Have Cracked, Dry Lips This Winter? A Derm Shares The Lip Balm Ingredients That Make It Worse & Lead To ‘Irritated Lips,’ Plus What To Do Instead For ‘Moisture’
January 31, 2025 by Mariam Qayum
During the winter months, dry, chapped lips become a common struggle due to cold air, harsh winds, and indoor heating stripping away moisture. While lip balms seem like the perfect solution, some ingredients can actually make dryness worse, leading to irritation and discomfort.
Many people are left wondering why their lip balms fail to deliver the promised relief, leaving them with cracked, irritated lips instead.
Dr. Adel, a dermatologist who specializes in skin and hair, recently shared the ingredients to watch out for plus some helpful steps that will fix your chapped pout troubles. Read on to get all her insights.
Dr. Adel says, “Any lip balm that contains menthol or camphor is basically going to be making your dry lips much worse.”
Menthol and camphor have a cooling or tingling effect that may feel soothing at first but can lead to further irritation. They are known to eventually strip away natural moisture, causing lips to become even drier and more prone to cracking and over time.
She adds that these ingredients are going to lead to “your skin feeling more irritated, which means that your skin feels drier.”’ This causes that urge to keep applying more product, which eventually leads to further dryness; it’s an endless “irritating” cycle!