Vaseline Lip Therapy Crème Brulee Mini is my go-to dry lip fixer
This mini-salve keeps my lips soft and scented for hours. When it’s cold, you'll find it tucked into my North Face or ready on my kitchen table.
Vaseline’s Lip Therapy comes in a few different flavors:
I encourage you to take your pick, as its fragrance (or lack thereof) is part of what makes Lip Therapy such a personalized joy to use. The Crème Brulee version, my personal preference, is particularly rich. “Crème brulee,” of course, is a pudding-like custard with a brittle sugar surface. Vaseline does a surprisingly good job at delivering on that original premise here, and I often find myself rubbing my lips together in subconscious appreciation after applying the balm. (While all of the flavors come packaged with different taglines on their label, Crème Brulee’s says: “For deliciously kissable lips,” and I have to thank it for that, too. Though perhaps I should do some scientific polling first.)
While lots of lip balms are applied via stick or tube, Vaseline’s Lip Therapy Mini is a tiny tub that goes onto your lips thickly and smoothly with your finger. That could make it more difficult to apply than a stick of chapstick: Sometimes I’ll look in the mirror and notice it mushed a tad beyond my lips. Luckily and happily, I’ll simply push the extra balm back onto my lips to re-coat them.
Vaseline — like other petrolatum, oils and silicones — is an occlusive, which means the Lip Therapy Mini attracts moisture to the skin and creates a protective barrier. Vaseline doesn’t provide sun protection, either — if that’s on your mind, here’s how to shop for lip balms with SPF.
If you’re looking for a moisturizing lip balm to repair damaged lips, or you find yourself outside and interested in a lip balm that provides SPF, here are highly-rated alternatives to Vaseline’s Lip Therapy that should do the trick.
We previously interviewed four dermatologists who suggested using Vanicream Lip Protectant, a mineral SPF lip balm that’s free of allergens like fragrances and dyes, which makes it a solid alternative to Vaseline’s Lip Therapy Crème Brulee Mini. Its lack of allergens means it’s especially useful for sensitive skins, too. Vanicream is unscented and offers SPF 30 protection from the sun, the brand says. It has a 4.4-star average rating from more than 5,920 reviews on Amazon.
Jack Black, like Vanicream, professes to be colorless and odorless in its original tube, though you can opt to buy it in a few different flavors: Black Tea & Blackberry, Lemon & Shea Butter, Shea Butter & Vitamin E and Grapefruit & Ginger. It provides a matte finish, in my experience with it. It contains vitamin E, shea butter and antioxidants. On Amazon, Jack Black’s Intense Therapy Lip Balm has a 4.7-star average rating from 15,617 reviews.
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