These Moisturizing Lip Balms Will Help Protect Your Skin This Winter

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 of winter 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.

“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.

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 top chapstick and lip balm brands for men.