Is there any point in a luxury lip balm when there are products for under £10 that’ll do the same thing? It might hasten your response if I told you that I’ve tried pretty much every balm on the market and while the expensive ones feel luxurious and look great in my handbag, they don’t radically or permanently transform my cat’s-bottom mouth. Dr Anita Sturnham, a GP specialising in dermatology and founder of Nuriss Skincare & Wellness Clinic, shares my feelings. ‘The efficacy of a lip product is not necessarily determined by the price tag. For example, one of my top picks for dehydrated lips is lanolin-based balm. This highly effective moisturising ingredient can be found in many low-cost products.’ Ah, lanolin, aka the wax secreted by sheep. So good there was an outcry when Glossier removed it from its iconic Strawberry Balm Dotcom. Thankfully, the brand has put it back in. Find it also in Lanolips 101 Ointment, Weleda Skin Food Lip Butter (£7.75, hollandandbarrett.com) and Kiehl’s Lip Balm (£13, spacenk.com). The Kiehl’s formula is so effective that dermatologists recommend it to counter the drying effects of Roaccutane acne treatment. Petroleum jelly, which is the main ingredient in Vaseline Rosy Lips Lip Therapy, is both cheap and an occlusive (ie, forms a barrier). This means it’s good at keeping moisture in the lips, but isn’t so effective at restoring it. So are expensive balms one big rip-off? Not exactly. Dr Sturnham says, ‘The cost of manufacturing a lip product increases if you use luxurious natural oils such as avocado or sustainable botanical extracts, or add anti-ageing ingredients such as peptides and stem cells to stimulate collagen production.’ If you’re looking for justification, then, here it is. But maybe this is not about being rational. Because sometimes beauty isn’t about being practical and pragmatic. So many of us love balms as treasures to give us a hit of joy on a hard day. Plus you are never too bloated for a lip balm – unlike jeans, it always fits. And being sheer, they pretty much suit everyone. Perhaps this universal appeal is why data from Space NK shows searches for ‘lip treatment’ are up by 283 per cent, while on TikTok #TintedLipBalms has over 70.2 million views and #LipOil has amassed 138.5 million. What are the status balms to have? Film director Sofia Coppola has created The Tinted Lip Balm with ultra-luxe brand Augustinus Bader (£33, augustinusbader.com) to deliver her trademark laidback look. Tatcha The Kissu Lip Tint SPF 25, Sisley Phyto Lip Balm (£46, sisley-paris.com), U Beauty The Plasma Lip Compound and Gisou Honey Infused Lip Oil are all gorgeous. To impress the teens in your life, invest in Hailey Bieber’s Rhode Peptide Lip Treatment (£16, rhodeskin.com), which has a specially designed silicone phone case (£35) to hold it. They all look lovely, but: ‘Luxe packaging pushes up the price and doesn’t make any difference to how well the product works,’ warns Dr Sturnham. Sometimes what the heart wants isn’t rational. Deputy beauty editor: Alice Robertson
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