The Top 5 Flavours Defining Lip Care in 2025
- Jennifer Carlsson
- Oct 7
- 4 min read
Top 5 Lip Treatment Flavours of 2025
The Lip Treatment Market Overview Report 2025 provides an in-depth analysis of 43 product lines across 40 brands, covering a total of 304 lip treatment SKUs. Within that dataset, one theme stands out above all: flavour is one of the strongest drivers of differentiation in this increasingly competitive category.
To identify the top flavours shaping the market, the report categorizes every product by its named flavour. Even when looking beyond the 304 SKUs included in the report, the same five flavours consistently dominate. These flavours represent both mass and prestige segments, and they define the sensorial storytelling strategies that continue to shape how lip care products are developed, positioned, and marketed.
1. Vanilla: The Universal Favourite
Vanilla remains the most prevalent flavour across the lip treatment market, used by both heritage leaders and emerging challengers. Its appeal lies in its versatility—capable of communicating indulgent warmth, minimalist sophistication, or celebratory playfulness depending on the brand narrative.
16 out of the 43 brands featured in the report have at least one vanilla flavoured option in their product lines (Laneige, Lanolips, Summer Fridays, Rhode...), with some brands having vanilla as the default flavour for their whole line (Rimmel Oh My Gloss! Butter Me Up, Biossance Pro-Peptide™ Lip Perfector). Variations such as Birthday Cake (Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm, Glossier Balm Dotcom), Confetti Cake, and Ube Vanilla (both Tower 28 LipSoftie™ Hydrating Tinted Lip Treatment Balm) extend the theme into festive and limited-edition storytelling.
Vanilla’s dominance underscores its role as a safe but flexible anchor—the default flavour choice for brands seeking universal appeal without sacrificing character.
2. Coconut: Comfort with a Tropical Twist
Coconut continues to serve as one of lip care’s most enduring anchors, balancing gourmand warmth with tropical freshness. Brands such as Glossier, Herbivore, and Lanolips use it as a comforting, familiar scent, while Milk Makeup and Beauty Creations incorporate it into tinted or hybrid formats. Saltair extends coconut’s influence through a consistent coconut–vanilla profile across its full lineup, making it a defining signature.
More modern interpretations—like Charlotte Tilbury’s Coconut Water—highlight coconut’s refreshing, hydration-led qualities. Across all executions, coconut remains a trusted and sensorially rich flavour, bridging indulgent and minimal aesthetics with ease.
3. Strawberry: Playful and Familiar
Strawberry is the most widespread fruit flavour in the market, present across the largest variety of brands and executions. Variations like Strawberry Sorbet (OleHenriksen Pout Preserve Peptide Lip Treatment), Strawberry Shortcake (Crickle Daisy Lip Treat Balm), Strawberry Milkshake (Everybody London Peptide Lip Tint Balm), and Strawberry Bingsoo (Glow Recipe Glass Balm Lip Treatment) expand its range beyond the classic version, keeping it both nostalgic and current.
Seen in launches from Glossier, Rhode, Lanolips, Naturium, OleHenriksen, Glow Recipe, and Herbivore, strawberry’s appeal lies in its universality. It’s bright and playful enough for mass brands yet can be reframed as “indulgent fruit” for a more premium context—making it a true cross-market staple.
4. Watermelon: Seasonal Freshness and Gloss Appeal
Watermelon remains one of the defining flavour clusters for modern lip care, consistently associated with hydration, freshness, and summer appeal. Variants such as Watermelon Sorbet, Watermelon Spritz, Watermelon Slice, and Watermelon Bingsoo reinforce its seasonal energy.
Brands including Glow Recipe, Rhode, Charlotte Tilbury, and Milk Makeup use watermelon to evoke lightness and fun, often tying launches to warm-weather storytelling and limited-edition summer drops. Its visual and sensorial cues—bright colour, juicy texture, cooling effect—continue to make it one of the most effective flavours for engagement and gifting.
5. Caramel: Indulgent and Premium-Leaning
Caramel-based flavours—including Salted Caramel (Rhode Peptide Lip Treatment), Toffee, Dulce de Leche (Tower 28 and Lanolips 101 Ointment Multi-Balm), and French Caramel (Polite Society Polite Pout Glossy Lip Balm), form the fifth most popular flavour family in the lip treatment landscape. Rooted in dessert culture, these profiles convey decadence, coziness, and self-indulgence, resonating particularly during colder months.
Brands such as Rhode, Lanolips, and Blume have each leveraged caramel’s rich, nostalgic associations to position products as comfort-driven, seasonal staples. Whether presented as salted, spiced, or syrupy-sweet, caramel remains one of the most emotionally resonant flavours in lip care storytelling—symbolizing luxury in its most approachable form.
Final Thoughts
From Vanilla’s universal comfort to Caramel’s rich indulgence, these flavours reveal how sensory storytelling shapes the modern lip care market. Each represents a strategic intersection of emotion, function, and trend, showing how brands use flavour to express identity and build loyalty.
For a full analysis of how flavour trends intersect with ingredients, packaging, pricing, and shade strategy, explore the Lip Treatment Market Overview Report 2025—a comprehensive resource for anyone looking to enter or excel in the lip treatment category.
