Full disclosure: I'm not a winter person. I don't like snow, I don't like the cold, and I especially don't like what the brutal weather does to my skin. From November to March, I basically transform into a giant ball of flaky, ashy skin, and I'm pretty much forced to kiss my love for a dewy finish good bye.
Yet somehow, my lips usually do pretty well in the winter. In years past, I've never really had to carry around anything more than a regular lip balm. So I'm sure you can imagine my surprise when one morning I woke up with painfully dry, chapped lips.
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But I must admit, it was pretty much my own fault. I had switched purses the week before and kept forgetting to put my lip balm in my new bag. I was still swiping some on in the morning and before bed, but I wasn't taking proper care of my lips throughout the day.
"The lining of our lips are formed by a thin and delicate mucous membrane," Dr. Chaneve Jeanniton, founder of Brooklyn Face & Eye and skincare line epi.logic, tells me. "This makes them easily susceptible to drying from environmental exposures, which then leads to irritation."
Thanks to my rookie mistake, my first instinct was to reach for some Vaseline, which I've long trusted to moisturize any sensitive areas of my skin. But after about a week, I still wasn't noticing much of a difference, which isn't exactly surprising to Dr. Jeanniton. "Vaseline contains 100% petroleum jelly," the dermatologist explains. "It's really only forming a protective seal over the lip area, rather than hydrating."
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Next, I tried Aquaphor — another one of my go-tos, which contains glycerin to draw in moisture — but I was once again left at square one. It made my lips feel moisturized when it was first applied, however, after a few days, I still I wasn't seeing any lasting results.
At my wits end, I asked my friend, fellow beauty editor, and host of the Gloss Angeles podcast Sara Tan for advice — and thank God I did, because she led me to the Lip Sleeping Mask from Laneige.
The night after I received the mask, I applied a thick layer all over my lips and went to bed. Once I woke up the next morning, I was pleasantly surprised to not only have softer lips, but also to see that the product managed to actually stay on my lips all night, rather than melt off and spread across my pillow.
By the end of the week, my lips were completely back to normal, but I've kept the Lip Sleeping Mask on hand ever since. Even when I'm not using it as a treatment, I love the long-lasting glossy finish the product gives me.
Aesthetics aside, what makes this particular product stand out from the rest is the fact that the formula includes two standout ingredients: Beta-glucan and hyaluronic acid. "Beta-glucan and hyaluronic acid are both sugar molecules that act as humectants," Dr. Jeanniton explains. "They are good at attracting water and boosting hydration." However, the dermatologist — who also admits she's a fan of the mask — adds that there are a bevy of other ingredients that make the product exceptionally effective.
"The beauty of Laneige's Lip Sleeping Mask is that in addition to those humectants it also has several emollients such as shea and murumuru seed butter," she says. "These substances fill in, smooth, and soften the lip. It also features occlusives, ingredients that then effectively trap moisture onto the lip surface."
With winter just around the corner, I know I'll be stocking up on this magical product. And if you want to avoid the nightmare that is painful, chapped lips once the cooler temperatures start to settle in, I definitely recommend you do the same.
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