Dry Lips – How To Protect Your Pucker

Scrub away dead skin

Exfoliating is a good first step against chapped lips. Here’s an easy trick to remember to exfoliate with no added equipment or products necessary. After you brush your teeth, get rid of unsightly dry skin by gently brushing your lips with your toothbrush. The gentle part is important…scrub too hard, and you can actually make chapped lips worse. Protect your new, soft lips by moisturizing immediately afterward with a good lip balm.

Keep moisture high

If your chapped lips won’t heal, moisture may be the issue. Moisturizing from inside and outside your body is important. Stay hydrated from within by drinking plenty of water. A general rule is to drink half your body weight in ounces per day. For example, if you weigh 150 pounds, you should drink 75 ounces of water a day. Dry air can also cause chapped lips. To increase the amount of moisture in the air around you, consider investing in a humidifier. This is especially important during the winter months, as heaters dry out the air.

Stop licking your lips

Contrary to what you may think, licking your lips actually dries them out! In fact, it’s one of the worst things you can do for chapped lips. When saliva evaporates, it removes any natural oils that you have on your lips. Instead of licking or biting, restore your lips’ moisture with naturally occurring, hypoallergenic moisturizers like almond oil, cocoa butter, and beeswax. If swollen lips are your problem, pick up a lip balm infused with turmeric, a natural anti-inflammatory ingredient.

Olive oil it up

For a natural solution (that tastes good, too!) rub on moisturizing anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant-rich olive oil two or three times a day to soothe, soften, and lubricate lips. You’ll get the immediate benefit of your lips feeling better, but it will take a few days before they start to heal fully on their own.

Apply a tea bag

You may have heard of putting tea bags on your eyes to hydrate and reduce puffiness. Well, the same concept applies here. Keep your pucker kissably soft by pressing a moistened black tea bag to your lips for 30 seconds. Tea, especially black tea, is rich in antioxidant polyphenols that will help repair damaged skin cells and speed cell renewal. Repeat three to five times a week, or as needed.

Botox

Another way to care for your lips and prevent the look of dryness is to have a small amount of Botox injected at your lips’ borders to prevent smoker lines (also called lipstick or granny lines). Pre-juvenation is always better than re-juvenation, as we always say!!

Fillers

If you have cracks or lines in the corners of your mouth, they can become irritated due to constant wetness. Fillers in the lip corners can help resolve this type of rash by filling in the saliva tracks to prevent constant wetness in the area.

You got this…and we have you! Ask us about our skin care line to help keep your lips in check!