I’ll admit it – I seem to be a little late to the Lanolips party. The lovely British Beauty Blogger very kindly gave me some to try way back last summer, but I have to come clean here (please don’t kill me BBB!) and reveal that I didn’t give it a proper try. This was mainly because it was a tinted balm and I was too busy clarting about with coral lipsticks at the time!

Fast forward to January and my lips have been through the wars. Firstly, I wasn’t very well, and they went really dry and chapped. Secondly, in the last week, I developed some kind of weird cut in the corner of my mouth that was really painful. The skin had split and you can imagine how painful it was to eat – especially the jumbo Pret Tuna Baguette that I attempted on Tuesday. I tried everything that I could think of to heal it – Savlon, Sudocrem, Eight Hour Cream, Camomile Ointment, Embryolisse – but nothing seemed to work until I applied a layer of Lanolips 101 just before bedtime a few nights ago.

The cut had healed by the morning. Now I know that this could be sheer coincidence and the cut may have been on its way out anyway, but I do think that it’s more likely the Lanolin in the 101 Ointment helped to keep the area from drying out around the split skin. I was so ridiculously happy when I woke up and I could actually open my mouth properly that I talked non-stop for about three hours. (Actually that’s nothing too unusual.)

From what I can see, Lanolips is 100% medical grade lanolin – the same formulation as another of my favourites, Dr Lipp’s Nipple Balm for Lips. No nasty additives, parabens or colourings. If you’re looking at the Lanolips with Colour then the ingredients list is (necessarily!) longer, but the shades are gorgeous (I have my eye on the orangey ‘Sunshine’) and they leave a lovely glossy sheen.

For night-time healing and general treatment for dryness though, I love the 101 Ointment. It’s really thick, and you need to be Hulk Hogan to even squeeze the stuff from the tube if it’s been out in the cold, but it melts into an unfragranced, ultra-moisturising barrier that lasts for the whole night. The packaging is very sweet and girly, and the price isn’t too outrageous – £11.22 for 17.5ml. May I be so bold as to suggest an alternative use for this ointment? Because I have found a good one: you know when you have a cold and the skin around your nose goes bright red and flaky? Lanolips. Works a treat.

101 Ointment is £11.22 from Boots.com