Your lips are skin very similar to the other skin that covers your body. However, this skin is constantly being wet by your tongue, water, food, etc., and dried by each breath you take. So the lips are continuously exposed to many wetting and drying cycles. And lips do not have oil glans to replace the moisture, so they dry out and may crack quite easily.
If you add the rays of the sun; you have a burning agent added to the drying ones. Further drying can be caused by the extra dry winds of winter. If you smoke, the smoke adds toxins to the lips as well as the inside of the mouth, lungs etc.
All of the above can cause the lips to become dry, cracked, chapped, and/or burned. So most of us find relief in lip balm, especially in the winter. Lip balms replace the natural oil of our skin.
So what is the best lip balm?
Obviously, this has a subjective answer - that is, it is the one that you find to be best for you. So what follows is a smorgasbord of what lip balms can do for you to help you make a better choice when you buy your next tube of balm.
Bright Sun
Exposure to the sun can cause dryness and chapping. Lips, like all skin, are susceptible to the sun's ultra violet rays, so they burn easily. Look for balms containing sunscreen (SPF 15 or above), if you plan to be outdoors in the hot sun for hours. Some balms can sooth and soften the lips and are excellent in replacing lost oil. There are lots of lip accessories sometimes known as lip protectors which are worth trying.
Scented
Scented lip balms combine oils of Melissa also known as lemon balm, and oils of manuka, also known as New Zealand tee tree. Cold sores on the lips are soothed by this balm. Orange and coconut oils are healthy add-ins.
All Around
Among the all-around lip balms, we can find the wholesome goodness of sweet almond oil, palm oil, grapefruit oil, lime oil, and doses of vitamin E. These lip balms also act as a breath freshener. Sometimes a preparation of peppermint leaf oil is added into the formula.
Moisturizing Balm
Waxes and oils derived from plants moisturize the skin; one example is a coconut cream lip balm. Lip therapy is another type of lip balm, which protects the lips from chapping. Orange oil is a valuable ingredient to the lip therapy formula.
Vitamin E and Peppermint
Appletini lip balm is high in Vitamin E which is good to treat drying lips. It softens the lips and acts as a stimulant. Peppermint lip balms are refreshing to the mouth as well as the lips. They cool the breath.
Homemade Lip Balm Kits
It is possible to make lip balm that can be great for your lips. Many times it will give better results than the expensive balms bought in the marketplace because you can experiment with the recipes to achieve what you feel is best. blistex lip balm These balms contain all-natural ingredients with a list of butters: shea, cocoa, etc. You may make them citrus-scented; in short you have many options.
As to what the best lip balm is - it depends on your lips and how they react to it. Off the shelf, branded lip balms can be expensive and one may think that the higher the cost, the better they are for you. However, this is not always the case because every person's lips are different. So finding the best one for you is a personal choice. To take care of your lips, experiment with different balms and once you find the one with the ingredients that give the best results, stick to it. That will be the best lip balm for you.