(iStock)
The secret to curing your chapped lips could be sheep oil — or more specifically, ultra refined lanolin oil.
Lanolin, which is naturally secreted by wool-bearing animals to help protect their skin’s surface against harsh climates, has long been used by humans as a moisture sealant. Australian skin-care brand Lanolips amassed a cult following abroad and in the US for its lanolin-based lip balm, with celebrity fans including Sienna Miller, Courtney Love, Erin Heatherton, Rosie Huntington Whiteley and Drew Barrymore.
Now, Lanolips is being sold stateside for the first time in an exclusive collection that launched on Net-a-Porter last week. The line is price-friendly, with products ranging from $15-27 that address multiple skin concerns. Rough, cracked lips? Lanolips “Banana Balm Lip Sheen” ($15 at net-a-porter.com) will smooth things over. What about flaky patches around the eye area? Lanolips “Everywhere Multi-Cream” ($19 at net-a-porter.com) can fix that — and your dry legs and hands.
Lanolips founder Kirsten Carriol was inspired to start the brand 10 years ago after spending time on her grandparents’ sheep farm in Lucindale, South Australia, as a child, where she and her father (a professor of molecular biology and genetics) would shear the sheep’s wool and produce lanolin.
But don’t worry, your lip balm isn’t coming straight off the sheep’s back. After being freshly shorn, lanolin is extracted from the wool and then undergoes a stringent purification process to be turned into the lanolin oil used in the products.
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