Everyday and healingWe found ChapStick Classic Original less waxy than we remembered, but we objected to its industrial smell. Burt’s Bees Beeswax Lip Balm was much too dry; it felt protective but not moisturizing. Blistex Medicated Lip Balm and Carmex Classic Lip Balm both contain menthol and camphor, and testers disliked their cooling, tingling sensations. The old standbys Aquaphor Healing Ointment and Vaseline Original Healing Jelly — both petrolatum-forward formulas — were inoffensive but too “slick and greasy” to win hearts and lips. Strangely enough, the thick, 100% petroleum jelly formulation of Vaseline Lip Therapy Advanced Healing felt insubstantial to our testers, and it also had an objectionable chemical taste. Glossier Balm Dotcom, a former pick, was deemed too thin and melty. And the metal pot and rose scent of Smith’s Rosebud Salve were appealing, but it slid off too easily.Badger Creamy Cocoa Butter Lip Balm glided on comfortably, but the strong cocoa butter smell was a nonstarter. Likewise for the artificial scent of EOS Natural & Organic Lip Balm sticks.Drunk Elephant Lippe Balm went on buttery and left testers’ lips supple and plump; unfortunately, it didn’t stick around. The same goes for Nivea Dewy Lip Care with Hyaluronic Acid, which felt nice enough when it went on but seemed to disappear within a few minutes. Testers didn’t like the slight lemon scent of the lanolin-based Lanolips The Original Lanostick but appreciated almost everything else about it. And coconut-oil-based Wild Rose Natural Lip Balm didn’t leave lips particularly softened, though testers did appreciate its compostable paper tube.SPFWe tested numerous balms with chemical sunscreens. Our testers liked the smooth, barely-there finish of O’Keeffe’s Lip Repair SPF 35, and it was a close second to our Coola Original Liplux Lip Balm Sunscreen pick, but it offered slightly inferior hydration and longevity. Aquaphor Lip Protectant + Sunscreen and two Supergoop chemical formulas, Lipscreen Shine SPF 40 and Play Lip Balm SPF 30 with Acai, shared an unpleasant taste. Maybelline Baby Lips Moisturizing Lip Balm SPF 20 also tasted acrid. Sun Bum Original SPF 30 Sunscreen Lip Balm wore off way too quickly. Nivea Smoothness Lip Care SPF 15 was “slimy and melty” right out of the gate, and Jack Black Intense Therapy Lip Balm SPF 25 was altogether too tacky for comfort.Most of the balms with physical sunscreens, such as Burt’s Bees All-Weather SPF 15 Moisturizing Lip Balm and ChapStick Active 2-in-1 Lip Balm, were too heavy and white. “If SPF protection were my only priority — like, if I were a lifeguard — I might feel good about this coverage. Otherwise, it’s overkill,” one panelist said of the ChapStick balm. While Sunnie’s The Protector SPF 36 was pleasantly almost transparent, the formulation was too greasy, with a soapy, icky taste. And EltaMD UV Lip Balm was nearly invisible but had a funny tingle that turned us off.TintedChapstick Total Hydration Moisture + Tint delivered great moisture, but some testers found its fruity scent overly artificial and its color nearly nonexistent, especially on darker lips. Burt’s Bees Tinted Lip Balm got high marks for its silky texture and buildable color, but it lacked staying power. Neutrogena Revitalizing Lip Balm felt good and contains sunscreen, but it came in a limited palette of colors and had a synthetic taste. Fresh Sugar Lip Balm, a former pick, had nice color saturation, almost overly so: The darker shades went on like an opaque lipstick. We liked the sheer but saturated colors and the refined shine of Nars Afterglow Lip Balm but found that it left lips drier than before.Masks and overnight treatmentsWe tested multiple “overnight” lip products, which could be considered masks or even healing balms, depending on semantics. Burt’s Bees Overnight Lip Treatment comes in a few varieties, but the unscented version (Essential Ceramides) was irritating to our testers and the others were cloying. Chapstick Total Hydration With Sea Minerals Overnight Lip Renewal Treatment was overwhelmingly “meh.” Neosporin Lip Health Overnight Renewal Therapy, a white cream, had a distracting texture. C.O. Bigelow My Favorite Night Balm No. 306 was deemed too slippery. O’Keeffe’s Lip Repair Night Treatment was just okay, and we liked Jason Wu Beauty Good Night Mr. Wu even more, but neither repaired like our Cortibalm pick or clung like our Laneige pick.Of the lip masks we tested, we liked Fenty Plush Puddin’ Intensive Recovery Lip Mask’s neat, push-to-pump package, but it absorbed too quickly. Loops Dew Cloud Ultra Hydrating Lip Mask had a watery texture, and we didn’t like the taste of the brand’s other offerings. Every flavor of Mario Badescu Lip Mask had a synthetic tang, and benefits were on par with basic petroleum jelly. Naturium Phyto-Glow Lip Mask kept our lips hydrated for hours, but it also had a tendency to smear. We found the packaging of Tocobo Vita Glazed Lip Mask and Abib Collagen Lip Mask too chunky, and neither mask was especially softening (they seemed more like clear glosses). Tatcha The Kissu Lip Mask was extremely shiny and softened lips well, but, ounce for ounce, it’s three times the price of our Laneige pick. And we liked the Versed Cloud Wrap Lip Recovery Mask, but it didn’t make our lips look as plump and dewy as the Laneige mask.We also ruled out a number of everyday, SPF, and tinted balms, as well as masks and treatments, from Belif, Biossance, Blistex, Charlotte Tilbury, Clinique, CoverGirl, CNP Laboratory, Desert Essence, Doctor Rogers, Dr. Hauschka, Earth’s Daughter, EOS, Everyday Humans, First Aid Beauty, Flower Beauty, Gisou, Grace & Stella, Honest Beauty, Lanolips, Little Otter, Lucas, Make Beauty, Melixir, Natural Ice, PCA Skin, Quantum Health, Revlon, Sun Bum, Then I Met You, Trader Joe’s, Violette FR, and Ulta Beauty. We excluded these for a variety of reasons, including unpleasant tastes, insufficient or unfavorable reviews online, limited distribution, stock issues, or value concerns.This article was edited by Rory Evans and Leta Shy. Justin Krajeski wrote an earlier version of this article.
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