Pucker up: Your guide to luscious lips
Editor’s note: There’s an overload of lip products in an already saturated beauty market. Do you really need a lip scrub and an oil in addition to your lip balm? Dhara Vora Sabhnani’s detailed guide demystifies lip care and comes with handy tips for lips so luscious—you may never wear lipstick:)
Point to note: This list does not include sheet masks for lips. Dhara does not recommend them as they provide only temporary treatment, and can contribute to landfills with all the single-use plastic.
Written by: Dhara Vora Sabhnani is a Mumbai-based writer and creative consultant. She traverses the worlds of fashion, design, culture and beauty, as a contributor to the features sections of several publications.
Flashy transitions and tutorial videos on Instagram can tempt the laziest armchair shoppers to buy something they don’t need, especially beauty products. For someone who has done quite well with vaseline, shopping for lip scrubs, masks, oils and a lip plumper seems a bit absurd. But the right products can work wonders—and the wrong kind can do real damage.
The lip area is delicate and a product must be chosen based on the weather and your specific needs. For example, if your skin is acne-prone and you live in a humid city, constant use of heavy balms can congest the skin around your lips. If you have dry lips, lip oils—which are formulated to be lighter than balms—will not work for you. Each product has a purpose, and misuse can lead to skin irritation, micro-injuries, and sensitivity.
Here’s a guide to different lip products, and what they can do for you.
First up: Lip balms
Lip balms provide an occlusive barrier to your lips, lock in moisture, and keep them soft. They are commonly made from shea or cocoa butter, beeswax, and nourishing oils. They provide immediate relief for dry and cracked lips that are prone to sun and environmental damage. Lip balms come in pots, stick form, and in tubes.
Regardless of what you choose, with innovative formulations available today, look for natural, hydrating, and skin-building ingredients like peptides, hyaluronic acid, ceramides, squalane, and lanolin. These ingredients rehydrate the lips and are a good addition to the occlusive ones in a balm.
Lip balms are essential for those who suffer from chapped lips due to health conditions. Use lip balms only when necessary, as overuse can cause the skin to produce less sebum, causing dependency on them. They are great for dry and cold regions for daily use (the ones with SPF are a must for dry climates) but can be heavy and acne-causing for oily skin types in tropical climates.
Nivea’s Lip Balm: The range offers tinted and non-tinted versions and is made without mineral oil. (Price: Rs 126)
Hyphen’s Vitamin-infused Lip Balm (by actor Kriti Sanon): It is a dupe for Hailey Bieber’s viral Rhode Peptide Lip Treatment. (Price: Rs 349)
NARS’ Afterglow Tinted Lip Balm: Packaged like a luxury lipstick, has a gentle tint, is lightweight and leaves the lips soft and line-free for hours. (Price: Rs 2,500)
The Ordinary Lip Balm: It has squalane and amino acids to keep your lip skin healthy. (Price: Rs 950)
Inde Wild: From Indian influencer and beauty entrepreneur Diipa Büller-Khosla is another tube that also works as a lip plumper and includes biotechnology-created vegan ghee. (Price: Rs 799)
Dhara’s tip: Use a lip balm when you start applying makeup and wipe off the excess before you apply your lipstick at the end of your routine to reduce the appearance of lip lines. For a long-lasting velvety look, gently dab lip balm on a matte lipstick or a lip pencil, and gently kiss the excess away on a tissue.
Next up: lip oils
If you find lip balms too heavy, lip oils are your best bet. Formulated to not just provide an occlusive barrier but penetrate deeper into the skin, lip oils provide lighter protection and long-lasting hydration. Thicker lip oils last longer and work as lip treatments too. They contain nourishing oils like argan, almond, jojoba, or coconut oil.
Some ingredients like coconut oil are comedogenic or acne-causing, and overuse of lip oils can lead to skin congestion. They work well if your lips aren’t too dry.
Rare Beauty by Selene Gomez: Soft Pinch Tinted Lip Oil is a viral favourite that gently plumps the lips, has flattering shades, and works beautifully on its own or as a lip colour topper. It does need to be reapplied after an hour. (Price: Rs 2,400)
Katrina Kaif’s Kay Beauty: The lip oil is a good Indian buy with flattering shade options and a glossy effect. (Price: Rs 899)
PH-Play Lip and Cheek Oil by Kiro: is a colour-changing oil that adapts its tint according to your skin’s pH levels. (Price: Rs 800)
Shankara’s Soothing Lip Oil: This one from an Ayurvedic brand is natural and comes in a bottle with an amethyst roller to soothe the lips. (Price: Rs 590)
Dhara’s tip: Line your lips with a lip pencil instead of lipstick and top it with lip oil for a long-lasting and plumping lip combination.
An intro to lip masks
Extreme weather and certain health conditions can leave one with dry, cracked lips and lip masks provide intensive treatment. They are designed to repair and provide deep hydration when used overnight. You would apply them just as you use a lip balm. You need a lip mask only if a lip balm isn’t working for you. They can be used twice a week or based on how dry your lips get.
Laniege’s best known product is its Lip Sleeping Mask Range which now comes in more juicy flavours such as watermelon and vanilla. (Price: Rs 600)
The Face Shop’s The Therapy Lipcerin has several skin-rebuilding ingredients such as edelweiss extract, organic thyme, peptides, squalane, and PHA for gentle skin resurfacing. (Price: Rs 1,750)
Picking the right scrub
If you have flaky lips, a gentle lip scrub might help. They contain abrasive particles like sugar, mixed with hydrating ingredients to exfoliate dead skin cells and leave your lips smooth. You should not use them more than twice a week and skip them if you don’t have flaky lips. Using scrubs too frequently can cause micro-injuries and increased dryness. Overusing lip scrubs can also lead to pigmentation.
Dot & Key’s Lip Polish: It uses cane sugar for gentle exfoliation and has cocoa beans and vitamin E to heal and rebuild skin. (Price: Rs 249)
Juicy Chemistry’s Organic Lip Scrub: It is made with blood orange and rosehip and is high in vitamin C to nourish and reduce pigmentation. (Price: Rs 350)
Just Herbs’s Ayurvedic Vegan Rose Lip Scrub: It has gotukola, adaptogens like Ashwagandha, and several other nourishing ingredients that are good enough to eat. (Price: Rs 445)
Dhara’s tip: Always seal the moisture in with a lip balm after using a lip scrub.
About those plumpers
Lip plumpers are for when you want to go a bit glam for a day or an evening out. As the name suggests, lip plumpers, applied exactly as lip glosses, help temporarily plump the lips. There is noticeable swelling which lasts for a couple of hours and is a great pre-party makeup must-have.
Apply it on top of lip colour for a glossy plumper pout, or use it before you apply lipstick to make your lips fuller. Check for sensitivity as they often contain ingredients like peppermint oil or menthol. Plumpers are known to cause a tingling sensation when applied, so skip if your tolerance level is low. You can live without a plumper and just use a balm instead.
Too Faced’s Lip Injection: It visibly swells the lips for a couple of hours and is a tried-and-tested favourite. (Price: Rs 1,410)
Kylie Cosmetics’ Plumping Gloss: Gives you a subtle pout. It’s available in clear and in different tints. (Price: Rs 1,900)
Dhara’s tip: Instead of a lip plumper, if you have a pure hyaluronic acid serum in your skincare kit, use it a few times during the day and seal it with a balm before you get ready to step out, for a similar effect.
The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid 2%: It has ceramides and vitamin B5 too. (Price: Rs 1,000)
Simple Booster Serum: Comes with 3% Hyaluronic Acid + B5 F. It is cheaper and effective. (Price: Rs 615)
Note: We do NOT receive any revenue from the brands recommended.
