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Soft and supple lips play a pretty big role in boosting your confidence and making you feel like your most beautiful self. Finding the ideal lip balm or lip butter to counter those nasty dry cracks and prevent future dryness to achieve that beautiful smile can be an overwhelming task., but isn’t unattainable by any means.
Buying one stick or tube of good lip butter can do wonders for your lips; it will help maintain soft skin by protecting it from UV damage, harsh weather conditions, and other pollutants that your face is regularly exposed to.
There are hundreds of lip care products on the market today, and as is the case with any product, some work better and are safer to use than others. Fortunately, we’ve compiled the ultimate guide to help you find the top-rated lip butter of 2024. Whether you’re looking for a celebrity-approved drugstore product or a formula packed with premium ingredients, this guide will have you covered.
Our Favorite Lip Butters Worth Considering in 2024
Cococare Cocoa Lip Butter — Best Overall
Cococare Cocoa Lip Butter is an all-natural moisturizing lip balm made with cocoa butter that effectively deals with dry, cracked, or chapped lips. Its soothing and softening qualities make it the perfect lip moisturizer that goes on perfectly smooth and silky. This little yellow balm also offers slight plumping effects, which makes it great for use under lip cosmetics. Here’s a useful tip for people suffering from under eye dryness: swipe some of this balm on, let it sit for a while, then go in with the concealer, and get a perfectly fresh-faced look. Because of its amazing application, high-quality formula, and overall convenience, this lip butter is easily the best on our list.
Pros
- Protects and prevents damaged lips
- Great-tasting and highly moisturizing
- Amazingly smooth application
Cons
- Cocoa butter isn’t the primary ingredient
Weleda Skin Food Lip Butter — Best Glossy Finish
Weleda’s Skin Food Lip Butter boasts a rich, plant oil-based blend that offers intensive and nourishing care for the lips. It also contains sunflower seed oil, calendula, and chamomile, all of which offer extra hydration for the driest and flakiest lips.
Instead of synthetic compounds and other toxic chemicals, the formula used in this lip butter consists of fruit, flower and root extracts, and essential and mineral oils — the ingredients are carefully and specifically chosen to work with the body’s systems. Even better, it comes in a squeeze tube and has a bit of a herbal taste, with hints of eucalyptus and citrus. This lip butter can also be used on its own for a slightly glossy finish, or with makeup to avoid chapped lips under your lipstick.
Pros
- Delivers instant hydration
- Smooth, easy application
- Provides long-term improvement in lip condition
Cons
- Slightly overpowering taste
- Not suitable for a matte finish
Chap-Lip Lip Balm Lip Butter — Most Variety
Chap-Lip’s lip butter stands out among others because of the fine ingredients that are used in its formula. Along with cocoa butter to help counter inflammation, the balm also contains coconut oil and fatty acids that offer moisturizing properties, along with vitamin E, beeswax, and olive oil, which provide protection and nourishment for the lips.
The 24-count box contains a variety of assorted flavors, from strawberry and mango to tangerine and watermelon. All the flavors are soft, subtle, and not too overbearing to be enjoyed. The buttery and creamy formula, along with a hint of sweetness, gives off an aroma that is pleasing to touch and smell.
Pros
- Easy application
- Comes in various great flavors
- Good value for money
- Exceptional longevity
Cons
- Inconsistent texture
Tree Hut Sugarlips Lip Butter — Most Moisturizing Formula
Tree Hut Sugarlips Lip Butter contains a soothing formula like no other. It is made using a blend of natural oils like rosa canina fruit oil, shea butter, and chinaberry, which effectively soothe and nourish chapped lips. The silky smooth lip butter forms a protective barrier upon application, which helps lock in moisture and promote elasticity, making it perfect for instant and long-lasting hydration. For added convenience, it comes in squeeze-tube packaging with an angled plastic tip applicator.
Pros
- Paraben and sulfate-free
- Rich and buttery formula
- Exceptional lip hydration and nourishment
Cons
- May be slightly irritating
Melixir Vegan Lip Butter — Cruelty-free Option
Melixir’s vegan lip butter is a plant-based, non-sticky, deep-conditioning, and nourishing balm that offers a long-lasting natural glow and moisture. Its formula contains agave as an alternative to petroleum jelly, which makes the product safe to consume. Shea butter is the main moisturizing ingredient, while other hydrating and nurturing agents in the formula include green tea seed oil, vitamin E, jojoba oil, and argan oil.
This lip butter’s soft and creamy texture also comes in a variety of different shades, including clear, coral orange, rose pink, dusty rose, brick red, bright red, red-orange, and fuschia. Just apply it once for a natural flush and more supple lips and you’re good to go.
Pros
- All-natural vegan formula
- Antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties
- Variety of colors to choose from
Cons
- More expensive than others
Buying Guide: Finding the Perfect Lip Butter
Lip butters are going to keep your lips moisturized, hydrated, and nourished. They offer a layer of protection, especially during the cold and dry wintertime. But of course, that doesn’t mean that they are meant to be used during a specific part of the year. Your lips need care throughout the year!
Again, finding the best lip butter for you can be quite the challenge, especially with all the options available out there. But here are some of the things you should keep in mind when shopping for the perfect lip butter.
Ingredients To Look For in Lip Butter
When choosing lip butter, it is best to look for one that is made from mostly natural ingredients. Some of the ingredients you should look for include:
Lanolin
This will protect your lips from external damage and will help soothe the skin on your lips. But, keep in mind that this is a secretion that is obtained from the sebaceous gland of sheep, which makes it a non-vegan ingredient.
Beeswax
This ingredient forms a protective barrier that locks in moisture and also offers antibacterial properties for an extra layer of protection. Unfortunately, this too is not vegan-friendly because it is an animal byproduct.
Shea butter and cocoa butter
Both are full of vitamins that give your lips a healthy glow. They are essentially what give lip butter its ‘buttery’ texture.
Honey
This natural ingredient not only repairs damaged skin but also has a delicious taste and scent.
Certain natural plant oils
Sunflower seed, marula, coconut, olive, almond, hemp, and jojoba oils are filled with antioxidants because of the high levels of essential fatty acids that they contain. Similar to honey, they also create a protective barrier that prevents moisture from escaping, while also enhancing the lips’ natural ability to retain moisture.
Ingredients To Avoid in Lip Butter
It’s not just the ingredients you want that you need to watch out for, but also the ones that you don’t want. Here are some of them:
Salicylic acid
This chemical is pretty harsh and works by burning away dead skin. It might achieve the look you’re going for temporarily, but in the long run, it can cause irreparable damage to the skin on your lips.
Camphor, phenol, and menthol
These ingredients offer a cooling sensation and, while that may feel good, remember that it happens because of the chemicals reacting with the top layers of your lip skin and peeling them off!
Parabens
These act as preservatives. Studies have confirmed that they interfere with hormonal imbalance and negatively affect fertility. It may not do much in such small quantities, but it’s still better to avoid it if you can.
Other Things To Look For in Your Lip Butter
Taste
You might not actively be devouring your lip butter, but you’re inevitably going to be tasting it now and then because, after all, it is on your lips. As you eat, some of it might even rub off onto your food and you may even sometimes absentmindedly lick or bite your lips. In all those cases, it’s important that you enjoy the taste of the lip butter you have on.
Scent
The smell of the lip butter needs to be just as good as the taste for pretty much the same reasons. It’s going to be applied right under your nose, so you’re going to have to smell it for as long as you have it on.
SPF protection
UV damage causes your skin to lose the natural protective barrier that it has, causing wrinkles. This affects the skin on your lips in the same way. Find a lip butter that offers optimal SPF protection to keep your lips looking nice and supple in the long term.
Tint
You may not always be looking for some color in your lip butter, but a slight tint along with the sheen that lip butter offers can give you a bit of a natural glow.
