02.18.24
Butter balms and lip salves are all the hype… and it’s not lip service.
According to beauty trend tracker Spate, butter balms experience an average of 12.9K monthly searches, with a +69.3% year-over-year (YoY) rate.
They face high competition with 22 market leaders including Summer Fridays, NYX Professional Makeup and Kylie Cosmetics. Brand founders may not have been born into a “nepo-baby” status or influenced their way into stardom, but they should consider partnering with a celebrity in some other capacity, analysts say.
The top ingredients searched alongside “butter balm” by volume are shea butter and cocoa butter. The top benefits searched alongside butter balm by volume include moisture, shine, unscented, conditioning and intensive care.
Lip salves experience an average of 1.2K monthly searches, with a +1.3% YoY rate and have two market leaders, making entry into this market smooth.
Just what is the difference between salves and balms? The answer lies in consistency — salves are thinner, while balms are thicker and waxier. Analysts say consumers show interest in a "very specific balm," as evidenced by searches for rose salve lip balm, rosebud lip salve and Rose lip salve. Additionally, questions arise around the different ways to use salve, including if Burt's Bees hand salve can be used on lips and, conversely, if hand salve can be used on lips.