Solutions To Dry Lips

I figure that the problem of dry, cracking lips is as good a place to start as any - and it is winter, which is doubly hard for people who are prone to getting dry lips.

There are three products I will be going through for dry lips: Thursday Plantation's Cold Sore Cream, Polysporin's Lip Therapy, and Clarins' Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector.

The first product I'd like to mention is Thursday Plantation's Tea Tree Cold Sore Cream. 

First off, it's not just for cold sores, but it is handy to have for that too. This goes for about 12 dollars.

This is one of those products where a little goes a very long way. Just the smallest dab spreads all over the lips. But be careful not to really rub it in; try dabbing it instead, otherwise it doesn’t sink in and blend as well. It’s hard to explain, but when I rub it in, it’s like the formulation thickens, coming off in places, and gobbing a bit in others, not so even, and it becomes less spreadable. The trick is, don’t over manipulate. Just smooth it on with a clean fingertip, dab it until it isn’t white anymore, and leave it set. Also, don’t get it wet. After five minutes or less, it sets completely, so that when I touch my lips, there’s no residue, but they are soft. I can tell Thursday Plantation is still there, it has not disappeared in the least, and it doesn’t crumble either.

Oddly, this is amazing under lipstick. Normally, putting on a lip care product before the lipstick makes the colour fade more quickly, but this one does wonderful things with lip colour. When I put on lipstick on its own, sometimes it doesn’t last long and my lips feel dryer for having worn it a while, but with Thursday Plantation underneath, my lips feel soft when I remove the lipstick, and the colour lasts longer, too. Colour even seems to go on richer and I don’t need a thick coat. This is the ultimate primer for me.

I really like the scent of this, and the cooling sensation that I get when I’ve just applied it. This smells like tea tree, which is one of the things that’s in it, making it great for sunburned lips and cold sores too. Good stuff to have on hand. Tea tree is a fresh, mentholated herbal smell which I find so addictive. Really invigorating, that’s the only way I can describe it. The texture is nice too, not gooey, but runny, just goes on thin and conditions like crazy.

If you’ve seen how much money some big brands are asking for small tins of lip balm, you’ll know that the value of this is quite excellent. This is one of the areas where I save instead of splurge, because as much as Chanel or Sisley lip balm sounds nice, I know that there is a certain price point where the quality-price ratio gets thrown off. Sometimes, a good product is worth the expense, but there is a point where you can’t make a product better, it’s as good as it can be, but the price tag has no such limitation. This is one such area where you could buy a 70$ (ouch!) lip care product, but the quality will be comparable to a 15$ product, so as much as it pains us to deny ourselves the splurge sometimes, we can look at this as a good thing: stinge on a product you know is still great, and save up so that you can splurge where it counts. 

On to Polysporin's Lip Therapy.

This is my favourite product of all, and by far the cheapest, coming in well under five dollars. I am very prone to having dry, rough, cracking lips, but I have had no such trouble since I've been using this. I put this on every night at bedtime, and because it's petroleum based, it stays on all night until I remove it in the morning. I occasionally use it during the day if it's really cold out or if my lips are just wanting to dry out a bit more quickly, but even just using this every night has made my lips a lot more comfortable and the moisture really lasts all day. Once again, a little goes a long way. One of these lasts me a good six months. I find that lipstick looks a lot better now that my lips aren't dry - it's amazing how lipstick highlights dry spots and cracks... and it's really great under lip gloss. Some glosses dry up or sink in too quickly, but because of the petroleum, this makes an excellent base for lip gloss, keeping it shiny and protecting your lips at the same time.

Again, this smells a bit mentholated, but the smell fades quickly. It also has a slightly higher amount of Camphor than Thursday Plantation does, making equally ideal for overnight cold sore care (Camphor, in small quantities, helps with swelling and irritation).

This is a wonderful everyday care solution, and considering its low price, a very good place to start.



The third product is Clarins' Instant Light Natural Lip Perfecter. This is the most expensive of the three at about 20 dollars. I have repurchased this, because it really is a lovely product, though not as essential for me as Polysporin's Lip Therapy. I do find that this moisturises quite nicely, especially if my lips are in a really dry state. This is instant comfort.

With its sweet, icecream-like scent, non-sticky and very smooth formula, and soft plushy applicator, the Instant Light lip balm is a very nice little splurge, because it feels good, has nice results, and is handy to have in my purse so that if I'm out in public, I don't have to stick my germ-covered fingers in a tin, spreading them all over my lips too. This also lasts a really long time. I use this often, and it lasts a little over a year.

I love Clarins; they make some of my favourite and most effective products. They were also one of the first big cosmetics brands to discontinue the use of animal testing.


So there we are, three products at three different price points for soft, comfortable lips!

Have a great day, and thanks for reading!

A.