portulaca pilosa plant and a matrikin mimetic peptide the active ingredients are provided in a base medium of oils and waxes with fragrances and moisturizers added to provide a more consumer friendly product table 1 sets out a preferred listing of active ingredients and table 2 sets out a preferred listing of the inactive ingredients a component of the invented lip balm product is dehydrated microspheres of marine collagen and glycosaminoglycans these microspheres have the capacity to rehydrate in the presence of water and regain their initial volume while dehydrated the microspheres are small enough to penetrate crevices in lips the microspheres increase in size through absorption of moisture in the lips which causes a smoothing of the lip surface the microspheres are slowly degraded by enzymes in the lip which allows the microspheres to release the moisture initially absorbed from the lips returning the moisture to the lips the microspheres are preferably comprised of marine atelocollagen and marine chrondroitin sulfate as disclosed in u s pat nos 5 395 620 5 420 248 and 5 622 656 as well as non us counterparts another component of the invented lip balm product is a synthetic ceramide and anti irritant compound skin tissue has a protective layer referred to as a lipid bilayer which helps bind corneocytes to protect skin tissue from external damage the lipid bilayer is itself comprised of ceramides fatty acids and cholesterol skin tissue with decreased ceramide levels have.