This Is The Best Lip Balm To Soothe Dry, Cracked Lips, According To A Dermatologist

Regularly moisturizing your lips is an important element of healthy skincare, and especially when battling the harsh effects of winter. To prevent dryness, cracking and painful, flaky skin on your lips, dermatologists recommend applying a natural, non-irritating lip balm whenever needed. With that said, we reached out to a dermatologist and skincare expert for one go-to, highly recommended lip balm and to learn more about how it works for dry lips. Read on for tips, suggestions and insight from Dr. Angela Casey, MD, board-certified dermatologist and founder of Bright Girl youth skincare line.

READ MORE: This Is The Best Serum To Combat Dry, Winter Skin, According To Derms

Lip skin is unique, Casey explains, in that it has a “very thin stratum corneum, or outer layer of skin.” This renders the lip skin more prone to “irritation, inflammation, and dryness,” she adds. Additionally, Casey says that “lips have an abundant blood supply, which is what renders the red color of the lips, but also makes the lips more prone to dehydration.” The muscle of the lip lies just underneath the surface of the skin of the lip, meaning we can see this muscle contract as we pucker our lips. “Our lips also have many nerve endings which make them more sensitive,” Casey points out, stressing that “the unique structure and function of our lips underscores the importance of keeping lip skin healthy, hydrated, and strong.”

When selecting a great lip balm this winter, the ideal product will “draw in water with humectants, moisturize with emollients, and seal the skin with occlusives,” Casey advises. Additionally, she emphasizes that “SPF provides an extra layer of protection and prevents inflammation and damage from UV rays.” Casey indicates that her “number one lip balm choice for daytime protection” is this Elta MD SPF 36 UV product “because of the SPF 36 in a beautiful formulation.” As a Mohs surgeon, Casey says that she sees “far too many skin cancers on the lips, as this is an area that is often missed with sun protection.”

The Elta UV lip balm provides “hydration with glycerin and protection with sunscreen,” Casey adds, as well as “ingredients like zinc, oxide and octinoxate, all in one cosmetically elegant formulation.” Another bonus of this balm, she notes, is that it includes the following ingredients: “quercetin, vitamin c, and vitamin E,” all of which are “well-established antioxidants that fight free radicals that can damage skin.” Finally, petrolatum is an “occlusive ointment” that creates a protective barrier on the skin surface to “shield skin from environmental stress,” Casey says, and this can be found within the lip balm as well.