The 10 best products for preventing and healing chapped lips in winter
Chapped lips, dry lips, sore lips – whichever level of irritating lip-related pain you're in, it's likely you're trawling the internet for quick fixes and ways to heal. Having chapped lips is one of the more uncomfortable, persistent cooler weather issues we deal with each year – eating spicy foods hurts, you're constantly licking them (which makes it worse), and even once your lips heal, there's the unappealing flaky stage which makes wearing lipstick an ordeal.
Well, there are cures for chapped lips, and they're faster than you may expect. But even more importantly, there are products that help both prevent dry lips from turning chapped and quickly restore them when they're healing.
Here is the ultimate guide to preventing chapped lips, healing sore lips and recovering from the flaky stage.
NOTE: Prices are accurate at time of publishing.
The best products to prevent chapped lips
Lip balm is the obvious choice here, but it's not the only one. Lip masks are on the rise, and they can be extra helpful if you live in a cold climate and find you're waking up with lip dryness.
Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask
A little too sticky for daytime use, this rich lip mask has a cult following because it will not budge as you sleep. Ever woken up to find your lip balm has disappeared? That won't be the case here. "This smells fantastic and hydrates my lips like nothing else does," writes one fan on Adore Beauty.
Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balm
If you're someone who wants to wear lip balm every day to help prevent chapped lips, a tinted version can kill two birds with one stone. Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balms are known for their natural but noticeable colours and nourishment. Our favourite shades? Hibiscus for a just-bitten look, and Red Dahlia for a subtle cherry finish.
Clarins Lip Comfort Oil
Do balms feel too heavy on your lips? You might prefer lip oil. Clarins Lip Comfort Oil uses a cocktail of botanical oils like jojoba and sweetbriar rose to assist with nourishing lips throughout the day, preventing them from drying out.
Ultra Violette Sheen Screen SPF50
Protecting your lips from the sun is also crucial, even in winter. Sunburn will definitely dry them out and can even lead to peeling (not to mention the UV damage), so if you're going to be outdoors, use a lip balm with SPF50. Ultra Violette's Sheen Screen balms are popular thanks to an SPF50 level of protection and non-sticky formula.
The best products for healing chapped lips
So, you've ended up with lips so dry that they're now chapped and sore. The quickest route to healing is the regular application of deeply nourishing and protective balms and trying not to lick or touch them.
Dermal Therapy Lip Balm With Manuka Honey
All the Dermal Therapy lip balms are holy grail-level for healing dry, chapped lips, but we love the more recent addition with manuka honey – it smells incredible and helps soothe lip soreness while promoting healing.
Weleda Skin Food Lip Balm
Weleda Skin Food is one of the most popular healing skin creams of all time, so the lip balm version understandably has a solid fan base. "I have super chapped and dry lips in general, especially in the winter," one reviewer recently wrote on Adore Beauty. "It's so hard to find a lip balm that actually works. This one worked wonders!"
La Roche Posay Cicaplast Lips
Are you across the TikTok hype around La Roche Posay's Cicaplast Baume B5+? Well, the entire Cicaplast range has a significant fan club, and yes, there is a lip balm version. Artificial fragrance and paraben-free, fans love the product for its consistent efficacy. "There's no dry lip this balm can't cure," one wrote recently on Adore Beauty.
READ MORE: We review La Roche-Posay's Cicaplast Baume B5+ Balm, AKA the TikTok-viral face cream
Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream Intensive Lip Balm
Another hero product in lip balm form, Elizabeth Arden's original Eight Hour Cream, can be used on lips to shield them from external damage (and has long been a favourite of skiers and those braving snow seasons), but the lip balm version is a little less sticky and more wearable.
The best products for restoring flaky lips
The healing stage of chapped lips, where damaged skin starts to flake off, can be highly annoying. While it's important to be gentle on the new skin that's underneath, you can hasten the process a little with lip scrubs.
Elf Lip Exfoliator
A cheap and cheerful lip exfoliator that's also in a nifty lipstick-shaped form, making it way less messy than those that come in tubs. "Best exfoliator you can get for this price," one fan writes on Adore Beauty. "I use it twice a week, and it exfoliates quite well."
RuBeauty Lip Brush Tool, set of 3
We love this little set of lip brushes because they're a more sustainable and affordable alternative to regularly buying lip scrubs. Each has a different level of exfoliation, and with the proper care, they'll last you forever.
READ NEXT: These moisturisers double as primers for budge-proof makeup