I like Herpecin-L at night. It’s meant for cold sores, which I don’t get; but it helps slough the dead skin off and heal the lips. I use the stuff in the little tub at night, it comes in a stick form too. It has SPF-30, which is also beneficial… the skin on our lips is very thin and more susceptible to sun and wind damage.
Vaseline and ChapStick coat the lips. Vaseline is petroleum jelly – yes, a bi-product of the oil industry. It forms a grease barrier to trap moisture in; but if your lips are dry to begin with, it doesn’t do much. It is not absorbed. If it is gone after a while, it’s because it got wiped off, or licked off and swallowed. I am not certain of the ingredients in ChapStick, but it simply coats as well and is waxy, so I’d bet it has paraffins… another oil bi-product (feel free to Wiki for more information).
Others have inferred that you are male… if so you might not want to try this. LipFusion XL is marketed as a ‘lip plumper’ night treatment. This stuff does absorb into your lips with consistent use, and makes them softer and smoother, but you don’t look like Angelina Jolie. I started using it a couple years back, and now find that I need to apply lip goop less often during the day and at night (I used to reapply lip balm several times during the night).
It is very expensive, but worth it because it works. I use it day and night, but apply far less than I did initially, because I don’t need it as much. It is a very shiny gloss though, so daytime use might not be an option for guys… in which case the balms that coat can help, by keeping what was absorbed the night before locked in a bit longer.