The best lip balms: what to keep in your handbag and what to wear at night

It isn’t the once-in-a-while beauty products that get me most excited. Don’t get me wrong: who doesn’t love – in theory or practice – the jewel-toned eyeshadows, the blue mascaras and the vinyl red lip glosses of the world? These products are immense fun and allow us to recreate ourselves as whatever we feel like. That is exciting.

However, it’s in the day-to-day that we really get to know a beauty product. The foundation that looks good in all temperatures. The Vitamin C serum that gives skin a brightness that makes us feel better in the long term. The SPF that prevents pigmentation or breakouts.

When I use the term “ideal lip balm”, beauty enthusiasts will understand the world of excitement it conveys. Growing up in Ireland in the 1990s and 2000s meant permanently chapped, slightly throbbing lips which always gave off a slightly reptilian aura.

In my teens there was Vaseline, but Vaseline only works by retaining moisture – it doesn’t impart much. So that generally felt like wearing a layer of cling film over hot, dry lips and produced no noticeable improvement.

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The ideal lip balm will vary depending on your needs but to me it generates that all-important comfort, keeping lips moisturised and balanced in all weather so that I never experience that chapped, shrivelled pinch of dehydrated, dry lips.

Wearing lip balm to sleep has made the single greatest difference. It keeps lips from becoming dry in the first place (mouth breathers are particularly prone to dryness).

A lip mask is the ideal overnight balm. Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask (€24 at Space NK) does a fantastic job, ensuring that you wake up comfortable and your matt lipstick (if you choose to wear one) will find no dry bits to snag on. Laneige is newly available in Ireland through Space NK, and has made a name for itself after a sort of lipcare renaissance on social media.

Laneige Lip Glowy Balm in Peach (€20 at Space NK) has become a handbag staple for me. The peachy fragrance is subtle and delicious, the nude tone is universally flattering, and the balm itself is one you can whack on anywhere. It gives a glossy, tidy-looking finish that enhances make-up but also looks great on an otherwise bare face.

MAC Squirt Plumping Gloss Stick (€26 at Boots) brings some old school fun back to lip balm. The rainbow shades look extreme but are all sheer – I love the clear version as a moisture-protecting stick gloss that wears like a balm. If you don’t like that spicy pepper capsicum tingle in a lip product, this won’t be for you, but these look great on the lips and have a retro aesthetic that appeals to the dry-lipped teen in me.

Finally, for those who elevate good sense as a virtue and apply this to their everyday lip balm, there’s Elave Daily Lip Defence (€9.45 at pharmacies, as well as Dunnes Stores and Tesco). It’s Irish and contains an SPF so you don’t need to worry about lips when spraying on an over make-up SPF. It retains moisture effectively and makes a great base for lipstick too.