Sore, Dry, Chapped winter lips?
Winter can be a brutal time of the year for your lips. ? The cold air, the chilling wind and dry, heated air inside all conspire to make your lips dry and tight.
The cold weather has a very significant effect on our lips. “When we go out in the cold, we take steps to cover the rest of our body, but our lips usually are exposed.”
Lips are a special type of skin that is thin and delicate – and so requires a little extra TLC. Our lips dry out ten times faster than the rest of the skin on your face so it’s really important to use extra protection
Here are some tips to keep your lips smooth and lovely all winter long:
1. Don’t lick your lips- When your lips are dry, it’s natural to want to lick them to make them moist. But licking your lips actually has the opposite effect. Once you put saliva on the lips, it dries out and makes our lips even more dry.
2. Use a lip balm that is ointment-based- This will lock in the moisture and help to heal cracks and splits in the skin.
3. Avoid lip balms containing camphor, eucalyptus and menthol-These substances actually dry out your lips and make the problem worse.
4. Avoid brushing or rubbing your lips when they are flaky or peeling- It’s better not to scrub your lips or pick the peeling skin off with your teeth or your fingers. That just creates cracks and sores on your lips and can make things worse.
5. Treat cracks right away- If you let them go, they can become worse and possibly get infected or lead to a cold sore.
6. At night, apply lip balm before you go to bed- Many people sleep with their mouths open. Eight hours of breathing in and out through your mouth can dry your lips
