By Thom Watson, founder of Phatstix who has spent nearly two decades in beauty, who started making balms in his kitchen because nothing on the market actually cut it.
The cold does two things to your lips at once: the air outside strips moisture, and the heating inside does exactly the same. Winter lip care means breaking that cycle, using a nourishing, protective balm regularly, staying well-watered, and stopping the habits (licking, picking) that make it worse. Most people reach for a standard 4g tube. They run out in a fortnight and start again.
Why does winter wreck your lips so reliably?
Lips have no sebaceous glands. They can't produce their own oil like the rest of your skin does. That makes them permanently reliant on what you put on them, and in winter, three things hit at once.
Cold air holds less moisture than warm air. Wind accelerates water loss from the skin's surface (the technical term is transepidermal water loss, or TEWL). And central heating is effectively a dehumidifier running all day. The inside of your lips is essentially trying to keep the outside conditioned, loses the battle, and the surface dries, tightens, and eventually cracks.
The good news: that mechanism is easy to interrupt. A decent occlusive balm sits on the surface, slows TEWL, and gives the skin underneath a fighting chance to recover.
What should a winter lip balm actually do?
It needs to do two things. First, form a protective barrier: something occlusive, like beeswax or shea wax, that physically slows water loss. Second, deliver conditioning ingredients that help the skin feel and behave better while the barrier is doing its job.
"Nourishing" and "protective" are not the same thing. Vaseline, for example, is almost entirely occlusive. It seals well but doesn't bring much conditioning value. A balm built on plant butters and oils does both.
Fragrance is worth avoiding in winter, when lips are already irritated. Menthol and cooling agents are a particular trap: they feel refreshing for about thirty seconds and then leave the surface drier than before. If your lips are chapped, the last thing they need is an ingredient that creates a sensation by irritating nerve endings.
Is licking your lips making things worse?
Yes, almost certainly. Licking deposits saliva on the surface, which evaporates quickly and takes more moisture with it than was there before. It also deposits digestive enzymes onto skin that isn't designed to handle them. The urge to lick is often triggered by dryness, which is why it becomes a loop. The drier your lips feel, the more you lick. The more you lick, the drier they get.
The fix is straightforward: keep a balm close enough that reaching for it is easier than licking. In practice, that means not having it buried at the bottom of a bag.
How often should you apply lip balm in winter?
More than in summer, less than you think you need to once you have the right one. The standard advice is to apply before you go outside, after eating, before bed, and whenever your lips feel tight or dry. Four or five times a day is reasonable.
The problem with most balms is that they're 4–4.5g of product. One stick lasts weeks, not months, so you're constantly re-buying, losing tubes, and going without. The Balm from Phatstix is 30g: that's 7x the product of a standard balm, made to last up to a year. One tube, all winter, and well into the next one.
"A big, buttery stick for lips, faces and flaky places. No fluff. Just proper care."
What ingredients actually help in cold weather?
The best winter lip balm formulas combine occlusives (to seal), emollients (to soften), and nourishing oils (to condition the skin underneath). Here's what to look for and why.
Beeswax is the gold standard occlusive for lips. It forms a flexible, breathable film that slows TEWL without feeling heavy. The American Academy of Dermatology recommends ointments and waxes for dry, cracked skin over lighter creams, precisely because of their superior barrier properties.
Shea butter is a rich emollient with evidence-backed skin-conditioning properties. A 2014 review (Honfo et al., published in Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition) found shea butter effective at reducing skin inflammation and supporting skin restoration, useful when lips are chapped and irritated.
Jojoba oil is structurally similar to the skin's own sebum, which makes it absorb readily without feeling greasy. Research published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology (Pazyar et al., 2013) found jojoba had soothing properties relevant to irritated or dry skin.
Raspberry seed oil is rich in vitamin E and essential fatty acids. It's included at a meaningful ~6% in The Balm, not as a trace ingredient.
What you want to avoid: added fragrance, menthol, camphor, and synthetic preservatives. None of them help chapped lips; most make the situation worse.
Does your diet affect your lips in winter?
Worth mentioning, because people often blame the weather entirely when there are internal factors at play too. Dehydration shows up quickly on lips: they're thin skin with no oil production, so they're among the first places dryness becomes visible. Drinking enough water throughout the day genuinely helps.
B vitamins (particularly B2/riboflavin and B12) and iron deficiency can cause cracking at the corners of the mouth specifically. If you're getting persistent splits at the corners that don't respond to balm, it's worth speaking to a GP or pharmacist. That pattern can point to nutritional deficiencies or other causes that a balm won't fix.
Should you exfoliate your lips in winter?
Carefully. If lips are actively cracked and sore, exfoliation makes things worse: you're abrading skin that's already compromised. If they're just a bit dry and flaky, a very gentle lip scrub (or a soft toothbrush, briefly) followed immediately by balm can help slough off the surface layer and let the balm work on fresher skin underneath.
Never pick or peel flaking skin. It pulls away skin that isn't ready to go, leaves raw patches, and slows recovery significantly.
Does my lip balm need SPF in winter?
No lip balm in the current Phatstix range contains SPF, and no claim to that effect is made. You may have read that raspberry seed oil offers a "natural SPF", but that idea doesn't hold up: there's no reliable evidence it provides meaningful sun protection, and it should not be relied on as one. Whether you want SPF protection in winter depends on your circumstances: people skiing or spending time in snowy environments, where UV reflects off the surface, may want to add a dedicated SPF lip product. For everyday winter use in the UK, it's a personal choice rather than a universal necessity.
What matters most in winter is the protective and conditioning job: keeping TEWL low and keeping the surface supple. SPF or no SPF, a good nourishing balm is the foundation.
What about heating and air conditioning indoors?
Both drop the relative humidity of the air, which accelerates moisture loss from skin including lips. A humidifier in a room you spend a lot of time in (a bedroom especially) can help meaningfully. It's not a replacement for balm, but it addresses the environmental cause rather than just managing the symptoms.
If you use air conditioning in the car for long journeys, the same principle applies. Keep a balm in the car. Use it.
The short version: winter lip care that actually works
For more on what causes chapping and how to tackle it properly, the full guide to healing chapped lips covers the mechanism in detail. The summary for winter is straightforward:
- Use a balm with occlusive and nourishing ingredients, not just one or the other.
- Apply before you go out, before bed, and whenever lips feel tight.
- Stop licking.
- Drink water.
- Don't pick at flaking skin.
One 30g stick is enough to see you through an entire winter and beyond. That's the idea.
Try The Balm
The Balm · 30g · Made in England
A 100% natural, fragrance-free balm for lips, faces and flaky places. Beeswax, shea, cocoa and mango butter, jojoba, raspberry seed oil and four other oils, nothing else. 7x the size of a standard balm, lasts up to a year. Free UK delivery over £35.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I stop my lips getting chapped in winter?
The main causes in winter are cold air, wind, and indoor heating, all of which increase water loss from lip skin. Applying a nourishing, protective balm (one with beeswax or plant butters as its base) before going outside and before bed creates a barrier that slows that water loss. Avoiding licking your lips and staying well-watered helps too.
What is the best lip balm for cold weather?
A balm with occlusive ingredients (beeswax, shea) to seal in moisture, and conditioning oils (jojoba, sweet almond) to nourish the skin underneath. Avoid anything with added fragrance, menthol or camphor, as they can irritate already-dry lips and worsen the problem.
How often should I apply lip balm in winter?
Around four to five times a day is a reasonable starting point: before going outside, after eating, before bed, and whenever lips feel tight or dry. The key is having your balm accessible enough that you actually use it.
Does cold weather cause chapped lips?
Yes. Cold air holds less moisture, wind increases transepidermal water loss, and central heating acts as a dehumidifier. Lips have no sebaceous glands, so they can't produce their own protective oil, which makes them particularly vulnerable to environmental moisture loss.
Can I use lip balm on other dry patches in winter?
If it's a multi-use balm with a simple, natural formulation, yes. The Balm from Phatstix is designed for lips, faces and dry places: elbows, knuckles, dry patches around the nose. Anywhere the skin gets chapped and flaky in winter.
When should I see a GP about my lips?
If your lips won't heal after consistent balm use over a couple of weeks, if you have persistent splits at the corners of your mouth, or if you develop sores, blistering or unusual swelling, speak to a GP or pharmacist. These can point to causes beyond simple dryness that a balm won't address.