Fashion & Style

Easy, effective steps to relieving and healing dry, chapped lips

When your lips are constantly dry, peeling and/or cracked it can be a frustrating experience to get them healthy again. We will examine the causes of your lips becoming chapped, different ways for preventing this condition and treatment for those that have already reached this painful state.

What are some of the causes of chapped lips?

Chapped lips can be caused by the following: constant lip biting (from stress and/or out of habit), constantly licking your lips, cold dry weather, over exposure to the sun, dehydration, vitamin deficiencies and some people are just prone to dry skin which also makes their lips dry. Severely chapped, sore lips can also be an allergic reaction to your makeup, skin care products or a medication that you are taking.

How do I prevent chapped lips?

There are numerous over the counter lip balms to choose from that can help you prevent your lips from being chapped. Choose one that is unflavored (so you are not tempted to lick your lips) and one with a sunscreen.

If you suffer from constantly chapped lips it would also be advisable to invest in a good home humidifier. One for each room would be best, but if you can only afford to purchase one at a time, put one in the room you sleep in first.

When wearing lipstick, try to choose one that has a moisturizer listed as an ingredient. Matte lipsticks tend to dry out your lips, so at least stick to a creamier texture.

While doing your weekly deep cleansing mask, use the lull time to exfoliate your lips. Take a soft toothbrush and gently rub in circles to remove any of the dead skin cells. Make sure not to rub so hard that it’s irritating. Afterwards your lips will have a slight tingle to them and will actually look plumper and fuller. (This is also a great beauty tip for date night!)

Drinking at least eight glasses of water a day seems to be the advice for preventing a lot of health issues but it really does help. If you are prone to dry, chapped lips it is especially important to stay hydrated.

What should I do if my lips do become chapped?

There are also a lot of lip balms out there to help heal chapped lips. Try to find one that contains camphor, menthol and phenol. Most ‘medicated’ chap sticks have these ingredients. Do not purchase one that is flavored because of the natural temptation to lick your lips, which only worsens the condition.

If you would rather try some home remedies, a lot of people swear by vitamin E oil, olive oil, petroleum jelly or unsalted butter as overnight fixes for chapped lips. (These can actually be used as preventive measures also.)

Never wear lipstick when your lips are chapped or peeling. Your lips are very sensitive to bacteria and using makeup when they are vulnerable can cause an infection.

What if I have tried everything and my lips are still constantly chapped and sore?

If you’re lips do not respond to over the counter lip remedies, then it may be time to consult a doctor. Your physician can look at your history and any medications that you are taking to rule out an underlying health problem. They can also make a recommendation to a dermatologist if they feel that it might be a skin product or type of makeup that you are using or if you have a related skin condition.

I know there are some people that still believe that their lips are constantly chapped because of the different types of lip balms available. There has been a rumor going around for some time now about how chap sticks are addictive and actually contain ingredients to make your condition worse in order to get you to keep buying more of the lip balm. This is definitely not true. In fact, it is literally all in our heads.

You see, many experts feel that when we stop using lip balm, the softness we get from the use of it disappears. This can even cause us to lick out lips subconsciously trying to recapture the smoothness that the lip balm creates. To quit using a lip moisturizer because our lips dry out without it, would be like throwing out our facial moisturizers or hand lotions because once we stop using them, our skin becomes dry. Just like other skin care products, we crave the benefits of the lip balm, not the product itself.

Written by Angela Epps