This plush Korean lip mask has saved my parched winter pout

an image of a hand with white nails and a beige cardigan on holding a pot of Dr Jart Lip Mask next to an image of beauty editor Fiona McKim

(Image credit: Future / Fiona McKim)

Chapped, parched, or - shudder - peeling lips are truly the pits, aren't they?

There comes a point, usually at the beginning of January (happy New Year by the way!), when biting weather, coupled with too much dehydration-inducing fun through December, creates such unfavourable conditions on my kisser that even my best lip balm can't touch the sides.

Why this hydrating lip mask is my beauty buy of the week

I'll start by addressing the first question that I'd have if I were you. How does a lip mask differ from a lip balm? In all honesty, I'd say not that much - they're just a bit richer and more intense.

Like many modern skincare phenomena, lip masks came to save us and our windbitten pouts via Korea. They've been around there for about a decade, popularised by mega-selling celebrity favourite Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask.

Of course, where K-Beauty goes, our market tends to follow. So much like the glass skin trend and the viral TirTir Cushion Foundation, lip masks left Seoul to seek out the bright lights of TikTok fame and are now very much a 'thing' here too.

Dr Jart+

Vital Hydra Solution Hydrating Lip Mask, Bubble Gum

I use Vital Hydra Solution exactly as I would a balm - keep it in my handbag, reapply whenever the need strikes. The genius thing is, the need strikes about ten times less often than with this than my usual salve. This doesn't just paint over the cracks; it magically heals them. One swipe and my lips are comfy, plump, tinted a bit pink, and left with a cushion-like barrier.

It's got a plush, thicker-than-your-average texture but resolutely ungreasy and untacky finish. I conducted a (highly scientific) 'stick test' by throwing wisps of my hair at my mouth after applying it, and they just breezed right off. This is so important because nobody needs to be picking away at gunky strands on a blustery January commute.

an image of a hand with white nails and a beige cardigan on holding a pot of Dr Jart Lip Mask

I'll admit I can be a bit curmudgeonly about viral beauty - and cutsey things generally - so this TikTok-coded, bear-shaped, bubblegum-scented buy wasn't exactly calling out to me when it arrived in the woman&home office.

But, reader (and I don't say this often, just ask my boyfriend), I was so wrong. This is grown-up skincare disguised as social media fodder, and I should have known better than to underestimate a product from Dr Jart+ - a consistently excellent skincare brand.

In another surprising development, I'm not hating the hot pink teddy bear pot. It's actually quite cheering, having a cute, colourful little handbag helper to see me through the greyer and more gruelling side of winter. Sounds good? Great! Let's chat next Sunday.

As woman&home's Beauty Channel Editor, Fiona Mckim loves to share her 15+ years of industry intel on womanandhome.com and Instagram (@fionamckim if you like hair experiments and cute shih-tzus). After interning at ELLE, Fiona joined woman&home as Assistant Beauty Editor in 2013 under industry legend Jo GB, who taught her to understand ingredients and take a cynical approach to marketing claims. She has since covered every corner of the industry, interviewing dermatologists and celebrities from Davina McCall to Dame Joan Collins, reporting backstage at London Fashion Week and judging the w&h Beauty Awards.

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