9 Best Chapsticks for Men That Protect and Moisturize
A dermatologist explains why these balms are just as important as sunscreen.
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THINK ABOUT IT: you’re washing your face, you’re using moisturizer on the daily, you might even be dipping into advanced grooming goods (serum, anyone?), but if you’re not taking that same care with your lips, then you’re leaving out an important step. Chapstick might be on your radar during the dry, cold months to combat chapped lips, but the best way to use chapstick is to prevent your lips from getting dry in the first place. And chapped, dry lips can happen no matter what the season.
Best Chapsticks
“Lip balms are designed to form a seal over the skin to maintain barrier function, enhance hydration, and protect the lips from the environment,” says Joshua Zeichner, M.D., director of cosmetic and clinical research in dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.
There’s also another reason to use chapstick: sun protection. You might not realize it but the skin on your lips is super thin, which makes it especially susceptible to UV damage. Sun exposure is one of the leading risk factors in lip cancer and the best way to guard against it? You guessed it—sunscreen. That’s what a lip balm with SPF comes in—it’s way easier to apply, and more comfortable to wear, than slathering sun lotion on your lips every few hours.
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So, even if you’re not trying to impress your date with a smooth pucker, it’s worth scoring one of the best lip balms with ingredients like SPF, plumping hyaluronic acid, and antioxidant botanicals, while avoiding anything that can cause skin irritation such as salicylic acid, camphor, menthol, and fragrance. To sort through the endless offerings on the market, we turned to Dr. Zeichner to find the best chapstick and lip balm brands for men.
What To Consider
Lip balms are one of those products that really just need to do one thing: hydrate your lips and prevent them from getting chapped. But these days, you’ll also find other ingredients like antioxidants that help bolster the formulas. When you’re choosing a chapstick, consider the ingredients first to make sure it’s going to do what you need it to do, but then you should also consider what form it’s in and whether it’s one you can tolerate.
Ingredients
Generally, lip balms are going to be packed with moisturizing ingredients because, well, that’s what they need to do. These can take the form of everything from glycerin, plant butters and oils or old-school-but-very-effective petrolatum. You’ll often find heavier moisturizers than you would in, say, your daily moisturizing lotion because not only do lip balms need to moisturize skin - and sometimes heal very dry or cracked lips - but they also need to protect it from drying out. These heavier moisturizers are what we call occlusive, meaning they form a barrier on top of your skin that helps lock in moisture. You’ll also want to look for sun protection because lips do get sunburned (quite often) and you can never have too much sun protection.
Format
You’ll mostly find lip balms in sticks, tubes and pots. Sticks will often contain waxes or other ingredients that help them maintain a solid form. Tubes will usually contain more liquidy formulas like ointments that are easier to spread over your lips. Pots will usually have ointments or slightly more solid textures, but the downside is that you need to dip your finger into them to apply the balm, which means they could be slightly less hygienic and you’ll get the balm on your hands. We favor sticks and tubes for a hands free application, but it’s really up to you.
How We Selected
For the past four years, we consulted with Men's Health's Grooming editors and writers on the best chapsticks to apply for optimal hydration and comfort. Experts, including our Grooming Editor Garrett Munce, put a number of chapsticks to the test and evaluated their ingredients, scent, and application. He also consulted with dermatologists on the best chapsticks that offer a dose of SPF for full protection.
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