The Latest Status Symbol? Lip Balm
August 7 | 4 minute read
Words by Amber Kallor
In the first 60 seconds of her ‘Please Please Please’ music video, Sabrina Carpenter hard-launched her relationship with actor Barry Keoghan – and a $74 designer lip balm. The colour-changing formula housed in a sleek silver tube is still sold out.
Meanwhile, famed director Sofia Coppola teamed up with Augustinus Bader to launch tinted versions of her favourite balm, and social media superstar Alix Earle told an audience in Cannes, France that she “can’t go without” Summer Fridays Dream Lip Oil, which she routinely swipes in her TikTok #GRWM videos.
A-listers aren’t the only ones obsessed with the slick stuff. Glossier fans practically rioted when the company modified its bestselling Balm Dotcom (everyone can breathe a sigh of relief now that the OG formula is back in action), while Summer Fridays says a tube of its cult-favourite Lip Butter Balm is snapped up every 17 seconds.
Jerrod Blandino, co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of Polite Society, reports that sales of the brand’s Polite Pout Glossy Lip Balm were up “500 percent over plan” within a week of its debut.
Consumer demand doesn’t show any signs of slowing either. According to market research firm Fairfield, the global lip care market is on the rise and expected to grow from USD$2.2 billion in 2022 to $3.1 billion by 2030.
Sara Tan, co-host of the Gloss Angeles podcast and beauty director at Refinery29, says balms and glosses are often the “gateway product” into the wider beauty world, especially with younger shoppers who require a parent’s approval – and wallet – to make a purchase. The lower price point (compared to steeper categories like skincare and fragrance) and the sheer nature of most formulas make it accessible across generations and gender binaries: “Not everyone is wearing mascara or doing their eyebrows, and some people may not be allowed to wear blush yet, but we can all use a little lip balm,” she says.
Formulations – and how brands refer to these products – have also evolved since Lancôme’s iconic Juicy Tubes and M.A.C Cosmetics’ Lipglass reigned supreme (good news: the former has just relaunched in time for the lip care renaissance); discerning consumers now want to cocoon their lips not just with gloss, but with skincare ingredients too.
“A lip gloss back in the late ’90s only had to be shiny with some pretty colour or sparkle,” says Blandino, who launched Too Faced in 1998. “Today, people want all the healing and moisturising benefits of a lip balm or lip treatment to be present in their lipsticks and lip glosses.”
Cosmetic chemist Jane Tsui says the key components found in the tidal wave of lip balms, butters, oils, salves and masks are often the same: hydrogenated polyisobutene and diisostearyl malate for shine; sunflower seed oil, capric triglyceride and petrolatum help lock in hydration; and beeswax, candelilla wax and microcrystalline wax add structure.
If you’re in the market for moisture, she recommends using lip products containing water and humectants such as glycerine and hyaluronic acid. (Try Tatcha’s The Kissu Lip Mask or Glow Recipe’s Plum Plump Gloss Balm).
While a formula undoubtedly has to feel good to garner a following, Tsui admits that packaging plays a major role: “It’s half the experience… and what contributes to a consumer making a purchase,” she says.
Tan agrees, noting that Gisou’s Honey Infused Lip Oil features an instantly-recognisable, squiggly-shaped tube that looks pretty whether you’re reapplying in public or snapping a ‘shelfie’.
The packaging also says something about the aesthetic you ascribe to and the community you’re aligned with, explains Indya Brown, a Los Angeles stylist and freelance fashion editor: “[Lip products] are like a bag; when you pull out a certain brand – especially given how many are on the market – you’re making a statement… It says you’re a certain type of person.”
For example, Yves Saint Laurent YSL Loveshine Candy Glaze is popular with the glam set, while ILIA Balmy Tint Hydrating Lip Balm conveys a cool, ‘clean aesthetic’ vibe.
Application is quickly becoming performance art as balms, butters, glosses and masks land starring roles in social media content crafted by top creators. There’s even a name for the phenomenon on TikTok: the lip gloss tactic. This method involves glazing lips with gloss or balm in the first few seconds of a video to hook viewers and reel them in for longer.
Tan says there’s something oddly “intimate” about the practice that makes it especially compelling: “It’s like you’re the mirror and the [creator] is speaking directly to you.”
With so many options to choose from, how does a lip product set itself apart and skyrocket to cult status? According to the experts, it has to pack a lot into one pocket-size tube: a luxurious and efficacious formula, eye-catching packaging and high-profile fans willing to pledge (and post) their allegiance online. “It all goes into the allure and cachet of something that could otherwise be simple and uneventful,” says Blandino. “It’s no longer basic, babe – it’s fabulous!”
