The Best Non-Drying Lip Products: From Lipsticks to Balms

Like any beauty-obsessed individual, I love a pop of lip color. Unfortunately, my perpetually chapped lips don’t usually “play nice” with highly pigmented formulas. Look-at-me lipsticks in punchy hues typically end up drying out my already desert-like lips—and things like matte or liquid lipsticks are almost always completely out of the question. For a while, I’d layer lipstick over a balm, hoping that the first moisturizing layer would be enough to combat the lipstick’s drying effects, but what I actually ended up with was lipstick that quickly feathered, smeared, or vanished and required constant reapplication.

Eventually, I realized that layering products wasn’t the most effective route to achieve the bold lip color I wanted sans dryness, but instead, investing in a new lineup of non-drying lip products that deliver high-intensity color and hydration. More and more brands are releasing hybrid, multitasking products that aren’t quite lipsticks and aren’t quite lip balms. For chapped-lipped individuals like myself, these lipstick alternatives are a godsend, delivering all-day moisture plus a welcome pop of color. Here are the best non-drying lip products if you have ridiculously chapped lips.

Eve Lom
Kiss Mix Colour
$24.00

This is my all-time favorite lip balm—yet it does so much more. The formula is thicker than typical balms (without being sticky) and envelops lips in a cooling, gorgeous blanket of moisture. I love wearing it with a natural-hued lip liner for a fully finished nighttime look, but also love swiping it on throughout the day whenever my lips need a fail-safe surge of hydration.

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