Chapped Lips: The Best Ingredients To Look For In Lip Balms

Last Updated on November 16, 2025 by Giorgia Guazzarotti

It’s already starting. The past couple of days have been unusually sunny and warm in London, so bae and I had grabbed the opportunity to enjoy the last few romantic walks in the park before the colder winter weather turns me into a hermit (did I mention I HATE the cold?).

As we were making our way to our flat last night, my lips felt funny. Dry. Uncomfortable. Like they needed an extra layer of lip balm. Yep. My lips are getting chapped. It always happens at this time of the year. To add insult to injury, half of the lip balms in my stash become useless.

Truth bomb: what keeps your lips soft and kissable when all’s good isn’t necessarily moisturising enough to treat chapped lips. So, what is? Here are the best ingredients to look for in lip balms to treat chapped lips (and keep them from coming back):

Why Do You Get Chapped Lips In Winter?

Before we get started, have you ever wondered why your lips ALWAYS get chapped in winter – even when the rest of your face is oilier than a shiny, frying pan? Your lips are different from the rest of your skin. Here’s what I mean:

1. Thinner: lip skin is thinner than face and body skin. So thin, its protective barrier doesn’t stand a chance against the colder winter weather, freezing temperatures and unrelenting winds.
2. No pores: unlike the rest of your skin, lips don’t have pores. Without pores, sebum (your skin’s natural moisturiser) can’t reach your lips and keep them soft and supple.

Anatomy lesson over. Now that you know why the cold winter weather is so harsh on your pout, let’s focus on what ingredients you need to treat chapped lips:

Best Ingredients To Treat Chapped Lips

1. Lanolin

Lanolin. Wool fat. Wool wax. Call it whatever you like, it’s the greasy substance sheep produce to waterproof their body and protect them from harsh weather. It does the same thing for humans. Lanolin creates a barrier on the skin that keeps moisture in, so it can’t evaporate into thin air and dry out your lips. It’s super moisturising and easily treats even the most chapped of lips.

But, wait, does lanolin have a bad rep? Yep, and a totally undeserved one at that. Ok, maybe it was deserved 50 years ago. Back then, farmers had just started using pesticides on a wider scale and some of them ended up in lanolin.

These days, things are different. All those pesticides and other allergens are removed during the purification process. The chances of lanolin now causing an allergic reaction are very, very low. Phew! P.S. No sheep are harmed in the collection of lanolin.

Best Pick:

• Jack Black Intense Therapy Lip Balm SPF 25 ($10.00): A super rich lip balm with lanolin and shea butter to deeply moisturise skin, SPF to protect lips from the sun, and antioxidants to keep premature aging at bay. Available at Sephora and Ulta
• Kiehl’s Lip Balm #1 Moisturizing Lip Treatment with Squalane ($14.00): A very basic formula with lanolin and petrolatum to protect and healed the most cracked of lips. Available at Kiehl’s, Sephora, SpaceNK and Ulta
• Lanolips Tinted Balm Spf30 ($13.50): A tinted lip balm that deeply nourishes lips while giving them a hint of kissable colour. Available at Cult Beauty, Superdrug and Ulta

Related: Is Lanolin Bad For Skin?

2. Shea Butter

Shea butter is a godsend for dry, chapped skin. Derived from the nut of the Shea tree, Shea butter is loaded with moisturising fatty acids, including oleic acid, stearic acid, linoleic acid, palmitic acid, and linolenic acid.

These fatty acids create a barrier on the skin that slows down water loss. Word on the street is that it does this way better than mineral oil (what derms still consider the gold standard for moisturization).

The other reason Shea butter is better than mineral oil? Mineral oil only acts as a shield. Shea butter has nourishing nutrients that deeply moisturise skin + antioxidants to prevent premature aging. Win win.

Best picks:

• Drunk Elephant Lippe ($18.00/£15.00): An oil-based lip balm that deeply nourishes lips. Available at Cult Beauty, Sephora and SpaceNK
• Jack Black Intense Therapy Lip Balm SPF 25 Shea Butter & Vitamin E ($10.00): With SPF, antioxidants, and shea butter, this lip balm has everything you need to keep lips soft dn kissable all winter long. Available at Sephora and Ulta
• La Roche Posay Cicaplast Levres Barrier Repairing Balm ($9.99): A super moisturising lip balm with shea butter and panthenol to make lips soft and soothe irritations. Available at Boots, Sephora and Ulta

Related: La Roche Posay Cicaplast Levres Barrier Repairing Balm Full Review

3. Natural Oils

Let’s get one thing straight: when I say natural oils, I mean non-fragrant essential oils. If your lip balm has citrus oils, peppermint oil, geranium oil and all those goods smelling oils, chances are it’ll make your chapped lips worse. Fragrance is drying and irritating – even when it’s natural.

But non-fragrant oils? That’s just what the doctor ordered to treat chapped lips. These oils are rich in moisturising fatty acids and free radicals scavenging antioxidants, an unbeatable combination that moisturises your lips and prevents premature aging – at the same time.

Antioxidants help you boost the sun protection of your lip balm too. They work by neutralising free radicals generated by the sun. FYI, that doesn’t mean you can skip SPF (more on this soon). They just give your SPF a helping hand. So what are the best natural oils to treat chapped lips? Here are a few to look for on the label:

• Avocado oil
• Coconut oil
• Jojoba oil
• Olive oil
• Sunflower oil
• Sweet almond oil

Best picks:

• Drunk Elephant Lippe ($18.00/£15.00): An oil-based lip balm that deeply nourishes lips. Available at Cult Beauty, Sephora and SpaceNK
• Paula’s Choice Lipscreen SPF 50 ($13.00): This lip balm has the highest SPF you’ll come across in a lip balm. And it’s super moisturising too. Available at Dermstore and Paula’s Choice
• Poppy & Pout Hydrating Lip Balm ($9.95): A basic formula with coconut oil and sunflower oil to naturally moisturise lips. Available at Ulta

Related:Why You Should Add Olive Oil To Your Skincare Routine

4. SPF

Did you know that UVA rays can penetrate through clouds and windows and even be reflected on snow? It doesn’t really matter if you can’t see the sun. Until it goes down for the night, your lips aren’t safe from its UV rays. They hit your lips, unseen, causing all kinds of damage. They thin your lips, dry out your skin and give you wrinkles. Ugh. During the day, opt for a lip balm with SPF to keep your pout safe from UV harm and moisturised to boot.

Best Picks:

• Coola Liplux SPF 30 Original ($12.00): Enriched with natural oils to moisturise lips and SPF to protect lips from the sun, it’s a lovely formula that works all year round. Available at Boots, Sephora, SpaceNK, and Ulta
• Jack Black Intense Therapy Lip Balm SPF 25 Shea Butter & Vitamin E ($10.00): With SPF, antioxidants, and shea butter, this lip balm has everything you need to keep lips soft dn kissable all winter long. Available at Sephora and Ulta
• Paula’s Choice Lipscreen SPF 50 ($13.00): This lip balm has the highest SPF you’ll come across in a lip balm. And it’s super moisturising too. Available at Dermstore and Paula’s Choice

Related: Jack Black Intense Therapy Lip Balm SPF 25 Shea Butter & Vitamin E Full Review

FAQs

What should I do if my lip balm makes my lips feel more chapped?

Ugh this is the WORST and it happens to so many people. You’re basically in the lip balm trap – you apply it, your lips feel worse, so you apply more, and it just keeps getting worse. Here’s the thing: some ingredients are straight up drying even though they feel nice at first. I’m talking about menthol, camphor, all those cooling minty ones that give you that tingly feeling. They’re actually making your lips more chapped. Same with anything flavoured or scented – bin it all. What you need to do is go cold turkey on that balm and switch to something super boring and basic. Just pure lanolin or shea butter, nothing exciting. Your lips might feel a bit rough for like a day or two because they’re basically detoxing from all that crap, but then they’ll start actually healing. And stop licking your lips while you’re at it – I know it’s tempting but you’re just making everything ten times worse.

How often should I actually be applying lip balm throughout the day?

Look, if you’re one of those people who’s reaching for their lip balm every fifteen minutes, something is seriously wrong. Either your balm is total garbage or you’ve got yourself addicted to applying it. A proper lip balm that actually works should last you at least two or three hours. I put mine on in the morning, again after lunch because obviously I’ve eaten it off, maybe mid-afternoon if I’m thinking about it, and then before bed. That’s like four times max. If you need it more than that, your balm isn’t doing its job and you need to find a better one. Also check if you’re one of those people who licks their lips without realizing – that’ll dry them out faster than anything. And honestly, you might just be dehydrated. Sometimes the answer really is that simple – drink some bloody water.

Why do my lips peel even when I’m using lip balm regularly?

God the peeling drives me mental too. First things first – DO NOT PICK AT IT. I know how tempting it is, I know you think you’re helping, but you’re actually just ripping off skin that isn’t ready to come off yet and you could end up scarring your lips. The peeling is happening because your lips are trying to shed dead skin but they’re too dry to do it properly, so it just sits there all flaky and annoying. What you probably need is a gentle exfoliation situation – and I mean GENTLE. Get a really soft toothbrush or make a sugar scrub with some oil, and very lightly buff your lips maybe once or twice a week. Then immediately put on a thick layer of balm to lock in moisture. Also, your balm might be the problem. If it’s one of those waxy ones that just sits on top of your lips without actually sinking in and moisturizing, it’s not doing anything useful. You need something with actual moisturizing ingredients that penetrate. And I’m gonna sound like a broken record here but drink more water – if you’re dehydrated, your whole body struggles to shed skin properly and your lips are gonna be the first place you notice it.

Does drinking more water actually help with chapped lips or is that just a myth?

It’s not a myth but it’s also not some magic solution that’ll fix everything instantly. Like yeah, if you’re genuinely dehydrated then your lips are gonna be a disaster along with the rest of you – your body’s gonna prioritize keeping your organs hydrated over keeping your lips looking nice, obviously. But you can’t just chug a bunch of water and expect it to cure lips that are chapped from the cold weather or from using a rubbish lip balm. It doesn’t work like that. Think of hydration as the baseline – you need it for your lips to even have a fighting chance, but it won’t protect them from wind or cold or sun damage. So yeah, drink your water, stay hydrated, all that good stuff. But you still absolutely need a proper lip balm on top of that to actually shield your lips from everything the weather’s throwing at them. They work together – internal hydration plus external protection. One without the other isn’t gonna cut it.

The Bottom Line

The best ingredients to treat chapped lips are natural oils and butters that deeply moisturise lips, SPF that keeps you from UV harm and antioxidants that boost sun protection. Look for them in the ingredient list.