About Literary Lip Balms

We make natural skincare inspired by stories. Our products are handmade in Dublin, Ireland, with a focus on natural ingredients and eco-friendly packaging.

The scent of stories

Like a book, smells can spark your imagination. It could be the smell of wet grass in summer or of worn down wooden floors in a secondhand bookshop. Smells can turn back time, transport you to somewhere new, and evoke memories and emotions. A well-crafted scent, just like a book, has a story to tell.

We create our own fragrances with essential oils, taking inspiration from our favourite fiction - from Agatha Christie's mystery novels and Jane Austen's gentle romances to the adventures of Jack London and Alexandre Dumas. 

Our products are created with a deep-rooted love for stories, and will bring subtle moments of magic into your everyday skincare.

Made by nature

If you have dry or sensitive skin, some commercially made soap might be too harsh or stripping for you. We use natural plant oils and butters, including organic cocoa butter and shea butter, to make skincare and soap that are nourishing and gentle on your skin.

All our fragrances are made from pure essential oils, without the use of synthetic ingredients. Our products are lovingly made in our studio in Dublin, Ireland. Each batch is unique and have their imperfections, but that is the nature of handmade.

Minding our footprint 

We choose ingredients and suppliers mindful of their origin, purpose and effect on the environment. What is good for you should, after all, be good for nature too. We use minimal plastic, and do not (nor will ever) test on animals.

For more information, read our Sustainability page. 

Our story

Our journey began in 2015, when our founder Vy read about natural perfumes and asked herself, “What would a fairytale smell like?” An avid reader, she went down the rabbit hole and had soon created a lip balm collection inspired by Beauty and the Beast, Alice in Wonderland, Lord of the Rings and Peter Pan.

After moonlighting on the business for years and building up a following of book lovers on Instagram, Vy decided to leave her marketing job in 2019. She completed certificates in Visual Arts at NCAD and Creative Entrepreneurship at Trinity College in 2020, and is currently working full-time on Literary Lip Balms. 

Literary Lip Balms products are stocked in zero waste stores, boutiques and bookstores online, in Ireland and abroad - including Museum of Literature (MoLi), Chester Beatty, and Design Ireland at Dublin Airport (list of stockists).

Thank you for visiting our page. We are thrilled to share this journey with you.