just at night).”
Too Faced Peach Bloom Color Blossoming Lip Balm, buy it here for £14
These cute new tinted balms adapt to your lips’ own pH level. There are five shades to choose from, each with a heart-shaped core and a peaches-and-cream fragrance.
Laura says: “A long-time lipstick-phobe, a tinted balm is about as close to ‘doing a lip’ as I’ll ever go, so these are right up my street. I tried three out of the five shades and, to be honest, they all developed into a very similar shade of pink – a subtle ‘your lips but better’ with a lovely healthy glow. Like all Too Faced make-up, they smell mouth-wateringly good, too.”
Aroma Active Laboratories Soothing Solid Lip Oil, buy it here for £8
A solid blend of shea butter and jojoba and calendula oils – rich in fatty acids – with an uplifting neroli scent.
Laura says: “I hate a balm stick that’s so hard it drags the lips, but this melts immediately, instantly leaving lips feeling healthy and conditioned, and I love how dinky it is. The one downside is that this chunky stick is not one if you’re looking for precise application – I have quite big lips but even I found it tricky to avoid this getting all around (and in) my mouth.”
Frank Body Cherry Bomb Lip Tint, buy it here for £8.95
A buildable, two-in-one lip stain that also be used on the cheeks, too. Lanolin and coconut oil are the main hydrators here, while coffee seed oil gives lips a natural plump up.
Laura says: “This is super thick – you really have to work it out of the tube – but this makes it super nourishing on dry lips. The colour is a bright berry pink that remains even once the product feels like it has worn off (perfect when wearing a mask), and I like the dewy, flushed effect it gives to cheeks, too.”
*if you purchase a six-month beauty box plan.
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