The Best Lip Masks for Hitting Dryness Where It Hurts

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Painfully chapped lips are an unfortunate side effect of dry weather, lip licking, and even some medications (like acne-buster Accutane). If you’re tired of applying lip balm every five minutes and waiting for it to do something, it might be time to upgrade to the best lip mask.

The difference: Lip masks tend to have richer ingredients and a thicker consistency, Blair Murphy-Rose, MD, FAAD, a cosmetic and medical dermatologist specializing in facial rejuvenation at NYC & Newport Beach Dermatology & Plastic Surgery, tells SELF. “They lock in moisture and they’re intended to be left on for a longer period of time,” she says. “A lip mask is for overnight, and a lip balm is for every day.”

We asked Dr. Murphy-Rose and other dermatologists to recommend masks that are actually restorative (read: not just ones that smell nice and come in cute packaging). Between their favorites—and picks from SELF staffers—we curated a solid list of deeply nourishing lip masks. Keep scrolling to shop them all.

Our top picks

Best Overall: Aquaphor Healing OintmentBest for Cracked Lips: La Roche Posay Cicaplast B5 Lip BalmBest for Sensitive Skin: Kiehl’s Buttermask For LipsBest for Flakiness: Byoma Liptide Lip MaskBest for Cheilitis: Lanolips 12 Hour Lip MaskBest for Contact Dermatitis: Cerave Healing OintmentBest If You’re on Accutane: Laneige Lip Sleeping MaskBest If You’re on Spironolactone: Clinique Moisture Surge Lip Hydro-Plump TreatmentBest Overall: Aquaphor Healing Ointment

Pros

Can be used all over skin and nailsBudget-friendlyFragrance-freeCons

Lanolin may irritate sensitive skinDermatologists are constantly recommending Aquaphor as a solution for dry or inflamed skin that needs some TLC. It’s packed with hydrating ingredients like glycerin and panthenol, plus occlusives like petrolatum and lanolin that seal all the goodness in, Dr. Spizuoco says.

No matter what your lips are going through right now, slathering on some Aquaphor at night can definitely improve your sitch—the derms we spoke with say it can help with cracking, flaking, and almost every other symptom you might have. Bonus: It’s budget-friendly, and you also can use it as a skin salve or a nail strengthener to moisturize and soften rough spots all over.

Size: 1.75, 3, and 7 fl oz | Other notable ingredients: Soothing bisabolol, skin-softening mineral oil

Best for Sensitive Skin: La Roche Posay Cicaplast B5 Lip Balm

La Roche-Posay

Cicaplast B5 Lip Balm

Pros

Non-greasyFragrance-freeEasy to use while you’re on the goCons

PriceyIf you have sensitive skin that doesn’t always take well to new products, try giving this 2024 SELF Healthy Beauty Award–winning balm a go. Its simple formula leaves out common irritants (looking at you, fragrance) and instead lets hydrating hero ingredients like shea butter and panthenol do the work.

“As someone with super dry lips, I’m up for trying anything that might offer some relief,” our tester says. “This treatment reminded me of a Vaseline balm in terms of texture, and it worked so well that I barely had to reapply. It made a night and day difference in my chronically chapped lips.”

Size: 1.75, 3, and 7 fl oz | Other notable ingredients: Soothing bisabolol, skin-softening mineral oil

Best for Cracked Lips: Kiehl’s Buttermask For Lips

Kiehl’s

Buttermask For Lips

Pros

Rich, moisturizing formulaFragrance-freeGlass jar feels luxeCons

PriceyDr. Murphy Rose describes this Kiehl’s mask as “richly moisturizing” and says it has top-notch ingredients for nourishing lips, including mango butter, shea butter, and coconut oil.

The mask is also one SELF editor’s favorite: “I love this product and have been using it for years—my husband even uses it too!” she says. “If I have cracked lips, I slather this on before bed and it works like magic while I sleep to heal and smooth them.”

Original image by SELF tester Dana Smith

Size: 0.35 fl oz | Other notable ingredients: Moisturizing castor seed oil, jojoba oil, castor seed oil, cocoa seed butter

Best for Flakiness: Byoma Liptide Lip Mask

Pros

Improves lip textureGlossy finishEasy to use while you’re on the goCons

Contains fragranceWhen your dry lips start to flake, Dr. Spizuoco recommends buffing away dead skin cells with a gentle chemical exfoliant like lactic or mandelic acid. This mask combines both in a silky formula.

“It’s a great overnight mask,” Mara Weinstein Velez, MD, board-certified dermatologist and assistant professor at the University of Rochester Medical Center, tells SELF. “It has peptides in it to hydrate while you sleep.” (But we wouldn’t blame you for wearing this out and about—it has a shiny finish that you’d definitely mistake for a gloss, if you didn’t know about its moisturizing abilities.)

Size: 0.16 fl oz | Other notable ingredients: Shea butter, glycerin, ceramides

Best for Cheilitis: Lanolips 12 Hour Lip Mask

Pros

Antioxidants help prevent signs of agingConvenient tube packagingGives lips a healthy sheenCons

Contains lanolin, which some may be sensitive toInflammation of the lips (or cheilitis) can be really uncomfortable—take it from someone who once had angular cheilitis that caused cracks at the corners of my mouth. This Lanolips mask can help ease the irritation: It brings moisture back into the picture with hyaluronic acid and glycerin, prevents water loss with lanolin, and soothes with vitamin E. Plus, vitamins C and E both give a hefty dose of antioxidants to prevent oxidative damage that leads to skin aging.

This mask also happens to be a 2024 Healthy Beauty Award winner: “I LOVE LOVE LOVE this! I work in a hospital and have to wear a mask for many hours, which dries out my lips,” one tester said. “After having this on all day, my lips stayed moisturized, thanks to its super thick consistency.”

Note: While this mask can help address symptoms of cheilitis, it may not heal it completely. If those cracks just won’t go away, it’s a good idea to see your dermatologist, who can prescribe a stronger steroid.

Size: 0.52 fl oz | Other notable ingredients: Castor seed oil, apricot oil, soybean oil, beeswax (an occlusive), ceramides

Best for Contact Dermatitis: Cerave Healing Ointment

Pros

Budget-friendlyFragrance-freeCan be used all overCons

Packaging is a little large to carry aroundContact dermatitis—a.k.a. inflammation that pops up when your lips come into contact with an allergen or other irritating ingredient—can compromise your skin barrier. That’s when it’s time to try this ceramide-packed Cerave salve.

“When your skin barrier becomes damaged or disrupted, the first thing you lose are ceramides. So any kind of moisturizer or ointment that has ceramides in it is going to be the quickest thing to help replace that barrier dysfunction,” Dr. Spizuoco says.

Case in point: One SELF tester with sensitive skin says this is the only product she’ll reach for when she has chapped lips.

Original image by SELF special projects director Hannah Pasternak

Size: 3, 5, and 12 fl oz | Other notable ingredients: Mineral oil, hyaluronic acid, panthenol

Best If You’re on Accutane: Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask

Pros

Prevents oxidative damage with antioxidantsGood value—comes with a lot of balmIncludes an applicatorCons

Contains fragranceThis Laneige balm was my introduction to lip masks—if it had been around when I was on Accutane in high school, you can bet I would’ve been slathering it onto my lips nightly. The mask uses a variety of moisturizers—like shea butter, murumuru seed butter, and coconut oil—to tackle the stubborn dryness that Accutane is known for causing.

Also key: A mix of antioxidants from vitamin C and fruit juices. Part of Accutane’s job is to keep your skin cells constantly turning over. As Dr. Spizuoco points out, antioxidants help get rid of free radicals that can damage the lips, meaning they “give a little bit of a cleanup at the same time.” (Translation: plumper pout ahead.)

Original image by SELF lifestyle writer Jenna Ryu

Size: 0.7 fl oz | Other notable ingredients: Hydrogenated polyisobutene (an emollient), glycerin

Best If You’re on Spironolactone: Clinique Moisture Surge Lip Hydro-Plump Treatment

Clinique

Moisture Surge Lip Hydro-Plump Treatment

Pros

Easy to use while you’re on the goPrevents moisture lossFragrance-freeCons

On the pricier sideSpironolactone—another medication that treats acne—is a diuretic that can dehydrate you. To make sure that dryness doesn’t make it to your lips, Dr. Spizuoco recommends using a mask with a high amount of petrolatum to keep water in.

Spoiler: Petrolatum is Clinique Moisture Surge’s number one ingredient. Beyond hydrating your lips, this mask will also revive them with conditioning ingredients like murumuru butter, castor oil, and shea butter.

Size: 0.34 fl oz | Other notable ingredients: Polybutene (an emollient), ceramides, anti-inflammatory sea whip extracts

Which ingredients should you look for in a lip mask?

It’s a good idea to scan lip mask labels while you shop, whether that’s in person or online. Here are a few great ingredients to keep an eye out for:

Petrolatum is an occlusive that seals in moisture.Shea butter is an emollient that moisturizes lips.Vitamin E is a source of antioxidants, which help protect the skin from damage and reduce inflammation.Lanolin, made from sheep’s wool, is a moisturizing agent. But it’s also a common allergen, so you might want to avoid it if you have very sensitive skin.Squalane is an emollient that moisturizes and traps water in the skin.Hyaluronic acid is the MVP when it comes to hydration because it can hold 1,000 times its weight in water.Glycerin is a humectant that pulls water into the skin.Ceramides help strengthen your skin barrier, so irritants can’t get in.AHAs like mandelic or lactic acids gently exfoliate to buff away dead skin cells that might make your lips feel flaky or rough.Which ingredients should you avoid?

Fragrance tends to cause irritation, so it’s a good idea to avoid it if you have sensitive skin or a condition that makes you prone to inflammation. That said, some of our picks have fragrance in them—but the dermatologists we spoke with confirmed that they contain very small amounts that shouldn’t bother your lips.

How we chose the best lip masks

We know how uncomfortable dry, flaky lips can be, so first, we asked dermatologists which products can actually hydrate and soothe skin. Then, we asked SELF staffers which lip masks they’ve tried and loved—turns out, these lippies were already staples in several of our routines.

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