5 Essential Ingredients for Chapped Lips (2025)

Formulating effective lip care products requires a deep understanding of ingredient functionality, skin physiology, and environmental stressors. Chapped lips are a common consumer concern, driven by factors like transepidermal water loss (TEWL), exposure to UV radiation, and a lack of natural lipid production in the lips. Since lips lack sebaceous glands, they rely entirely on external hydration and protective ingredients to maintain softness and resilience.

For formulators, selecting the right combination of humectants, emollients, occlusives, and active ingredients is key to developing high-performance lip treatments. This means going beyond basic hydration—an ideal formulation should address moisture retention, barrier repair, antioxidant protection, and even antimicrobial defense to support the skin’s natural healing process.

GreenDiol® is a 100% biobased, sustainable alternative to butylene glycol, offering multifunctional benefits in lip care formulations. Derived through fermentation, this ingredient enhances moisture retention while improving the overall sensorial experience of lip products. Unlike traditional humectants, GreenDiol® not only hydrates but also contributes to preservative boosting and active ingredient dispersion, making it a versatile addition to lip formulations.

Benefits for Chapped Lips

• Provides deep hydration – Helps retain moisture and prevents excessive dryness, a crucial factor in repairing chapped lips.
• Enhances the effectiveness of other active ingredients – Acts as a dispersant, optimizing the delivery of functional ingredients.
• Biodegradable and eco-friendly – Offers a sustainable alternative to petroleum-derived glycols, aligning with clean beauty trends.

How It Works in Formulations

• Recommended for lip balms, treatments, glosses, and hybrid lip products that require both hydration and ingredient stability.
• Can be incorporated into the water phase of formulations at use levels of 1-10%.
• Works well across a wide range of pH values and is compatible with most cosmetic ingredients.
• Functions as a preservative booster, potentially reducing the need for synthetic preservatives in water-containing formulations.

Vitamin E (Tocopheryl Acetate) is a stable, oil-soluble antioxidant that plays a crucial role in protecting and repairing the delicate skin of the lips. Unlike Tocopherol, Tocopheryl Acetate is more resistant to oxidation, ensuring long-term stability in formulations. It works by neutralizing free radicals, soothing irritation, and reinforcing the skin’s moisture barrier, making it an essential ingredient in lip balms, masks, and treatments.

Benefits for Chapped Lips

• Powerful antioxidant protection – Shields lips from oxidative stress and environmental damage, such as UV exposure and pollution.
• Helps repair and soothe damaged lips – Reduces inflammation and supports the natural healing process of cracked or irritated lips.
• Locks in moisture and prevents further drying – Strengthens the lipid barrier, reducing transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and keeping lips hydrated longer.

How It Enhances Lip Balm and Treatment Formulas

• Ideal for lip balms, glosses, overnight masks, and lip repair treatments due to its stability and reparative properties.
• Functions as an oil-phase ingredient, with a recommended use level of 0.3% - 5%.
• Works best in formulations with a pH range of 4-8 to maintain stability and efficacy.
• Enhances the longevity of natural oils and butters in formulations by preventing oxidative degradation.

The Silkflo® Collection consists of hydrogenated hydrocarbons that provide exceptional emolliency and sensorial benefits in lip care formulations. These ingredients offer a non-greasy, lightweight alternative to traditional oils, improving spreadability and texture while delivering a luxurious feel. Silkflo® enhances gloss and hydration, making it an excellent choice for both treatment-focused and aesthetic lip products.

Benefits for Chapped Lips

• Adds gloss and shine without feeling greasy – Ideal for achieving a soft, glossy look in lip balms, oils, and glosses without excessive heaviness.
• Creates a smooth, silky texture for lip products – Improves application aesthetics by enhancing slip and reducing tackiness.
• Acts as an occlusive to prevent moisture loss – Forms a protective barrier that helps retain hydration, reducing the likelihood of chapped, flaky lips.

Best Uses in Lip Care Formulations

• Suitable for lip balms, glosses, lip masks, and hybrid skincare-lip products requiring enhanced shine and smoothness.
• Can function as the sole oil phase or be blended with other emollients to adjust spreadability and texture.
• Works across anhydrous and emulsion-based formulations, making it highly versatile.
• Recommended use level: 1-70%, depending on desired viscosity and formulation type.

MZX-203OTS and MZX-304OTS are advanced Zinc Oxide-based UV filters designed for superior broad-spectrum protection with minimal whitening. Unlike traditional Zinc Oxide, these filters offer enhanced transparency, making them ideal for lip care formulations where aesthetics are key. Protecting lips from UV radiation is crucial, as they lack melanin and are more susceptible to sun-induced damage, dehydration, and premature aging.

Benefits for Chapped Lips

• Shields lips from UV damage – Prevents photoaging, dryness, and irritation caused by prolonged sun exposure.
• Provides broad-spectrum protection without a white cast – Delivers effective UVA and UVB defense while maintaining an invisible finish in lip balms, glosses, and tinted treatments.
• Enhances the longevity of lip care formulations – UV filters help stabilize formulations and prevent oxidative degradation of oils, waxes, and active ingredients.

Why UV Protection Is Essential, Even for Lips

• Lips are highly vulnerable to sun exposure – They lack the natural protective barrier found in other areas of the skin, making them prone to UV-induced damage.
• Prevents moisture loss – UV exposure accelerates water evaporation from the lips, leading to increased dryness and chapping.
• Supports anti-aging benefits – Helps reduce collagen breakdown, preventing premature wrinkling and lip thinning.

Best Uses in Lip Care Formulations

• Suitable for SPF lip balms, glosses, tinted lip treatments, and lip masks.
• Incorporated into the oil phase of formulations with a recommended use level of 1-25%.
• Works best with nonionic or cationic emulsifiers and requires chelating agents for stability.
• Ideal for natural-origin and clean beauty formulations, with an ISO 16128 Natural Origin Index of up to 0.98.

Honey Bee Defensin-1 is a bio-identical, synthetic alternative to bee-derived defensin, offering the same skin-repairing and antimicrobial benefits without using animal-derived sources. This polypeptide mimics the natural defensin found in honey, providing antibacterial protection and accelerated skin regeneration—essential properties for lip care formulations targeting chapped, cracked, or damaged lips.

Benefits for Chapped Lips

• Antibacterial properties to prevent infections in cracked lips – Helps protect against bacterial colonization, reducing the risk of irritation and infection.
• Promotes skin repair and healing – Supports the natural wound-healing process, accelerating the recovery of dry, damaged lips.
• Vegan-friendly and highly effective at soothing irritation – Offers a pure, controlled concentration of defensin without batch-to-batch variability found in natural honey.

Ideal Applications in Lip Care Products

• Best suited for lip balms, intensive repair treatments, overnight lip masks, and medicated lip products.
• Can be added to the water phase or during the cool-down stage of formulations (≤45ºC) to maintain bioactivity.
• Works well in formulations with a pH range of 4.0 – 7.5, ensuring maximum stability and efficacy.
• Recommended use level: 0.05%, delivering a defensin-1 concentration of 0.5 ppm.