Hello and welcome. Today we’re going to talk about lip care.
Lips care is an important part of the daily beauty routine.
Not many people are aware that skin on our lips and around them has different structure and that that skin needs extra attention and care.
Structure of skin of the lips
- Skin of the lips is much thinner than skin on our face. According to Wikepidia, our face skin has 16 layers, and lip skin has only 3 layers. So you can see that skin of the lips is very delicate and thin.
- We do not have sweat glands and hair on our lips. That means that there is no sebaceous (oil) glands. Those glands produce oil that keeps our skin from drying. That is why our lips get dry and even chapped so fast. You can see similar structure in the skin around the eyes.
What causes dry flaky lips
1. Harsh environmental impacts like strong wind, freezing cold, aggressive sun, and temperature differences to name the few;
2. Unhealthy habits like smoking and biting lips;
3. Genetics play huge role in skin structure, as always;
4. Aging: our skin loses collagen and elasticity as we age;
5. Diet that lacks vitamins, minerals, healthy oils;
6. Not drinking 2-3 litres of water per day;
7. Using cosmetics full of alcohol and other harsh chemicals.
These are few reasons why our lips feel dry and can even become cracked.
Steps to Take For Lip Care
1. Exfoliate your lips
Many people are aware of the importance of skin exfoliation. However, for some reasons, lots of people do not consider exfoliating the lips.
The purpose of any exfoliation is to remove dead cells from the surface of our skin. That improves our skin tone, allows better absorption of care products.
Similar to facial skin our lips also have dead cells top layer. So we do need to exfoliate it.
However, do not use you usual facial scrubs on your lips. We already learned that skin on our lips is very thin and gentle. Facial scrubs are made for thicker facial skin.
You will need to use special products on your lips.
There are a lot of gentle exfoliating products market. You can also make your own from the ingredients that you already have in your house.
Hanalei Sugar Lip Exfoliator – this exfoliator contain shea butter that works to hydrate and soothe skin after removing the dry, dead skin.
Brooklyn Botany Lip Scrub Exfoliator – it contains coconut oil, shea butter, sunflower seed oil and cocoa seed butter. WOW!!! This very gentle lip scrub exfoliates your skin and at the same time moisturizes them.
Burt’s Bees 100% Natural Conditioning Lip Scrub with Exfoliating Honey Crystals – 100% natural scrub; nourishes and smoothens dry lips. It contains beeswax, natural oils. Honey exfoliates your lips leaving them smooth and soft.
2. Always use lip balm
Because skin of the lips does not have oil glands, you will need to moisturize them externally.
Choose lip balms that contain natural oils and butters as well as hyaluronic acid. All those ingredients will nourish and regenerates you lips and at the same time will hydrate them.
Julep Boost Your Radiance Day Moisturizer Lip Treatment & Lip Sleeping Mask – this lip balm seals moisture in and prevents lips from drying. Clinically proven to relieve dryness and soothe chapped, cracked lips.
Burt’s Bees 100% Natural Moisturizing Lip Balm – special formula locks in moisture to comfort dry lips. It soothes and nourishes dry lips with rich Kokum, Shea and Cocoa Butter for extra hydration.
Mario Badescu Lip Balm – formulated with Cocoa Butter, Coconut Oil, Sweet Almond Oil, and antioxidant Vitamin E, our ultra-rich balm melts into the skin to replenish and renew lips. –
3. Protect your lips from UV rays
Many people understand why we need to protect our skin from harmful UV rays.
Numerous studies showed that unprotected exposure to sun can cause cancer and premature aging. And, of course, severe sun burn which is very unpleasant.
However not many people use SPF protection on their lips. But our lips need that protection even more than our face (because of how delicate that skin is).
It is very important to use special products for lips that contain SPF. You can even purchase lip balms that contain SPF in them. This way you achieve two goals: you moisturize and hydrate your lips and at the same time protect them from sun damage.
Blistex Medicated Lip Balm – this balm contains moisturizing ingredients as well as SPF protective factors.
Sun Bum Lip Balm, SPF 30 – this lip balm has broad spectrum protection from UV rays. Contains aloe vera and Vitamin E for extensive hydration.
Banana Boat Sunscreen SPF 45 – this balm is water resistant; contains aloe vera and Vitamin E.
4. Stay hydrated
No health and skin care advice goes without recommending adequate water intake.
You are probably tired of hearing it, but I just could not skip this step – because it is really important one.
A healthy person the should be drinking 2 litres per day (8 ounce glasses or half a gallon (Healthline). On a very hot humid day can increase your intake to even up to 3-4 litres per day.
When your body is dehydrated due to insufficient water intake, your skin becomes dry and dull, pores and fine lines become more visible (there are also many health implications of dehydration, however, for the purpose of this post, I will refer o skin in particular).
Remember that your lips do not have oil glands, so lips are not able to produce natural oils. Lip balms will provide some relief from dryness. However, if your whole body is dehydrated, applying lip balm will not be enough to keep your lips from chapping and even cracking.
When you are dehydrated, your lips will also become very dry, sensitive, flaky and chappy.
Do not count sweet juices, soda, soft drinks, coffee or tea when monitoring your fluid intake. These types of drink contain sugar and/or caffeine, which do not really promote hydration.
Water is your best source for hydration.
5. Always remove your makeup
No matter how tired you are, do not skip removing your lipstick and other makeup.
Makeup clogs the pores and dries your skin.
When removing makeup do not use hand soap. Regular soap could be very drying and damaging to your skin. Special product design for makeup removal make sure that your products contain some natural oils in them to prevent your skin from drying.
Dedicated makeup removing products and face washing products contain oils in them keep your skin moisturized. Washing your face, in fact, is a whole other art, please, read HERE how to safely wash your face without damaging your protective skin barrier.
Innisfree Apple Seed (Lip&Eye Remover) – very gentle eye and lip makeup remover made with oil from apple seeds.
NYX Cosmetics Eye & Lip Makeup Remover – this very gentle remover will remove even the toughest makeup. The oil and water emulsion is infused with oils, rice and soy extracts, as well as orange and papaya fruit extracts.
The Body Shop Camomile Waterproof Eye and Lip Makeup Remover – this is a very gentle makeup remover. It is fragrance-free, color-free and alcohol-free. Paraben-free. Gluten-free. Silicone-free. 100% Vegan.
6. Do not lick your lips
It feels natural to lick your lips when they feel dry.
It does provide some relief from dryness however that’s a relief is only temporary. In a minute or so water evaporates from your lips your lips will start feeling even more dry and irritated than before.
When water from your saliva evaporates, it also draws some of precious water from inside your lips.
So do not lick your lips, when they feel dry. Rather drink some water and apply lip balm.
7. Have a Healthy Diet
This is another point that you are probably are tired of hearing. And yet again, unhealthy diet and healthy skin do not go together.
Make sure that your diet is reach-in omega-3 fatty acids, it is a very good source of healthy fats.
You can also obtain healthy oils from nuts like walnuts, peanuts, pumpkin seeds and others.
And of course fruits and vegetables are essential for every day diet.
8. Some foods can irritate gentle lip skin
Salty and spicy food can be irritating to you the skin of the lips.
You probably noticed that when you eat pickles or hot peppers, your lips might feel as if they are on fire, stinging and hurting.
Acidic fruit like oranges and lemons can also burn and hurt your lips.
The quickest way to repair irritated lips after you ate acidic, salty or spicy foods is to apply calming balms on your lips before eating. And try your best to avoid biting into these types of foods with your lips.
9. No smoking
I am sure you are aware of damages that smoking does to your body. I am not going to preach about how bad smoking is for you.
However, I do feel that I should mention that all those chemicals in cigarettes irritate and damage delicate skin of your lips.
Also you probably notice that women, who smoke for a long time, have wrinkles around their mouth (smoker’s lines).
10. Use Overnight Sleeping Masks for Your Lips
Overnight sleeping masks are amazing. I love them. You get an explosion of wonderful ingredients that will hydrate, regenerate, nourish, moisturize and revitalize your skin. And the best part all this magic happens when you are sleeping.
Exfoliate your lips, apply sleeping pack and go to sleep.
AL’IVER Double Effect Lip Sleeping Mask – beautiful strawberry smelling overnight sleeping mask. It hydrates and moisturizes your lips while you are sleeping.
Mamonde Lip Sleeping Mask – A replenishing lip mask and glossy daytime balm that gently exfoliates and moisturizes lips. Infused with antioxidant-rich Plum Blossom Extract and moisturizing Muru Muru Butter. Creates a satin finish to help lock in moisture.
Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask – A nutritive and moisturizing lip-sleeping mask. Formulated with Berry Mix Complex. rich in Vitamin C and anti-oxidants. Helps eliminate dry. flaky dead skin on lips during the night. And it smells delicious.
What I personally love about lip care products is that most of them smell delicious. Most companies learned to add nice natural flavours to the products. It is such a pleasure to use them.
Stay Beautiful!!!