Non-greasy lip balm

November 2, 2023 5:36 PM

I'm looking for recommendations for unobtrusive but effective lip balm that is non-greasy, unscented/unflavored, and untinted.

I get chapped lips in the winter. My current stick of lip balm is the worst of both worlds: it is ultra-greasy, but then when the greasy feeling wears off I'm right back to chapped. I want the reverse: something that isn't greasy, and has a longer-lasting effect than just after you have put it on. If it a choice between the two, I want non-greasy first and foremost.

Googling this isn't getting me anywhere, so I'm looking for personal recommendations that have worked for you. If it matters, I'm a cis-gendered man, but I'm not worried about gendered branding. I just want unobtrusive, non-greasy lip balm that works. Unscented/unflavored is essential.

I'm in the US, so looking for brands that are relatively easily to order or buy in person here.

posted by Dip Flash to Shopping (33 answers total)

Best answer: Burt's Bees Honey Lip Balm offers two out of three. It has a thicker, non greasy texture that feels good going on and stays in place longer than the greasier formulas. It is slightly honey flavored but it is mild. The honey is the only one that works for me - the other flavors of Burt's Bees are either greasier, taste bad or irritate my lips but this one is my goldilocks option.
posted by metahawk at 5:41 PM on November 2, 2023 [6 favorites]

Best answer: I have tried about a million things in my long life, from drugstore brands to shamefully expensive luxury products, and the only thing that has ever changed my permanently flakey lips is a thin layer of regular old Aquaphor. I was resistant to using mineral oil but nothing else has worked. A thin layer isn’t glossy at all and I find it actually works better applied sparingly anyway. I absolutely feel the improvement even after it’s worn off.
posted by kapers at 5:46 PM on November 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I second Burt’s bees— it’s the only chapstick I can stand.
posted by Grandysaur at 5:52 PM on November 2, 2023 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Apologies for being obvious, but have you tried old-school plain Chapstick (usually in the black-and-white packaging), applied sparingly? If you kinda "dab" it on, rather than swiping around, you get a minimalist layer that's unflavored, untinted, cheap, and available everywhere.

...otherwise, +1 to Burt's.
posted by aramaic at 5:58 PM on November 2, 2023 [2 favorites]

Best answer: It's expensive but Clinique's Moisture Surge is my favorite lip balm after rosebud salve (which is rose scented and arguably kind of greasy, so off the table for you). Unscented, rich, not greasy, and it works.
posted by snaw at 6:13 PM on November 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: LaBello. It is a German brand and their original fits the bill. I also use it on a family members nose who uses oxygen because it is so effective and neutral.

I find Burts Bees to be stingy.
posted by mutt.cyberspace at 6:13 PM on November 2, 2023 [3 favorites]

Best answer: I use ordinary bees wax -- a small jar has lasted me for years
posted by Performing Without Annette at 6:14 PM on November 2, 2023

Best answer: You may need a moisturizer more than (or in addition to) protection from wind and cold. Glycerin is found naturally in the skin, and is a humectant, meaning it draws moisture into the skin. It's an ingredient in many lotions and moisturizers, but you can also use it by itself. I have recently started using a drop or two of glycerin instead of or in addition to whatever lip balm, and have been very pleased with the results. It is odorless and is not "flavored", but it does intrinsically have a slight sweetness to it that I don't mind, ymmv. It used to be available at any drug store but is now harder to find. The bottle I have now is marketed as a hair care product, but it's just pure glycerin. You may even like it in your hair...
posted by SaltySalticid at 6:15 PM on November 2, 2023

Best answer: What I find works is having two products. At night, immediately after I've brushed my teeth, I put a layer or HPA Lanolin on my lips. The particular product I use is marketed to nursing mothers, but it is excellent value. Applying it after tooth brushing is important, because it traps moisture. This is kind of greasy feeling, but it tends not to wear off, because I'm asleep. Aquaphor would be similar, but I find for me, lanolin works really well. (The lanolin is also good on my nose to keep it from being irritated if I am congested from a cold, and I put in on my cheeks to protect them from wind on extremely cold days.)

In the day, I find that I can then use any regular lipbalm. I particularly like the unscented nivea ones, which are non-shiny and non-greasy.
posted by ice-cream forever at 6:26 PM on November 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I like the original lip butter from Ellovi. I believe the company has a money back guarantee on their products.
posted by Goblin Barbarian at 6:54 PM on November 2, 2023

Best answer: My go-to is the Nivea Essential lip balm (it comes in a dark blue package and advertises 24h moisture). Never feels greasy to me and is unscented and unflavoured.
posted by jknx at 7:02 PM on November 2, 2023 [5 favorites]

Best answer: I've found that even great chapsticks aren't as effective unless I exfoliate dead skin from chapped lips. There's dedicated scrub products you can get for that, but just rubbing a paste of olive oil and sugar over your mouth for a couple minutes will help a bunch.
posted by foxfirefey at 7:05 PM on November 2, 2023

Best answer: Three recommendations:
- Two Tree Soaps lip balm, with candelilla wax. It says tinted right in the name but I've been using a variety of their lightest shade over the years (currently called Desert Moon) and I would call it a nude. The spearmint is very mild.
- Portland Bee Balm in unscented. I think this meets all your criteria.
- Seconding lanolin, specifically Lansinoh brand lip balm.
posted by cocoagirl at 8:00 PM on November 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Lip balm is not meant to make hard flakey lips soft. It cannot penetrate flakey dry lip skin. That skin is dead and needs to go. Think of lip balm as a sealant, not a moisturizer. In order for lip balm to work, you need to remove the dead skin (which repels moisture), then put moisture into the skin (wet the skin with water), then finally seal in the moisture with a layer of oil or wax (applying lip balm or chapstick to moist, softened skin). So:

To remove dead skin: At night, wet your lips and gently exfoliate your lips with a wet washcloth or soft toothbrush. If your lips are very flakey or shingled with dry skin, expect this to take several days.

To add moisture: Wet your lips again with water so they are super wet. You want the skin to soften and the water to penetrate.

To seal in the moisture, Finally, apply lip balm to wet lips. Any grease or wax will work (I've used salad dressing in a pinch!) If your lips are actually moist and soft, I find the balm doesn't feel gross no matter the texture. To me, it's when the lip skin is thickened, dry, and flakey that lip products feel like a gross coating.

You have to do this process a bunch of times to get rid of the hard keratinized flakey chapped skin. Be patient, gentle, and consistent and try not to peel or make your skin bleed as the scabbing will just cause a cycle of new skin that's tight, cracking, scabby, and dry. As you slowly slough off the layer of dry dead skin, only then can you actually make progress because the lip balm is helping actual soft moist skin stay soft and moist.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 8:43 PM on November 2, 2023 [12 favorites]

Best answer: I find that the Badger Balm Creamy Cocoa (it’s unscented, just contains cocoa butter) is the only one that really works for me.
posted by ourobouros at 3:49 AM on November 3, 2023

Best answer: Paula's Choice Lip and Body Treatment Balm has worked better than any other chapstick or lip treatment I've ever tried. In the summer I only put it on at night before bed; in drier winter months I put it on in the morning and at night but usually that's all I need. Not greasy, no flavor or scent.
posted by misskaz at 4:26 AM on November 3, 2023

Best answer: nouvelle-personne's advice is the only good advice in this thread. You do not have a product problem, you have a process problem.

Exfoliate your lips, dampen them, and put your greasy barrier layer on top. I am ride or die with plain old Vaseline.

Okay but I hear you saying "literally the one thing I said was I don't want it to be greasy though."

Fine.

In that case, get pure jojoba oil. Put a drop on your finger and rub it into your lips. Jojoba is texturally about as close as over the counter grease gets to the oils our body naturally secrete, so it will absorb seamlessly and undetectably in seconds.
posted by phunniemee at 4:31 AM on November 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I have found that exfoliation can irritate my lips more because mine rarely are flaky or rough even when they feel dry and tight. (Of course now that I use the PC balm regularly they are never in that state that they need exfoliation.) There are different symptoms/causes/stages that all fall under the description of "chapped lips" and it matters which one you have.
posted by misskaz at 4:45 AM on November 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Lip exfoliation is not recommended by dermatologists (see video here starting at 5:15 for one such explanation).

It's pricey, but Kosasport LipFuel is the best "stick" form lip balm I've ever used, and one stick lasts a long time. There's no tint, no scent, and unlike many other beloved lip treatments like Aquaphor, it has an active moisturizing ingredient (hyaluronic acid). That means that rather than simply forming a barrier to protect your lips, it will leave your lips feeling better even when it physically wears off, and it's "still working" even though it does not leave your lips feeling greasy.
posted by telegraph at 5:55 AM on November 3, 2023

Best answer: Nivea's lip balm is very soothing, unscented, ungreasy, unobtrusive, and cheap... a great option if you don't need to do All the Things related to chapped lips. I, personally, don't like pots that you have to put your fingers in, or goo that you squeeze from a tube. Nivea lip balm is my go-to.
posted by nkknkk at 6:11 AM on November 3, 2023

Best answer: +1 to jojoba oil.

If not having animal ingredients is also of interest, then lanolin should be avoided, as it is the wool grease secreted by sheep sebaceous glands.
posted by wicked_sassy at 6:23 AM on November 3, 2023

Response by poster: I really appreciate all these suggestions (and if you have more, please continue to add!). I'll order in the first few today and will keep working my way through the list from there.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:50 AM on November 3, 2023

Best answer: +1 to Portland Bee Balm. It's great stuff. I also enjoy the lip balms from Wandering Goods. They are all flavored, but I don't find them to be over-the-top. Bonus for an oval shape so they don't roll around.
posted by hydra77 at 8:10 AM on November 3, 2023

Best answer: Like phunniemee I am a vaseline true believer; I used to get super chapped lips all year and very bad in the winter, but after I started using vaseline as a nighttime lip mask, my lips hardly chap at all. YMMV, but I don't find it greasy because you only need a very little bit, the teensiest amount. Pure petroleum jelly blocks something like 99% water loss from the skin and is very unlikely to irritate sensitive or damaged skin. Plus you probably have some in your medicine cabinet already.
posted by radiogreentea at 9:28 AM on November 3, 2023

Best answer: For unflavored, unscented, non-goopy lipbalm, I like (the unfortunately gendered) Kiehls facial fuel no-shine moisturizing lip balm.

Your question actually reminded me to reorder!
posted by Space Kitty at 9:29 AM on November 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I like Weleda Everon lip balm. Inexpensive, not flavored, not greasy, is a good barrier.

Vaseline is also good.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 9:30 AM on November 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I don't have a daytime solution for you but I used to get flaking in the corners of my mouth so bad they would bleed and flake off to show raw skin in the winter. My dental hygienist recommended Aquaphor overnight every night. I still use lipsticks and glosses by day but Aquaphor has solved my cracking and flaking.
posted by gentlyepigrams at 9:33 AM on November 3, 2023 [3 favorites]

Best answer: My favorites are Aquaphor, Nivea and eos.
posted by initapplette at 1:21 PM on November 3, 2023

Best answer: For a cheap option, I like Burt's Bees pomegranate. There might be the slightest hint of scent/flavor to it, but it's so subtle that I honestly couldn't tell you if it's there or not, and I use it every day.

My favorite splurge-y lip balm is Dr. Hauschka's Lip Care Stick. Every time I buy it, I cringe at the price; and then once I start using it, I kick myself for being stingy and not just buying it all the time!
posted by leftover_scrabble_rack at 3:54 PM on November 3, 2023

Response by poster: Again, I really appreciate all the suggestions. I marked all as "best answer" because they are all promising answers to my question. I'll update after I have worked through a number of suggestions to see what works best for me.
posted by Dip Flash at 7:16 PM on November 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

+1 to Burt's Bees Honey balm. This is not normal Burt's Bees. It's a little more emollient and a little less irritating. No other variety they sell works as well, although the ultra-conditioning balm with the silver cap is an option if you want something with a thinner texture. You could also layer them, UC first with Honey on top.

Lanolin works. You can use Lansinoh, but it's nipple cream -- like, I cannot stress enough that it says "Lanolin Nipple Cream" on the tube -- and its tube is not shaped for lip application. It has no scent or taste that I can determine. Lanolips costs more, but it's in a tube shaped for lip application and is unlikely to embarrass anyone. It's available in a few mild fragrances, if you want them.

Finally, there is Aquaphor Lip Repair, which I often layer over Burt's Bees Honey in winter at night. This is not regular Aquaphor: it's a different product with different ingredients sold with lip balm, in a squeezable tube. They also make a solid version. I don't like the SPF version (tastes funny and mildly irritates my lips) but you might prefer it.

None of these are especially greasy. Vaseline with cocoa butter is sold in tiny containers in the lip balm section of drug stores and is kind of greasy, but also works very well, esp when layered over any of the above.
posted by verbminx at 11:05 PM on November 4, 2023

I just impulse-bought Blistex Conditioning Lip Serum and I love it. It's creamy rather than greasy and stays on really well.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 4:22 PM on November 5, 2023 [1 favorite]

+1 eos, and they do not shine at all. And they come in a multi-pack at Costco right now.
posted by honey badger at 4:33 PM on November 6, 2023