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Episode details

Radio 4,08 May 2025,25 mins

Lip Balm

Sliced Bread

Available for over a year

When staring at shelves full of sticks, tubs and tubes all promising us the perfect pout, how do you know which Lip Balms will really help keep chapped lips at bay? Listener Kiran is a regular lip balm applier - saying she often suffers with dry or cracked lips, and recently splashed out on an expensive lip balm after seeing celebrity endorsed adverts for it online. But she isn’t sure it’s any better than her trusty tub of Vaseline. To find out, Greg Foot speaks to Consultant Dermatologist and Dermatological Surgeon Dr Emma Craythorne about lips, lip lickers, mouth breathers and the causes of cracking - as well as lecturer in pharmaceutical and medicinal chemistry at the University of Sunderland, Dr Teresa Borrello about what is IN these lip balms to plump, smooth, or repair. All our episodes start with YOUR suggestions. If you’ve seen an ad, trend or wonder product promising to make you happier, healthier or greener, email us at [email protected] OR send a voice note to our WhatsApp number, 07543 306807. PRODUCERS: KATE HOLDSWORTH AND GREG FOOT RESEARCHER: PHIL SANSOM

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