Maybelline Baby Lips Moisturizing Lip Balm SPF 20 review

Does this sunscreen lip balm live up to its name? Let's take a closer look.

You know I have a thing for sunscreen lip balms. If it were up to me, all lip balms would contain sunscreen in them by default. What’s not to like? You get to moisturize your lips and protect them from harmful UV rays in one go. But it’s not always easy to find a sunscreen lip balm that gives you everything you’re looking for: the right color, the right moisturizing properties, the right SPF protection.

Today’s post will focus on the Peppermint variety of Maybelline’s Baby Lips lip balm, which offers SPF 20 protection with a mix of two chemical sunscreen ingredients: octinoxate and octisalate.

maybelline baby lips sunscreen lip balm review

Maybelline Baby Lips Moisturizing Lip Balm SPF 20 Peppermint Ingredients

Both of the active sunscreen ingredients in Maybelline’s Baby Lips Lip Balm SPF 20 (octinoxate and octisalate) offer protection against UVB rays. There aren’t any ingredients in this formula that help ward off UVA rays. However, the ingredient list also includes a number of hydrating, beneficial ingredients like shea butter, tocopherol (vitamin E), and ascorbic acid (vitamin C). The latter two might help boost the SPF protection of this sunscreen, since antioxidants can help increase the potency of sunscreen.

This lip balm also contains centella asiatica extract (tiger grass), the same ingredient in Dr. Jart+ Cicapair Tiger Grass Color Correcting Sunscreen. Tiger grass is lauded for its skin healing benefits, and has been shown to be effective for healing wounds, eczema, and psoriasis (see the full study for more details).

The menthol also lends a cooling effect on the lips, which could feel quite nice. However,

Overall, Maybelline’s Baby Lips Lip Balm SPF 20 looks like a decent mixture of moisturizing ingredients, along with antioxidants to help deliver more of a boost in protection against UV light. However, the two active sunscreen ingredients don’t block UVA spectrum rays, which are responsible for causing damage to skin related to aging/wrinkles/fine lines. That sounds like the opposite of “baby lips” to me.

Therefore, I’d probably opt for another lip balm with sunscreen ingredients that offered protection against the full spectrum of UV rays. Check out my other guide to the best sunscreen lip balms to see my top picks.

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