Lip balm essentially puts back the moisture in your lips and also provides a barrier in order to retain that moisture. With that said, there are tips to buying a good lip balm that will do what it is supposed to do and keep your lips naturally moisture balanced and last for longer periods of time.

The typical ingredients that go into lip balm include menthol, scented oils, beeswax, camphor, petroleum jelly, and other different components like alum, salicylic acid, and vitamins.

First tip is to select a lip balm that is derived from natural ingredients. As always, natural ingredients work best with your body and are better for your skin.

Second, select balms that contain vegetable oils like olive oil and almond oil. These oils bring back the natural oils to your lips which help produce healthy, shiny lips.

Third, make sure your lip balm has sunscreen. The sun can do some serious damage to our lips just as much as other exposed body parts. As such, choose a balm that will protect your lips from those harmful rays. Your lips will thank you in the long run.

Fourth and final tip is to test out a few different lip balms to see which one works best for your body chemistry. Remember the tips above but ultimately your lips will make their choice clear by how they respond to each balm.

Burt’s Bees makes wonderful lip balms that are natural, include SPF and even have a line of balms with a tint of shade in them. You can get them at most drug stores or supermarkets. I also suggest going to a natural foods store to select a balm that is all natural. But frankly, you can go anywhere and choose a balm as long as you stick with the above tips.

I read an article about this on the Internet, well it was also the Yahoo pick of the week. Well this seemed highly interesting. So Lipbalmanonymous.com at first seemed like a joke, but actually if you really think about it, it doesn’t seem like that much of a joke anymore. After reading the interview (Read it here) I wondered if I was an addict… on lip balm! I do unconsciously apply my lip balm over the course of the day and if I don’t have it in my hand or pocket, or purse, I get a little antsy, cause I can’t live without it. I feel as if my lips won’t survive the day! So I took a quiz. To check if I was addicted or not. And my result? I am A Borderline Addict. Which is safe but I should be careful.

Take the quiz yourself.. Click HERE!

I don’t go anywhere without my lip balm (Burt’s Beeswax I heart you), it has been my constant companion since I was 18, never left my side.  I did have to go on a couple of lip balm runs from time to time, but all worth the experience.

I usually kept this secret to myself on how I really truly worship this lip balm of mine.  I can use it for my lips, I can use it when I see just one spot on my face thats peeling from a scratch, or peeling from an allergic reason, or red from a insect bite, I use my lipbalm on those spots that I can’t seem to mellow down with a face moisturizer.  So for example, I have a spot on my cheek that has a scratch, now the skin is very dry, just that one spot, I dab a bit of lip balm on my finger that I dab it on my dry spot, and lo and behold, it’s gotten the dryness out of sight.  Very dry and peeling skin, especially those that can’t be controlled by lotion, can be held down by your lip balm.  Really! Try it.

I especially dab on my lipbalm, I use Neutrogena sometimes, when my nose starts peeling after I’ve succumbed to a cold.  What happens is the area around my nose has small peeling skin, and if I put lotion, then concealer, then foundation, all the more I can see those tiny peeling skin.  On days like these, I forego using foundation, I rely on my lipbalm (applied on those peeling spots), and my wet pressed/foundation powder.

Surprisingly, before I ventured into my “product”, CakeBeauty Satin Sugar Balm, is your all around purpose balm!  No need for those different containers, you just need this one thing.   They were one step ahead of me.  Boo hoo.  But I’m still happy to read that there are people who agree with me.   

Nourishes and smoothes frizzy ends & flyaways, treats dry spots on skin, lips, cuticles, knees and even stretch marks.  Made of 86% Shea Butter known for its regenerative and protective properties that help treat dry, chapped skin, and Beeswax to include a dash of an emulsifying humectant that boasts nourishing properties with a satin-smooth texture.  This for $24. 

One of summer must haves from  People’s Off the Rack.

I started to use lipbalm when I got braces (this was of course years and years ago). Nothing really made sense to me until I bought Burt’s Bees Beeswax Lipbalm. I now use nothing else but this. I have one at home, one at my purse, one at my car, one at my gymbag. I used it frequently during winters in the States and I still do in the smoldering summer heat. It keeps my lips from drying with their magic formula of moisturizers. It tastes good, smells good, get the job done. It is also made of all natural ingredients.