“I’ve repurchased this viral lip balm five times. Here’s why I don’t leave the house without it”

Finishing a lip balm is akin to finishing a bag of spinach or a nice notebook – rare and, when it does occasionally happen, deeply satisfying. Over the years, I’ve tried what feels like hundreds of lip balms. Along with finding the perfect mascara, it’s been my ultimate beauty Everest. So, I am here to tell you that I have finished four pots of Laneige’s Lip Sleeping Mask, £21, and am about to start my fifth.

You know that feeling when, about half an hour after you’ve applied a slick of lip balm, you’re compelled to reapply because you suddenly feel chapped again? The Lip Sleeping Mask (I’ll refer to it as LSM from now on) doesn’t do that. It also doesn’t feel sticky, look overly shiny, taste overpowering or mess with lipstick you apply over the top. Instead, it coats the lips with a light layer of moisture that lasts far longer than any anything else I’ve tried. 

There are two things I want to note at this point. Firstly, it may be called a sleeping mask, but I wear it 24/7. Yes, I apply it religiously before bed – but I also put it on in the morning, as part of my skincare routine, then take my pot out with me whenever I’m leaving the house with a bag. The few times I’ve accidentally left without it, if I’ve been within a 10-minute radius of my flat, I have turned back around to retrieve (the morning I only realised I’d forgotten it when I got to the office was a very sad day).

The second thing you need to know is that my favourite iteration – the only one I use, actually – is sweet candy. I find choosing a lip balm flavour hard because it can’t be anything I’ll find sickly. That means florals are definitely out, along with most food-skewing scents. But to me, sweet candy smells exactly like bag of Haribo sweets in the best, most refreshing way you can imagine. Gently perfumed without being overpowering, sweet without being cloying.

I started using the LSM long before it went viral, but it’s no surprise to me that it’s become such a cult product. The science you need to know is that Laneige, a Korean beauty brand that focuses on giving glow, uses what it calls “moisture wrap technology”. This means the formula includes hyaluronic acid – a super hydrator which helps lock in moisture – to boost its replenishing credentials.

When I tell you the LSM is £21, you’ll probably do what I did when I found this out, which is roll your eyes and say something along the lines of “For a lip balm?! No WAY.” But here’s why it’s worth it: the pot is so big that, in my experience, it lasts about five times as long as other balms. Inside the box, you get a tiny spatula for application (I always lose it and end up using my fingers to apply, but it’s a good idea to keep the pot hygienic). And a little goes a long way – it doesn’t take much to smooth and hydrate your lips better than most other lip products could ever dream to.

Buy it as a present; buy it for yourself. Whoever’s opening the tub, you’ll be adding a mini dose of joy to their day via a super-hydrating, candy-flavoured balm that’ll mean they can call off their search for the perfect lip product. Who can honestly say they don’t want that? 

Main image: Holly Bullock