How to deal with dry lips
You can’t put a value on that gorgeous smile of yours, it’s priceless. So, we’ve just gotta keep our smackers in tip-top smiling condition. Dry lips can be a downer for warm, big-hearted humans and tricky to get back on the right soft and tender course so you need a routine for dry lips. We’re going to give you top lip care tips to help tackle some of the things that have potential to cause dry lips and offer up ideas to rescue your precious pout. We’ll help you moisturize and protect your lips so you get that smile working for the greater good from dawn to dusk.
Dry lips causes
- Weather extremes
All our focus needs to be on looking after the environment and preventing weather extremes. Our lips are in total agreement here. Lips dry out in windy and extreme temperatures, both hot and cold, so they need the protection of a good lip balm with a SPF. The indoor environment is guilty as charged too, as both heating and aircon can dry lips – with a special watch-out for pressurised plane cabins.
- Low water intake
How’s your water intake? It’s no secret in beauty and health circles that hydration is one of the best ways to help skin look plump and healthy as well as avoid things like dehydration headaches. Exactly the same applies for lips. Water wisdom says we should average about 2 litres a day. Filtered water from a tap is best and we urge everyone to avoid plastic bottles and have your own refillable water bottle.
- Bad habits
When your lips are feeling dry the most natural thing in the world is to lick them. But annoyingly this is totally counterproductive. This is because your lips don’t love the digestive enzymes in your saliva and this bodily fluid can also dry out quickly on your lips, sucking out your lip’s moisture as it goes. We know how hard it is, but try not to lick dry lips if you can.
STEP 1: REMOVE YOUR MAKEUP
Quelle surprise, who knew our lips appreciated a good cleanse? Well your sensitive soul of a smacker, with just five layers of oil-less skin cells loves nothing more. Especially if you’ve been wearing long-lasting lippy or spent the day in a grimy city. So think gentle cleanse, and try our Chamomile Waterproof Eye & Lip Makeup Remover on our Organic Cotton Pads, and swipe away all your lip’s worst nightmares in one.
STEP 2: EXFOLIATE YOUR LIPS
And if you’re not still in shock from learning about lip cleansing, here’s another well-hidden dry lip secret. Just like our face, lips shed dead skin cells and like a little helping hand giving these the heave-ho. Super carefully, simply use your muslin cloth, dampen it with a little warm water and carefully massage your lips in small circles. This is a wonderfully soft and effective mini exfoliation that your lips will love you for.
STEP 3: APPLY LIP BALM
Now your lips are ready to be lavished with love, and that means the fatty acids they crave. There’s a gentle giant of a lip lover ready to take the responsibility here. Calling our Hemp Heavy Duty Lip Care, infused with hemp seed oil and enriched with essential fatty acids. This is a lip first aider always welcome, helping to soothe and nourish the driest of lips, and creating a natural-looking sheen that helps protect your lips from the drying effects of the elements.
STEP 4: APPLY MOISTURIZING LIP PRODUCT
Need that freshly nourished smiler to make an impact? We quite agree. Our Matte Lipsticks provide intense coverage, enhancing your head-turning color. Lips appear vivid, with their curvaceous three-dimensionality amplified. The perfect way to reward yourself for doing more than lip service to your dry lip routine. Kiss kiss.
Top Tips for dry lips
Tip 1. Stay hydrated
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again, drinking lots of water is the key to healthy hydrated looking skin and plump lips. Invest in a big 750ml stainless steel reusable water bottle and guard it with your life. Aim to refill this three times a day with fresh filtered water, and drink, drink, drink. Did you know that fresh veg has a hugely high water content too? Even more reason to fill up on five or more of these a day. And as if we need to remind you, caffeine and alcohol are on the dehydrating side of the fence, so keep a bit of a lid on these.
Tip 2. Try not to chew or lick your lips
We all know how tempting licking dry lips is, and the same goes for nibbling bits of dry skin off your lips. These habits are often unconscious and a result of us being deep in concentration or feeling a little nervous or anxious. The sensation of touch on sensitive parts of our bodies like lips and hands can help us feel at ease. But if we’re tearing off bits of skin, that’s going to result in skin damage, inflammation and even bleeding. So try to avoid licking dry lips, as we know that can make them even drier, and do your best to avoid chewing them too. A nice thick layer of lip balm might help keep tongues and teeth in your mouth.
Tip 3. Use a lip balm with SPF
Hands up who loves a new lip balm, and that reassuring feeling when it’s within easy reach of your lovely lips. Our lips don’t secrete protective natural oil called sebum like the rest of our body, which makes them even more vulnerable to the sun’s rays. So it’s good form to make sure your lip balm has at least SPF 15 in it. Come winter winds or summer sunshine, if you’re out and about your lips will always thank you for the sun protection factor. Try our luxurious Vitamin E Lip Care with SPF 15, enriched with coconut oil from Samoa and Community Fair Trade olive oil from Italy. You’ll notice how it helps moisturize your lovely lips, as well as help protect it from the sun’s harmful rays.
Tip 4. Apply an overnight lip treatment
Night time is when you can really load up your lips with a little bit of what you, and they fancy. They have the whole night to soak up moisture and any oily nutrients they can’t generate themselves. Don’t be shy, apply a thick layer of our 100% Natural Shea Butter. It works hard to help soothe dry lips. And when you wake up in the morning, your lips may just feel soft and velvety enough to treat that special someone in your life to a sensationally soft kiss. Ooh!
STEP 1:
Mix one teaspoon of shea butter with one teaspoon of granulated sugar in an egg cup.
STEP 2:
Pop the shea butter and sugar mixture on your toothbrush and gently brush your lips and lip line in small circular movements for 1-2 minutes.
STEP 3:
When you’ve finished this exfoliating session, smooth a generous amount of pure shea butter all over your lips to help nourish and get that deeply hydrated sensation. Optional – carefully choose a lucky person to test your soft-feeling lips on.