Your lips take a beating in any climate, whether you’re battling whipping winter winds or blistering summer heat. Slathering on a richly moisturizing lip product can bring instant relief for stinging, chapping, and dryness—as long as you choose the right natural ingredients. We’re passionate about the natural lip products we use, from balms to glosses to lipsticks, not only because we want our lips in top (read: kissable) shape, but because we actually consume those products in small amounts every time we lick our lips or bite into a meal. Our ideal lip ingredients are plant-based, edible, and deeply therapeutic for the delicate skin on our lips.
What’s banned from our lip list?
Petroleum and petroleum byproducts, paraben preservatives, artificial flavors, synthetic colors, and chemical sunscreens don’t get any love from the NAA.
To see what we reach for most often, check out our list of top must-try lip product ingredients. Look for lip products that feature these wonderful add-ins.
Our Favorite Ingredients for Kissable Lips
- Candelilla Wax. This plant-based wax functions similarly to beeswax in a lip product, providing a firm waxiness and long-lasting finish. It’s risen in popularity with the increase in demand for vegan products.
- Organic Cocoa Butter. Cocoa Butter is extracted from the roasted seeds of Theobroma cacao, a tree native to the Americas. This aromatic solid butter is naturally rich in Vitamin E which helps to sooth, hydrate, and balance the skin—with a cocoa flavor we love.
- Apricot Kernel Oil. This antioxidant-packed carrier oil soothes and nourishes even the driest and most sensitive lips. It’s ideal for a lip product, because it provides slip and is available as a food-grade ingredient which is super important since most of what we apply on our lips winds up in our bellies!
- Coconut Oil. We love that coconut oil makes your balms and lipsticks instantly meltable upon touching warm lips. Coconut oil is rich in lip-nourishing fatty acids and offers bonus antibacterial benefits.
- Castor Oil. This collagen-stimulating emollient oil imparts extra shine to lip products, giving your lips a little polish when you apply products containing it.
- Shea Butter. A shea-butter based lip product will often be thicker and richer than average, since creamy shea butter itself is known for its richness and vitamin content, as well as its mildly UV-protective properties.
- Calendula. Too much lip licking? Calming calendula oil or extract soothes irritated lips naturally, with healing, anti-inflammatory botanical power.
- Essential Oils. Skip synthetic flavorsand fragrances, and look for balms, glosses and lipsticks that contain just a hint of essential oil for flavor. Peppermint and orange are flavor favorites, though be cautious when applying, as too much of these oils can cause your lips to experience photosensitivity on sun-filled days.
We want to hear from you!
While these ingredients top our list, always consider how they react with your individual body and skin to find the most beautiful lip products for your routine.
What are your favorite lip-nourishing ingredients?
Which natural lip products are must-haves in your makeup bag?
By the way, we love sharing products that contain our favorite natural ingredients with you on the NAA Pinterest page. Click HERE to find great lip products that contain the above ingredients.