Lip Butter vs. Lip Balm: Which One’s Better?

girl holding Pili Ani's Moisturizing Pili Lip Butter

Do you rely on lip balms to keep your lips soft and supple? Because lips have the thinnest skin on the body, with no oil glands to keep them moisturized, it’s important to keep them well-hydrated. Lip balms, however, may not be the way to go. While there are natural lip balms on the market, most commercial ones contain ingredients that are synthetic and, in some cases, even be harmful. A better option? Natural lip butter.

What’s the difference between lip balm and lip butter? If you don’t find a natural lip balm, you might end up with ingredients like petroleum jelly, mineral oil, lanolin, and salicylic acid. Some ingredients, like camphor and lanolin, are toxic if ingested, so it’s not a good idea to put them on your lips. Unless you carefully study the labels to make sure you’re getting cruelty-free and vegan lip balms with no artificial ingredients, it’s hard to know whether or not your lip balm is safe.

Lip butters, on the other hand, tend to be made of natural ingredients. Natural lip butters are typically made with essential oils, flower and plant extracts, and fruit extracts. They’re naturally flavored and packed with antioxidants and vitamins that nourish the lips.

Now that you know the difference between lip balm and lip butter, what if you don’t even need to choose? Get the best of both worlds with Pili Ani’s Moisturizing Pili Lip Butter—it’s a natural, luxurious balm churned and mixed with pili oil, resulting in a creamier texture and velvety finish.
Formulated to nourish lips and lock in moisture, it even comes in tinted versions you can also use on your cheeks!

5 shades of Pili Ani's Moisturizing Pili Lip Butters

Moisturizing Pili Lip Butters, $18 (Mint), $20 (Tinted), Shop here

While there are many types of essential oils made into lip butters, Pili Oil, which is endemic to the Philippines, definitely stands out. Its benefits are well-documented, and it contains one of the highest concentrations of antioxidants of any essential oil. Because it’s rich in fatty acids, it’s extremely nourishing and soothing.

When you buy Moisturizing Pili Lip Butters from Pili Ani, you can be sure the oils were harvested sustainably and the workers gathering it were treated fairly. The brainchild of Rosalina Tan and her daughter Mary Jane Tan-Ong, Pili Ani is a family-owned, woman-owned, Filipino-owned business committed to producing all-natural cosmetics while doing good for the local community.

The company helps provide jobs and scholarships to families of local farmers and financial assistance to marginalized students. Pili Ani launched in the Philippines in 2016 and since then, the company has worked to provide clean, natural products that are good for your skin, good for the environment, and good for the communities in which they’re produced.  

Shop our website or contact us to learn more.