BY EVELYN OKONMA

 WHEN it comes to skin care, people tend to focus on sensitive areas like the face, neck, and chest. It’s easy to forget that your lips need just as much attention, especially in harsh weather conditions or if your lips are prone to chapping. With the following tips for great lips, you can help get rid of bothersome lip dryness and other symptoms.

Lips are likely to become chapped and cracked during the harmattan season when it is dry and cold outside. This does not mean you should only take care of your lips during this season. Lip care should be done on a daily basis, regardless of the weather.

What Not to Do

There are a few habits you should try to avoid when attempting to take better care of your lips. If you tend to breathe through your mouth instead of your nose, this could contribute to dryness. When more air passes across your lips, it can dry the saliva on them, leading to drier lips. Try breathing through your nose more and see if you notice an improve­ment in the moisture of your lips.

Certain medications or chemicals found in com­mon skin care products are proven to dry out your lips. Ingredients that can cause lip dryness include:

Eucalyptus

Menthol

Camphor

Flavorings — especially irritating flavorings like cinnamon, citrus, mint, and peppermint

Salicylic acid

Propyl gallate

Check your makeup, lotion, lip balms, and any other products you put on or near your lips for these ingredients.

If you’re looking to improve your lip health, there are a few things you can start doing right away for smoother, healthier, and silkier lips.

1. Exfoliate

Exfoliating your lips helps to remove dry, dead skin cells. Exfoliate once a week by gently brush­ing your lips with a wet, soft toothbrush. You can also prepare an exfoliator or lip scrub by mixing 1 tablespoon of honey, olive oil, and sugar. Remember to exfoliate gently so as not to irritate your lips.

2. Moisturize

Apply an ointment-based lip balm or gloss on your lips to keep them moisturized. This will prevent them from drying out and cracking.

3. Try not to lick your lips

Licking your lips is not a way to moisturize them. In fact, you’re doing the exact opposite. When the saliva evaporates off your lips, it will take moisture with it, leaving your lips drier than they were be­fore. When your lips feel dry, simply reapply your lip balm.

4. Stay hydrated

One of the most common causes of dry skin is not drinking enough water. Drinking eight glasses of water a day can benefit your body in many ways, including your lips. When you stay hydrated, your lips also stay hydrated with a pinkish tinge and juicy look.

5. Limit exposure to toxins

Exposure to polluted air, smoke, and some other chemicals can make your skin age prematurely, your lips included. Smoking gives your lips a faded and dark appearance. Avoid smoking cigarettes and also limit exposure to other harmful chemicals.

6. Avoid biting your lips when they are flakyl

You may feel the need to get rid of the pesky bumpy feeling that flaking and peeling cause because it feels very uncomfortable. However, doing this may crack and sore your lips. Instead of peeling off the layers, apply your lip balm.

7. Keep Your Lips Hy­drated Especially at Night:

A good lip care routine includes a lip care routine product that you can use before going to bed at night. It’s one thing to care for your lips throughout the day with protection and a nourishing lip balm and it’s another to apply something that will protect your lips through the night.

8. Keep Your Lips Clean:

This is a no-brainer but it is important to emphasize how crucial it is to clean your lips every single day. All the makeup, dirt, grime and other impurities sit­ting on your lips all day long need to come out before bedtime. Just as you wash your face twice a day, you must also remember to clean your lips thoroughly. It’s one of the easiest tips for pink lips that you need to consider each day. Follow it up with other lip care routine tips like moisturisation and hydration.

9. Massage Your Lips:

One of the best tips for healthy lips is to give them a good massage. It promotes blood circulation that in turn helps achieve that natural rosy sheen. However, be very gentle with your massage and only press the outer corners of your lips with your fingertips once you’ve applied a lip balm or a moisturiser to them. This will also give an illusion of fuller lips temporarily. But don’t go overboard with massaging your lips. Limit it to two to three minutes each day right after you wash your face.

10. Protect Your Lips From the Weather

If you spend a lot of time out in the sun, your lips can get chapped from too much sun exposure. To prevent sun-chapped lips, you can use a lip balm with protective ingredients like titanium oxide or zinc oxide.

If you don’t live in a sunny climate, you still need to take care of your lips. Windy or cold weather can be just as damaging to sensitive lips as the sun is. To be safe, reapply your chapstick every few hours to keep your lips protected from the elements.

How to Care for Lip Fillers

If you have lip fillers, your lip care might look a little different than caring for natural lips because you have to keep up with the inside of your lips, too. To care for the surface of your lips, you should follow the same tips for great lips listed above.

Right after getting lip fillers, you should try to avoid:

Exercising or other serious physical activity

Spending time in the sun or any form of tanning

Touching the area (unless you’ve been told to massage the area)

As long as you don’t notice anything unusual after get­ting fillers, you can continue caring for your lips as usual.

Follow these tips for great lips and your chapped lips should heal before too long. If two or three weeks pass and you haven’t noticed an improvement in your dry lips, consider contacting a dermatologist

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