Retinol Wrecking Your Lips? This New Brand Has a Fix

If you’ve ever used a retinoid, started an acne treatment, or booked in for a peel, you may have noticed your lips suffering some side effects. The clinical actives in these treatments are, of course, desirable, but they can leave lips dry, flaky, and compromised. And our everyday balms can’t always come to the rescue.

It’s a problem that got the attention of Tiffany Salmon-Mills (who happens to be the founder of Glow Hub). After nearly two decades in product development, she kept hearing the same question from consumers and clinicians: what could they use on their lips during and after these treatments?

The answer? Byorbe, a new brand offering what it calls the world’s first lip barrier system — one designed to work alongside your treatments, rather than just acting as a band-aid.

The key technology is Migration Protection, a complex built on a high concentration (15%) of the film-forming ingredient polyisobutene. Think of it as a water-repelling layer that sits on the lips. It locks moisture in and stops strong actives from creeping where they shouldn’t.

Lip Barrier Balm Daily SPF 50 (£28) delivers broad-spectrum sun protection, along with five ceramides to support the lip barrier and hyaluronic acid and panthenol for hydration. Lip Barrier Balm Overnight (£30) skips SPF in favour of arnica and calendula. It’s basically a soothing treatment meant for bedtime, while your actives are getting to work. Both balms are fragrance-free and dermatologically tested.

Byorbe says they’re designed to be used with retinoids and isotretinoin, as aftercare following lip filler, peels, and laser treatments, or simply to give your everyday lip care an upgrade.

The brand launches exclusively in the UK on 2 November at byorbe.com.