In 1934, Karl Meyer and John Palmer isolated a heavy polysaccharide from the vitreous humor of cattle eyes and gave it a name that combines hyaloid, meaning vitreous, with uronic acid. That is where hyaluronic acid comes from. Almost a century later it sits in a hyaluronic acid lip balm in a lot of makeup bags, and the connection is the part that matters: By Terry describes it as a hyaluronic acid that holds up to 1,000 times its weight in water.

On lips that is the whole appeal, a balm that draws hydration in instead of only sitting on top. The formulas here pair hyaluronic acid with something to seal it in, like shea, squalane, flaxseed oil or ceramides.

The first grid is hyaluronic acid balms for everyday care, some clear, some with a sheer tint, one an oil. The second is tinted balms and lip treatments, where the hyaluronic acid comes with color, shine or a plumping claim.

Here is a test I like: put one balm on your lips at breakfast and check them mid-afternoon without touching them up. If they still feel soft, keep it. If you have already reached for it twice, the formula is not holding on for you.

Start with the clearest, simplest ones. Givenchy's Le Rouge Hydra is a clear balm with hyaluronic acid spheres, flaxseed oil, peptides and ceramides, and it can be worn alone, under lipstick or overnight as a mask. Biossance's Pro-Peptide Lip Perfector combines micro-encapsulated hyaluronic acid, a peptide and sugarcane squalane, and the brand says it gives 24-hour moisture.

Rare Beauty's Find Comfort Lip Butter Balm is a daytime balm and overnight mask in one, made with hyaluronic acid butter, shea and apple seed oil, with sheer buildable color. NARS Afterglow is a buttery balm with mango seed oil, shea butter and hyaluronic acid spheres, giving a sheer tint and comfortable shine that is not sticky.

Kosas's Kosasport LipFuel is sheer and buildable, with hyaluronic acid, vitamin E and konjac root, plus a peppermint scent. By Terry's Hyaluronic Hydra-Balm sits closer to a lipstick, with color, shine, UV defense and six nude shades. SEPHORA COLLECTION's Lift & Firm is a balm-textured serum, and the brand's study reports 85% more hydration after 30 minutes.

OSEA Malibu's Hyaluronic Acid Lip Booster is the oil in the group, a sheer, juicy formula with sea fern, castor and meadowfoam seed oils for a high-shine finish.

Here is a pairing I like: the clear Givenchy or Biossance at night, a tinted one like NARS or Rare Beauty in the morning.

What I would skip: the peppermint-scented Kosas if you dislike a minty smell on your lips. Go for the clear Givenchy instead.

These lean toward treatment, with color, shine or a plumping promise on top. Charlotte Tilbury's Hyaluronic Happikiss is a lipstick balm with hyaluronic acid and C-peptide, meant to give the payoff of a lipstick and the comfort of a balm. Westman Atelier's HydroBalm is a sheer tinted lipstick with peptides and hyaluronic acid, from a line built around a makeup artist and her second-skin approach.

Givenchy's pH Reactive Black Lip Balm starts black and, the brand says, adapts to your lips to make a berry shade. Dr. Dennis Gross's DermInfusions Plump + Repair Tinted Lip Treatment uses several weights of hyaluronic acid with a peptide complex, ectoin and bisabolol, in a pale pink with subtle shimmer. U Beauty's PLASMA Lip Compound adds peptides, ceramides and salicylic acid for gentle exfoliation, with buildable color and a pillowy finish.

YISE Beauty's Like A Gloss is part balm, part mask and part gloss, with shea and vitamin E. Dr. Jart+'s Jelly Bear Lip Mask goes on clear and can be worn overnight or as a primer under lipstick or gloss. Clarins' Hydrating Peptide & Plumping Lip Oil Balm is oil-infused with sweetbriar rose, jojoba and hazelnut and has a black currant and vanilla scent.

Here is a trick I like: use the Dr. Jart+ mask at night, then a tinted balm from this grid in the morning.

What I would skip: the salicylic acid lip compound on lips that are already cracked. Let them settle first.

I think the best hyaluronic acid balm is the one you will actually reapply, so choose by finish more than by claim. Clear and glossy for bare lips, sheer tint for days you want a little color, a mask for bedtime.

My routine is one clear balm at night, one tinted balm by day, and a lip mask when my lips feel rough. If you also skip licking your lips and keep one balm in every bag, that is most of the work. Then let the fancier tints be a bonus, not the plan. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Vaseline Lip Balm and Shopping for a Dermatologist-Recommended Lip Balm, One Label at a Time.