What’s the most important item to carry with you when you travel?
That question was recently posed to the more than 1.5 million members of the private Facebook group Girls LOVE Travel (yes, I’m one of the 1.5 million).
Much to my surprise, what seemed to be the leading answer—more popular than phone chargers and certain brands of luggage—was lip balm.
Why are we so focused on our lips when we travel? It could be because they’re the part of the body most likely to get irritated by shifting from one type of environment to another.
“The lips have some of the thinnest stratum corneum on the body. That’s the outermost protective cover of the skin,” explains Dr. Eileen Deignan, chief of dermatology at Emerson Health Systems in Concord, Massachusetts, and a partner at Dermatology Associates of Concord. “Because the lips have such a thin barrier, it’s easier for water to be lost. As well, other skin on our bodies has subcutaneous glands pumping out oils. Lips don’t have any oil producing glands, which makes them more vulnerable to changes in humidity.”
Those changes are a big part of travel. “You might be going from outside on a summer day with 80% humidity into a dry airplane cabin where the humidity level hovers around 20%,” Deignan told me. “Water is always evaporating from your skin, but it will evaporate more readily from a place where the humidity is low. Some people lick their lips [to make up for the loss of moisture], but enzymes in the saliva can irritate the lips and further strip the barrier function off of the lips. It’s a vicious cycle: Your lips get more irritated, so you lick them, and that can lead to even more cracks, abrasions, or a stinging sensation. Not pleasant.”
Jillian Gottlieb, a skin care content creator who collaborates with dermatologists and scientists and has over 600,000 combined followers on Instagram and TikTok, notes that just the act of traveling can badly affect lips and skin.
“We’re not in the same routine when we’re traveling,” Gottlieb points out. “For many of us that means we’re not drinking as much water, which definitely affects our lips and skin. So yes, you’re going into arid airline cabins and you’re not as hydrated to begin with, which makes the effect of high altitudes and dry cabins even greater.”
What Makes a Good Hydrating Lip Balm for Travel?
According to Deignan, you need a lip balm containing three basic elements.
Humectants: These draw water to the skin, from the air and from deeper tissue to the lips’ surface. Hyaluronic acid, which is what’s in between our cells naturally and also comes in cosmetic preparations, is a humectant. So are glycerine and aloe vera (though the latter is more commonly used for skin moisturizers, not lip balms).
Occlusives: These sit on top of the lips and keep the water from leaving them. Deignan cites hydrated petrolatum—the generic name for Vaseline—as her “grand old favorite” because “it’s a great skin barrier and it’s cheap and more breathable than beeswax.”
Emollients: These soften the lips. Some common emollients used in lip balms are shea butter, coconut oil, and, again, Vaseline.
Which Lip Care Brand Should You Choose for Travel?
Though they’ve never met, the two skin care experts I spoke with share a favorite lip balm: Aquaphor Lip Repair. “People always think they need something fancy or expensive,” says Gottlieb, “but you really can’t go wrong with Aquaphor. It’s easy to find, it’s not expensive, and it works really well.”
Aquaphor does contain lanolin, however. If you’re allergic, Deignan recommends Vaseline Lip Therapy as a substitute.
The only downside to both of those is that you’ll need to reapply them frequently. If that prospect doesn’t appeal, Gottlieb suggests trying the award-winning Revision Skincare YouthFull Lip Replenisher. “It immediately plumps up your lips, it has hyaluronic acid, antioxidants, and a cooling ceramic applicator. Plus you can eat with it on,” says Gottlieb. “Because it’s a bit sticky you can apply once and it’s still there later. You can put it on before you leave the hotel, and it will still be on at night.”
For those seeking a lipstick effect, there’s Bloomeffects SPF TulipScreen Hydrating Lip Oil. “We usually remember SPF on our faces when traveling, but don’t think about our lips,” Gottlieb notes. “These lip oils are SPF 40+ non-nano, 100% mineral sunscreens. They come in three shades and these are some of the most beautiful lip colors you will find that are fragrance-free and don’t taste like sunscreen.”
What’s more, the product has ingredients designed to soothe (bisabolol) and hydrate (squalane), as well as what Gottlieb describes as an “oversized cushion applicator that feels amazing.”
Which lip care brands should travelers avoid?
“I avoid Chapstick because it has extras in it that can be potentially irritating,” says Deignan. “You want to avoid balms with fragrance or taste” as well.
Blistex and balms that contain phenol, camphor, and menthol should also be avoided for travel. They have a soothing feeling, Deignan explains, but sometimes they end up irritating the skin.
Bottom line: Keeping a properly hydrating lip balm with you when you travel is key—because nobody wants chapped lips as a souvenir.
Note: Frommer’s does NOT receive compensation if you buy the products recommended in this article. This is not a paid sponsorship of any type.