The 25 Best Skin Balms to Lose at the Bottom of Your Bag
Each time I fall in love with a skin care product, I become convinced that it’s the one. “This is so good, I’ll never use anything else,” I tell myself assuredly as I wipe off a no-rinse cleanser or massage a lightweight oil into the dry area around my chin. But no matter how good the product is, no matter how much I really do love it, I always end up straying. Always.
I’m obsessed with what’s new and interesting, and what promises to do things that no product has ever done before, so I’m always jumping from one new thing to the next. Every once in a while I’ll recall a product I once loved and pull it out from the archives and back into rotation. I tried a new multipurpose balm recently, and it made me remember the 2,345,284 other balms I had tucked away in the industrial-sized plastic bins in my closet. It’s true: I am, and always have been, very fond of balms.
MORE: The 5 All-Time Best Foundations for Dry Skin, According to the Internet
Balms frequently come in tins or tubes, and have a thick, slightly viscous texture that differentiate them from other moisturizing formulas—when packaged in tubes, they might be kind of hard to squeeze out. And they’re not just for your lips: The balms I gravitate to generally have more than one use, so you can use them on dry skin, cuticles, lips, and basically anywhere else you need a little bit of moisture and protection. Hell, I even like to dab balms on my cheekbones as highlighter. There’s my secret.
Unlike many of the frivolous beauty products I collect and enjoy, I am pleased to say that balms are genuinely useful, for all things, at all times. Chapped lips? Balm. Cracked elbows? Balm. Flaky face? Balm. Dull skin? Balm. And so, here are 25 balms I’m so glad I rediscovered in the depths of my product hoarding situation.
