Pick up almost any lip oil and castor oil is the first or second ingredient. It is cheap, it is thick, and it makes a product look glossy in the tube. It is also the reason a lot of lip oils feel tacky twenty minutes later and the reason a lot of people with sensitive lips cannot wear them.
Sundrop has none. Here is what is in it instead, and why.
Jojoba, for the glide
Jojoba is not technically an oil; it is a liquid wax ester, and its structure sits remarkably close to the sebum your skin makes on its own. That is why it absorbs instead of sitting on the surface, and why it never turns tacky. It is the first ingredient in Sundrop for the same reason it shows up across our line: the skin already knows what to do with it.
Meadowfoam, for the seal
Meadowfoam seed oil is one of the most stable plant oils there is. It resists oxidation, so the formula does not go off in your pocket, and on the lip it forms a light, breathable barrier that holds moisture through meals and messages without the film castor leaves behind.
Sea buckthorn, for the gold
The color in Sundrop is not a dye. It is sea buckthorn fruit oil, which carries a natural warm gold and a fatty acid profile that gets talked about in peer-reviewed journals. On the lip it reads as a subtle sun-kissed wash. It is not lipstick and it is not trying to be.
The last two
A drop of certified organic honey flavor, so it tastes like something you want to reapply and not like a birthday candle. Vitamin E, so the whole thing stays stable on your nightstand.
Five ingredients. Every one of them does a job. There is no room in a five-ingredient formula for anything that is only there to look glossy in the tube.
What else is not in it
No petrolatum. No menthol, which gives that tingle people mistake for working. No synthetic fragrance. If your lips react to most lip products, this is the short list they are usually reacting to, and none of it is here. As with anything new, patch test inside your wrist first if you have known sensitivities.
Questions I get asked
Is castor oil bad for lips?
Not bad. Heavy. It is a thick oil that sits on the surface, which is why it reads as glossy and why it can feel tacky. Some people also react to it. We chose lighter oils that absorb instead.
Why does my lip oil feel sticky?
Usually castor oil, or a thickener added to make a thin oil look glossy in the tube. A jojoba-based oil absorbs and leaves a film that is glossy but not tacky.
Is Sundrop vegan?
Yes. Every ingredient is plant-derived, including the honey flavor. There is no tallow and nothing animal-derived in it.
Shop Sundrop Lip Oil. Free delivery in Sioux Falls.
Honoring the balance of nature, craft, and chemistry.
