This New Lip Balm Transforms Dry Lips, and the Star Ingredient Is… Surprising

A few weeks ago, I was dealing with some super-dry lips. I’m not sure exactly what caused this extremely parched situation, but nothing could quench my lips’ thirst for three days! I was drinking water (and minding my business), lighting candles, saying prayers, and slapping on any kind of jelly to rectify the situation. I was this close to putting some Crisco on my lips and calling it a day (JK). 

Thankfully, fate intervened with a package from a new Maine-based skincare brand called Marin. In it was a lip treatment that stood out for a couple of reasons. One, it came in a Blueberry French Toast flavor, which immediately got my attention. Second, it is formulated with marine glycoproteins, specifically ones found in lobster. That was new to me, so I was immediately intrigued. When I applied the lip balm, my lips felt moisturized, but I figured it would be like everything else I tried and my lips would go back to being dry like the desert. Reader, they stayed moisturized.

I am not exaggerating when I say that my lips haven’t felt dry again after that. I know it’s easy to be hyperbolic with beauty products, but this is serious. I had been dealing with dry, flaky lips without any hope in sight, so when this instantly hydrated them and kept them that way, I had a lot of questions. Was this witchcraft, or was it the magic of the lobster?

Turns out, it was the lobster! The protein was discovered by the brand’s founders, Amber Boutiette and Patrick Breeding, who are biomedical engineers. Breeding had discovered that the properties in lobster glycoproteins are naturally reparative. It’s what allows the crustaceans to heal wounds, fight off disease, and regenerate limbs. When applied to human skin issues, it can help with dry, aggravated skin. This was amazing news for Boutiette, as she suffers from eczema. 

They launched the brand with sustainability in mind. The glycoproteins are a natural by-product of processing that usually ends up going right down the drain, so they partnered with local B-Corp lobster processor Luke's Lobster to collect the fluid and purify it in-house. This process allows them to only collect the by-products of already-existing lobster processing and turn what once was wasted into a barrier-repairing skincare ingredient. 

"It's been incredible to see these glycoproteins from lobsters helping others in the same way they helped me,” Boutiette tells Who What Wear. “My eczema was really bad not only around my eyes and face but also on and around my lips, so I knew from experience that there weren’t products that addressed this painful problem. There was a serious need for lip products designed to be safe and effective for this delicate area that everyone can use. We knew we had to introduce a lip treatment." 

Aside from the Lip Treatment, the brand offers its Soothing Hydration Cream, which helps soothe dry, stressed skin (and is also good for those with eczema, psoriasis, and dermatitis) on the face, hands, and body.