A wise man once said, “lips, no matter how rosy, must be fed”. And that makes perfect sense when it comes to lip care. You can wear as many shades as you want, but if your lips are chapped or cracked, they won’t look attractive. Needless to say, the application won’t be smooth either. Fortunately, a few simple steps can help keep your lips soft and smooth. Read this article from The Dermo Lab in collaboration with Dr. Rahaf Bakri to find out the lip care routine to achieve and maintain healthy lips with ease no matter the season.
1- Drink water to keep your lips hydrated
You must take care of your skin and body from the inside out so that the changes reflect on the outside. Water plays a major role in keeping you healthy, which is reflected in your skin.
Drinking at least eight to ten glasses of water a day should be your goal. This is one of the best, yet overlooked, lip care tips you can follow.
2- Scrub your lips
It is essential to scrub or exfoliate your lips. This lip care tip will help keep your lips healthy and baby soft. Scrubbing also helps get rid of dead skin cells and ensures that your lips don’t give in to any infection. Dr. Rahaf Bakri indicates that you should rub your lips once a week as this is enough to avoid irritating your lips.
3- Don’t forget the sunscreen for your lips
The amount of sun exposure your lips receive is far greater than the number of oil glands they produce. This means they have virtually no protection of their own. So it’s very important to include a lip balm with sunscreen in your lip care routine. You can use a lip care product that contains SPF 15 or higher.
4- Go out with lipstick or lip balm on your lips
Lipsticks made from natural ingredients can really help create a protective layer around your lips and protect them from dry air, dirt, and sun. In addition to lipsticks, wearing lip balm will go a long way in helping your lips from drying out and chapping. Lip care is all about moisturizing your lips and using a lip balm will help nourish them, with or without lipstick.
5- Massage your lips
One of the best tips for healthy lips is to give them a good massage. This promotes blood circulation, which helps you get that natural rosy glow. However, be very gentle and only press the outer corners of your lips with your fingertips after applying a lip balm or moisturizer. This will also give the illusion of fuller lips temporarily. But don’t overdo it by massaging your lips. Limit it to two or three minutes a day, right after you wash your face.
6- Keep your lips moisturized, especially at night
A good lip care routine includes a lip care product that you can use before bed at night. It’s one thing to care for your lips throughout the day. A nourishing lip balm will protect your lips overnight. A lip balm will moisturize your lips overnight and you’ll wake up with soft, supple lips every morning.
7- Don’t lick or pinch your lips
As mentioned earlier, lips don’t have their own protection, so licking or touching them repeatedly will directly affect the skin. Don’t make the problem worse by tearing chapped lips or licking cracked lips. This may give you temporary relief, but once the saliva evaporates, your lips will be drier.
Another thing you should never do is breathe with your mouth open unless absolutely necessary. All that dry air blowing on your lips will only remove the moisture from your lips. Some people have a habit of tearing their chapped lips, which can lead to bleeding and bruising. One way to avoid this is to keep your hands busy and resist the urge to tear them off.
8- Keep your lips clean
This is a no-brainer, but we want to stress how crucial it is to clean your lips every day. Makeup, dirt, grime, and other impurities that are on your lips all day need to be removed before bed.
Just as you wash your face twice a day, you should also remember to thoroughly clean your lips. This is one of the simplest lip care tips you should consider every day. Follow it up with other lip care tips like moisturizing and rehydrating. Always clean your lips just before applying your lip balm as this will increase its chances of working better on your chapped lips.
9- Eat a healthy diet
Since the skin of your lips is very thin, the slightest change in your body is immediately reflected on your lips. A diet that is not rich in essential vitamins and nutrients will eventually affect your lips and make them dry, parched, and flaky.
According to Dr. Rahaf Bakri, the following vitamins are beneficial to the lips:
- Vitamin E, which stimulates circulation and can help generate new skin cells.
- Vitamin B3 (niacin), vitamin B12 (riboflavin), and vitamin C, as a deficiency in these vitamins, leads to cracked lips.
Dr. Rahaf Bakri also draws attention to foods that dry out your lips:
- Highly acidic foods like tomatoes, grapefruit, etc.
- Spicy and salty foods.
- Coffee, soda, and alcohol also increase urine production and cause dry lips.
Therefore, an essential part of lip care is to eat a healthy, whole-food, nutrient-rich diet. This will nourish and revitalize your lips from the inside out so they look super healthy and soft on the outside.
10- Use a humidifier
When there is little humidity in the air or a lot of dry heat in the home, the moisture in your skin evaporates faster and causes dry, chapped lips. Sleeping with a humidifier is a common suggestion to add moisture to the air and rehydrate your lips.
The skin on your lips is much thinner than the skin on other parts of your body, which means that your lips become dehydrated and chapped easily. It is therefore extremely important to take good care of them.
Consider lip care as important as skin care and you will rarely see a crack in your lips. The key to full lips is basic lip care. All your lips need is a little moisture and a lot of love! Give them that and you’ll never see dull lips again!
Last Updated on February 16, 2024
