A Guide To Healthy Lips
With Spring in full swing, it's time to take those wintery-dry lips and make them healthy, supple, and plump again. Let's take a look at what causes chapped lips and how to combat them.
Image by: Daria Shevtsova
Causes of Chapped Lips
Lips don't have any oil glands like our skin, and therefore dry out much easier, which can be weather induced or self-induced. Some major causes of dry, chapped lips is excess sun exposure, excess or habitual lip licking, and dehydration.
A less common cause is the use of certain medications, ones that contain too much Vitamin A, retinoids, lithium, and chemotherapy drugs.
Remedies for Chapped Lips
Just like our skin, lips can benefit from occasional exfoliation, moisturization, and sun protection. The use of a humidifier during dry seasons may help too. And lastly, staying hydrated can help not just your lips but your entire system, such as digetsion, absorption, circulation, creation of saliva, transportation of nutrients, and maintaining body temperature, to name a few.
Lip Scrubbing
To exfoliate, you can easily make your own DIY scrub with granulated sugar, any oil of your choice, and rub this mixture onto dry lips. Rinse off and gently pat dry. Our mango lip polish takes the best 5 ingredients, making the perfect lip scrub with a hint of mango flavor.
A lip scrub will slough off dead skin cells and encourage new cells to regenerate, giving you a fresh new canvas to work with.
Lip Balms
Applying a lip balm can help lock in moisture with its natural waxy substance. Look for ingredients like shea butter, or a wax like soy wax, candelilla wax, carnuba wax, etc. This waxy substance gives your lips a true barrier in order for your lips to heal underneath. Jojoba oil is another great ingredient as this is not truly an oil but rather a liquid wax. Our Blue Tansy Lip Mask is perfect for locking in moisture at night, allowing your lips to heal while you sleep.
Lip SPF
Lastly, protecting your lips with an SPF product is crucial for healthy lips. Look for active ingredients like zinc oxide or titanium oxide. Stay way from anything with oxybenzone, octinoxate, avobenzone, and others with similar spelling. One of our favorite woman-owned reef-safe SPF lip products is by Brush On Block. Their lip oils are beautiful and will protect those puckers all day long.