How do you choose your natural lip balms and lip butters? While it might seem convenient to pick up a lip balm at the drugstore or in the grocery store checkout line, it’s important that you read the ingredients instead of just grabbing what’s handy.

Choose a natural lip butter that has ingredients you wouldn’t be afraid to eat. Many lip balms have ingredients that are toxic or that can actually damage the thin skin of your lips. When you’re choosing a lip butter, look for natural, gentle ingredients that will condition and soothe the skin to promote healing. If you’re going for lip balm, choose cruelty-free, vegan lip balms to make sure you’re not getting ingredients like lanolin or animal fats.

Lip butters get the butter in their name from the plant and oil butters they contain. These natural ingredients soften, moisturize, protect, and condition the lips. When choosing a lip butter, make sure you pick one that contains organic ingredients, with no artificial fragrances or colors, and no alcohol, camphor, petroleum jelly, mineral oil, parabens, or synthetic preservatives. Look for lush, creamy lip butters with ingredients that will nourish your lips. Try a few different lip butters, noticing how your lips respond to different ingredients. Don’t be afraid to switch products when the seasons change; the needs of your lips may change as well.

At Pili Ani, we use ingredients harvested from the Pili tree which is endemic to the Philippines. Pili fruit is rich in vitamin E, and Pili Oil benefits have been well-established. This amazing oil has a high concentration of antioxidants, and it’s rich in essential fatty acids that nourish and soothe all skin types. Pili Oil locks moisture into the skin and protects against free radicals and pollutants.

Pili Oil comes from the fruit of the Pili tree, but this tree produces Elemi Oil as well. Tapped from the Pili tree the way maple syrup is tapped from maple trees, Elemi Oil has firming, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial properties. In our lip butter, as in our other skincare products, you’ll find both of these wonderful, nourishing oils.