Yes, you can prevent chapped lips.
Winter weather and chapped lips go hand in hand. And that totally sucks. Who wants chapped lips? Not only do they hurt, but they’re not exactly cute, and it makes any lipstick you wear on top look funky at best. Smooth lips = the best matte lipstick options. Healing chapped lips is time consuming. It’s always better to prevent chapped lips instead. These are the top five ways to keep your lips in tip top shape to stop chapping before it can start.
1. Don’t chew or pick at your lips
Leave your lips alone.
Basically, leave your lips alone unless it’s to put lip balm on them. If you’re actively messing with your lips you can cause little tears in the top layer of your lips making it way easier for them to get chapped and feel rough.
Replace your bad habit of chewing your lips with the much better habit of applying a lip balm.
2. Don’t lick your lips
If you need to add a layer of moisture to your lips, opt for lip balm. Licking your lips keeps them moist for only a few minutes till the water evaporates making your lips feel dry. Then it kicks off a vicious circle of licking your lips to keep them moisturized again eventually drying out your lips.
If you go through it quickly pick up a bigger salve like the Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream. It’s hydrating, it has salicylic acid to help exfoliate, and adds a layer of hydration. Plus, if you only use it on your lips, one tube will last ages. If you need to save cash, opt for one of the great Nivea stick formulas.
3. Exfoliate with care
It can be tempting to get all the flaky bits off your lip in one fell swoop but you may do more harm than good. Exfoliating your lips needs to be done gently (and this is up there in importance with face and scalp exfoliation, too). If you can’t control scrubbing a grainy sugar scrub into your lips, opt for a soft wash cloth instead. A muslin cloth is even softer than a terry cloth and does the same job.
Gently exfoliate once a day when you do your night time skincare routine. Then layer up a thick lip balm and head to bed.
4. Apply lip balm regularly
Lip balm is your anti-chapped lips bread and butter. It keeps your lips hydrated and is literally a layer of protection against harsh weather. There are a slew of amazing lip balms that can prevent chapped lips. We’re big fans of the Bite Agave Lip Mask! It stays on your lips (even overnight) to keep you all hydrated and protected.
5. Bring balm with you
Keeping a balm with you whenever you’re outside in particular makes it much easier to keep your balm on. Stock your coat pockets and purses with a cheaper lip balm so you won’t be too devastated when it inevitably gets lost. Burts Bees is our favorite budget lip balm. You can get a pack of four for just ten bucks. Layer under your lipstick of the day or gently pat on top to keep the hydration going while you’re out and about.
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