Are these essential winter products worth the money?

In the winter months we are bombarded with adverts for products claiming to help improve our lives as we battle with dropping temperatures and the ever-present colds and sniffles. But are they really worth the money?

For BBC Radio 4's Sliced Bread, Greg Foot has been doing the research so you don't have to. From keeping your chapped lips and persistent coughing at bay to making sure that your hot drinks stay nice and warm, he's taken a look at four essential winter products claiming to ease the struggle through to spring.

So how do these products actually work and are they always worth their sometimes chillingly high price tags? Greg finds out…

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Lip balms

In cold, windy weather, our lips can dry out quickly. For some of us, a lip balm in the pocket is an essential item. But do you need to spend more to get an effective product? Are natural ingredients better? And is it worth getting one with SPF?

The main ingredients are occlusive agents, emollients and humectants, explains Dr Teresa Borrello, lecturer in Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry at the University of
Sunderland. Occlusives create a barrier, humectants hydrate and emollients soften and smooth.

“The more important ones are the occlusive agents,” says Teresa; commonly petroleum jelly, beeswax or lanolin. Petroleum jelly – in Vaseline – is derived from crude oil. “It's one of the most effective,” says the chemist.

Natural ingredients are not necessarily better, says consultant dermatologist and dermatological surgeon, Dr Emma Craythorne. “Sometimes if you're creating something synthetically, you're making it in a more pure form, whereas whenever you have it from a natural source it may be contaminated.”

Greg found Vaseline to be the cheapest product at 12p per gram, with some brands many times that. These might contain high-quality active ingredients like botanicals, says Teresa, but a cheaper option might have a similar base and more functional actives – without the glossy marketing or prestige packaging. “I fully believe that a lot of the expensive price tag is paying for the celebrity to endorse it or the marketing spend,” argues Emma.

“Putting an SPF on your lips is a pretty good idea,” says Emma. It will only last a couple of hours so go for one that’s SPF 50, and smother it on.

“I do think lip balms are helpful for our lips,” says Emma. She is also adamant that pricier does not mean better.

“Lip balms aren’t BS,” agrees Teresa, “but the hype around some of them might be.”

Listen to Greg’s full investigation into lip balms here.

Cough medicines

In the winter months, many of us are plagued by stubborn coughs. There are syrups, lozenges and balsams on the market claiming to ease them – but are any of them worth your money?

When we have a cold, our coughing reflex is hijacked by the virus, explains Jacky Smith, Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Manchester. “It makes the nerves in your throat and the airways that trigger the coughing very sensitive, and they fire off all the time.”

There are two main types: a dry, tickly cough and a chesty, productive cough (where you’re bringing up mucus).

Most tickly cough medicines contain sweet, sticky substances like glycerol to coat the throat. “That is going to give you some relief, some soothing of that tickly sensation,” says Jacky. With constant swallowing, the effect doesn’t last long – and it’s no cure. “It’s very much about trying to provide some relief for those sensations in the throat rather than actually changing the problem.”

Some (more expensive) balsams claim to supress a cough using dextromethorphan, but there have been limited studies and they don't suggest a very big effect on the amount of coughing. There is also a risk of addiction.

Another ingredient, levomenthol, won’t supress the cough but it'll give you a cooling sensation at the back of your throat that might help mask the irritation.

With chesty cough medicines you sometimes similarly see ingredients like glycerol and levomenthol, but they can include other things too like diphenhydramine. This is an antihistamine, typically used for hay fever and allergies. There's not much evidence it helps with a cough. “I’m not convinced,” says Jacky. Antihistamines do tend to make you drowsy – which could be advantageous if you’re coughing at night.

What majority of chesty cough syrups do contain is guaifenesin. “It is claimed to help you expectorate… to cough up and cough out mucus,” says Jacky. But “studies to a modern standard that says it would do that are lacking.”

Lozenges can help through their coating effect. “Because you're holding them in your mouth and you're swallowing repeatedly, they probably help to reduce the coughing in that way as well,” says Jacky.

Nothing beats lemon and honey says the expert; she isn’t convinced of any extra efficacy of cough syrups and balsams. “I think based on the current evidence, I can't say they're the best things since sliced bread, which probably means they're marketing BS.”

BBC Food: Do these common cough remedies actually work?

BBC News: Cough medicines or lemon and honey – which is better for you?

Insulation hacks

As winter sets in, older houses can get cold and drafty – and energy bills can skyrocket. There are many budget insulation solutions on the market – but do any of them really work to keep the cold out and the heat in?

Thermal films are thin sheets of plastic that you pull over your window, stick to the frame and then heat with a hairdryer to remove wrinkles and create a seal. The cheapest options are only £1 per square metre. They prevent drafts coming through the window frame and create very still layers of air on each side of the plastic, which reduces heat transfer through the window. “When we’ve looked at the actual reductions in energy loss resulting from these films, we found a 3% reduction on a winter's day,” says David Farmer, a research fellow at the University of Salford.

An alternative is secondary magnetic glazing, where a large acrylic sheet covers the window and is magnetically attached to the window frame. This option is more expensive, but may work the same in principle, warns David. “What it might provide though is a more robust and long-term method of actually sealing that window.”

Thick curtains and thermal blinds can reduce air infiltration around windows, says David, and create extra resistance in terms of the passage of heat. “Heavy curtains would certainly do a similar job.”

There are a vast range of draft-excluding products on the market: tapes for as little as £1 per metre and £10 per metre silicone draught excluders. There are even inflatable bags that you can put up your chimney. A lot of simple, DIY interventions can make a difference, says David. Where there’s a draft between the skirting board and the carpet, a draft-proofing strip can help. It could also be worth investing in a better-quality carpet.

Thermal wallpapers can be effective. David’s team tested a 10mm, latex sponge version and found it reduced the heat transfer through the wall by over 30%. Thermal paints however should be avoided. “I think we’re more inclined to call them magic paints because they don’t work!”

“It’s about these accumulative marginal gains that we can get through some of these measures,” David stresses. Although not the thermal paint: “That’s definitely BS!”

Insulated cups

There’s nothing more disappointing than a tepid cuppa on a chilly commute. So which types of insulated cups are most likely to keep your brew warmer for longer?

Chartered physicist Dr Michael de Podesta found that a typical ceramic mug keeps drinks warm for half an hour. Simple reusable plastic cups made from polypropylene already provide a basic improvement on this: with the lid on, these reusable cups keep drinks warm for an hour.

Advanced insulated cups usually work by having two stainless steel walls with a vacuum-sealed space in between to reduce the amount of heat escaping. A premium example of double wall technology is the Chilly’s mug (around £24), which Michael found could keep drinks warm for four hours – eight times longer than a ceramic mug!

The rocket scientist-designed BURNOUT mug (around £50) not only keeps your beverage warm – it cools it to a drinkable temperature more quickly. These cups are triple-walled, with a layer of wax that melts when the hot drink first fills the cup. The wax then slowly solidifies, releasing its heat back into the drink, keeping it warm for a full two hours based on Michael’s tests.
Certain smart mugs like the Ember travel mug allow you to set the exact temperature of your drink and keep it there for a full three hours, thanks to adjustable electric heating. All for a cool £200!

Check whether the product is dishwasher safe, and look for ‘BPA-free’ on the label. (BPA is a chemical used in the production of plastic, thought to be harmful to our brain and hormones in high doses.). Or stick to stainless steel.

Ultimately, most of your choice will come down to personal preference and, of course, price, says Which? scientific advisor Kamisha Darroux. “We don’t necessarily need to spend a lot of money to get a great cup.”