How to deal with dry lips

You can’t put a value on that gorgeous smile of yours, it’s priceless. So, we’ve just gotta keep our smackers in tip-top smiling condition. Dry lips can be a downer for warm, big-hearted humans and tricky to get back on the right soft and tender course so you need a routine for dry lips. We’re going to give you top lip care tips to help tackle some of the things that have potential to cause dry lips and offer up ideas to rescue your precious pout. We’ll help you moisturise and protect your lips so you get that smile working for the greater good from dawn to dusk.

What are dry lips?

Lips are metaphorically and literally like sponges – they absorb water to plump up. But they’re also one of the only parts of our body not to be able to sweat or produce oil, which leaves them very vulnerable to dehydration. You need to be on particular watch out if you’re in extreme temperatures or dry air.

Lips are in touch with their environment, and this means moisture levels in the air too. Small amounts of water in the air, known as low humidity, wreaks havoc with our precious pout. As we know, lips being sponge-like, absorb water from the air, so in the case of a kind of air-water-drought, they can become dry, rough or even start to peel. Not ideal for a SWALK.

Dry lips can vary in extremity – from feeling a little tight or slightly rough to being full-on sore, cracked or peeling. And that’s no fun for your lips. There’s a difference between dry lips caused by dehydration and those caused by a medical condition.

Before we get down to top tips for dry lips, let’s cover off a few watch-outs. If your lips feel hot, painful, swollen or blistered don’t apply any cosmetics, and always best to consult your doctor.

Dry lips causes

1. Weather extremes

All our focus needs to be on looking after the environment and preventing weather extremes. Our lips are in total agreement here. Lips dry out in windy and extreme temperatures, both hot and cold, so they need the protection of a good lip balm with a SPF. The indoor environment is guilty as charged too, as both heating and aircon can dry lips – with a special watch-out for pressurised plane cabins.

2. Low water intake

How’s your water intake? It’s no secret in beauty and health circles that hydration is one of the best ways to help skin look plump and healthy as well as avoid things like dehydration headaches. Exactly the same applies for lips. Water wisdom says we should average about 2 litres a day. Filtered water from a tap is best and we urge everyone to avoid plastic bottles and have your own refillable water bottle.

3. Bad habits

When your lips are feeling dry the most natural thing in the world is to lick them. But annoyingly this is totally counterproductive. This is because your lips don’t love the digestive enzymes in your saliva and this bodily fluid can also dry out quickly on your lips, sucking out your lip’s moisture as it goes. We know how hard it is, but try not to lick dry lips if you can.

Lip care routine

Smile if you love a routine as much as we do. True, time is of the essence in this fast-spinning world, but if you’ve got dry or very dry lips, it could well be your kisser begging for some TLC, and a lip care routine might be the order of the day for the foreseeable future.

STEP 1: REMOVE YOUR MAKEUP

STEP 2: EXFOLIATE YOUR LIPS

And if you’re not still in shock from learning about lip cleansing, here’s another well-hidden dry lip secret. Just like our face, lips shed dead skin cells and like a little helping hand giving these the heave-ho. Super carefully, simply use your muslin cloth, dampen it with a little warm water and carefully massage your lips in small circles. This is a wonderfully soft and effective mini exfoliation that your lips will love you for.

STEP 3: APPLY LIP BALM

Now your lips are ready to be lavished with love, and that means the fatty acids they crave. There’s a gentle giant of a lip lover ready to take the responsibility here. Calling our Hemp Heavy Duty Lip Care, infused with hemp seed oil and enriched with essential fatty acids. This is a lip first aider always welcome, helping to soothe and nourish the driest of lips, and creating a natural-looking sheen that helps protect your lips from the drying effects of the elements.

STEP 4: APPLY MOISTURISING LIP PRODUCT

Need that freshly nourished smiler to make an impact? We quite agree. Our Matte Lipsticks provide intense coverage, enhancing your head-turning colour. Lips appear vivid, with their curvaceous three-dimensionality amplified. The perfect way to reward yourself for doing more than lip service to your dry lip routine. Kiss kiss.