TL;DR not to be confused with the internet’s fave lip mask
LANEIGE Lip Treatment Balm
A Deeper Look
This is not the Lip Mask that you can’t escape. The review of that can be found here.
This is something else. Supposedly a “plumping treatment” that helps smooth and reduce wrinkles, this complementary product is meant for throughout-the-day use, packaged to be mess-free and to deliver a healthy shine and fullness to your lips on demand. It is also (supposedly) meant to deliver a cooling sensation to your lips and a piña colada fragrance to your nose.
How many of those promises does it actually deliver on?
- Plumping of the lips
- nothing noticeable, I’m afraid
- Smoothing and reducing of wrinkles
- I don’t have any (yet), so hard to tell
- Mess-free packaging
- The lid compartment that holds the applicator is PURE GENIUS and all other lip balm manufacturers need to take note
- Healthy shine and fullness
- Can attest – my lips are shiny
- Shine lends itself to seeming fullness, but that’s it
- Cooling sensation
- Lovely but slight, nothing like this menthol-rich baby
- Smells like island resort cocktail
- True, but nearly imperceptible
Overall, it doesn’t deliver on some of its key promises (for me). To be fair, I also don’t use it as it’s meant to be used (during the day) but rather as an overnight mask given the devastating absence of the OG in my life. (Moreover, for me, it’s a little too thick to use during the day.)
To its credit, nothing comes as close to satisfyingly hydrating my lips overnight as LANEIGE products, including this one. In fact, my reliance on the Lip Treatment Balm has gotten to the point where I wake up grumpy on days when I’ve forgotten to apply it before bed.
Is it meant to be used overnight? No. It’s clear by how many additional layers I need to swipe on relative to the Lip Sleeping Mask, and how quickly product is vanishing. Until I can restock on this baby, though, I’m going to use the Lip Treatment Balm as the last step in my PM routine, anyway.
Overall, a worthwhile contender, but a substitute it is not. Stick with the original.
Important: from the brand that Saved Your Lips During the Pandemic™
The Perfect Balm 