6 Quick Tips for Dry Lips

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Photo Source: marin | Freedigitalphotos.net

any people might experience having a dry and chapped lips at one point in their life. It's not surprising, as the skin on the lips is very thin, making it more sensitive than any other skin parts of the body. Low humidity environments, such as air conditioned rooms, make our lips prone to drying. Sun exposure can also risk the lips to being sunburned.

Even though our lips consist of a small part of our skin, it is no excuse to skip lip care. Long before I started this blog, I am guilty of neglecting my lips. Not only were my lips dry and chapped, they were also very pale. When I discovered lip gloss, I saw the huge difference between beautiful lips and dull lips. Of course, I later learned that lip gloss is only a quick fix, not a cure, and therefore switched to lip balms.


If you tend to get dry lips, here are some tips to dealing with them:

1. Avoid licking your lips. Saliva are not for moisturizing the lips. They can only exacerbate the dryness.

2. Do not breathe through your mouth. If you're a mouth-breather, then it's time to kick off the habit. Continually blowing through your mouth can quickly dry the lips, making them very vulnerable to getting chapped.

3. Use a lip balm as often as needed. Balm retains moisture and creates a protective barrier against the harsh elements.

4. Choose lip products with SPF. Do not ignore protecting your lips from the sun as they are very prone to sunburn.

5. Exfoliate your lips regularly but gently. This allows dead skin cells to be sloughed off, making the lips smoother. I use a soft bristle toothbrush to do this.

6. When choosing lip balms, check the ingredients. Petrolatum, beeswax, cocoa butter, shea butter, oils, and squalene are very nourishing to cracked lips. On the other hand, eucalyptus, menthol and camphor can cause irritation and dryness.

Bestselling Lip Balms on Amazon

Sources:

WebMD: Why Your Lips are Chapped

http://www.webmd.com/beauty/lips-smile/why-your-lips-are-chapped

Howstuffworks: 5 Tips for Battling Dry Lips

http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/lip-care/tips/5-tips-for-battling-dry-lips.htm/printable

Mayo Clinic: Chapped Lips FAQ

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dry-skin/expert-answers/chapped-lips/faq-20057819

Lip Care Products and Acne

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Choosing the right skincare products takes time and patience. You have to check the ingredients as well when it comes to safeguarding your skin from possible breakouts. Is your face cream oil-free? Check. How about face powder? Check. Sunscreen? Blush-on? Foundation? check! Check! Check!

Wait. There is one thing you must be missing. Your lipstick/lipstain/lip gloss/lip balm. Don't forget that your lips are also part of the skin. Whatever you put onto your lips would migrate to the skin around the mouth area. Using the wrong kind of product would lead to breakouts. So when choosing lipsticks and other lip care products, don't forget to look for the noncomedogenic kind.

Sadly, not all lip care products include an ingredients list into their packaging. Always go with the safe side, by choosing products that show you what's inside. Jojoba oil and petroleum jelly are two ingredients that are good lip moisturizers that are also noncomedogenic.

When applying the lip care products onto your lips, make sure that your lips are clean. If you've just finished eating or drinking, wipe your mouth first before reapplying. This way, you lessen the likelihood of catching the bacteria with the product. Don't let your products be the breeding ground of germs. Not only do bacteria make your product unhygienic, they also encourage more breakouts.

Take care of your lips! By that you are also doing your skin a favor!