The perfect pout. We all want it. But it’s not so easy to achieve, especially when you’re bike-bound. The environmental elements riders face, plus the chemicals we all ingest on a daily basis, make it really difficult to keep lips smooth and soft. They can dry out, chap, and sometimes even burn or blister. So it’s important to handle yours with care, and put the best ingredients on them from the get-go.
Eco Lips manufactures high-quality, certified organic lip products that include a wide variety of innovative balms in different flavors, themes, and styles. All ingredients are cruelty-, carmine-, and gluten-free. Plus, they don’t incorporate hydrogenated oils. Founder Steve Shriver provided the following tips for lip maintenance, which are important to keep in mind when you’re trying to get the most balm for your buck.
- Try to choose organic over natural. Unfortunately, the word “natural” does not mean much anymore. Adding some plant ingredients to a product primarily made with chemicals is not really natural.
- One of the most important factors to consider is the top 2 or 3 ingredients. Organic botanical oils - such as jojoba oil and sunflower oil - are excellent emollients, which soothe and soften. Next, you should consider bee’s wax or plant wax. These ingredients should be organic, too, because they will work synergistically with the oils to form a protective and moisturizing layer on the lips.
- Stay away from all petroleum products. They’re not good for you or the environment.
- Preservatives can be natural and work just fine, but try to avoid parabens and other synthetic ingredients.
- Coloring! This is a big subject. Most coloring agents are synthetic so “buyer beware.” Minerals are the latest way to color naturally and are lots more fun. (Check out Eco Lips’ Ecotints as a great example. These naturally glistening moisturizers are the “balm.”)
- The best performing lip balms are the ones that are just soft enough to glide on smooth, but just firm enough to create a thick layer that stays on your lips longer.
