Lip care is a simple process that can do wonders for your lips. Like any other organ, lips are equally important and must be cared for.

We often forget about them daily, but they help us communicate and look stunning with our pretty smiles. A smile is precious to all of us, and lips are responsible for helping us give that smile. When smiling, nobody likes chapped and dehydrated lips.

We all want soft lips; you do not have to be extra fancy to nourish them. A few additional steps in your daily routine will keep your lips healthy and beautiful.

But what are those additional steps? Here are some easy ways to take care of your pout. 

What are cracked Lips?

When your lips become dehydrated, they become dry and cracked.

If the condition is severe, there can also be bleeding. Just as our skin cracks, our lips become cracked if excessive dehydration occurs. This is how your body lets you know how much hydration and water you need to drink.

Essential lip care practices

There are various ways to treat your lips.

You can use market-bought products or even use products made at home. Simple kitchen ingredients also help your lips and keep them nourished and moisturized.

Two rituals should be followed every day for lip care,

a) Removal of dead cells (exfoliation) crucial for lip care

Many people do not know this. Exfoliation, removing dead cells from the skin by rubbing and cleaning, helps bring new and smooth skin. Your lips also need to exfoliate regularly to prevent chapped lips.

The lips accumulate more dead cells than any other part of the face. So your lips also need that exfoliation every time you exfoliate your face. This helps prevent chapped and cracked lips caused by that extra accumulation of the skin and dead cells.

You can use any commercially available lip scrubber or make it home.

For example, mix sugar and honey (equal quantities) and apply them to your lips. Then, wash your lips off for 1-2 minutes.

b) Moisturizing is essential for lip care

We all moisturize our faces and body to keep them hydrated and healthy. But do we do the same with our lips? Unfortunately, most of your answers will be no.

We massage lotion or cream whenever we see a dry skin patch. Similarly, our lips need moisturization, too.

So, putting lip balm on your lips every night before bed is a must-have ritual. Lip balm helps to rejuvenate cracked and dry lips during the night and gives you soft and stunning lips in the morning. We talk, eat and drink throughout the day, and it causes a lot of friction on the lips.

So, buy a good lip balm with natural ingredients and put it on your lips every night.

Good lip care practices

Though the steps mentioned above for lip care are to be followed every day and not missed, there are a few things to consider, especially when taking care of your lips.

1) Be mindful of the ingredients of your lip balm

You cannot buy any product online or in a grocery shop. There is a wide variety of lip balms with various flavours and ingredients. You should always be able to buy a product that suits your lips.

Make sure to avoid lip balm with ingredients like Eucalyptus and Camphor. Instead, always prefer flavours like cinnamon, citrus, mint, and peppermint, mainly when applying on chapped lips.

2) Ingredients that can help treat chapped lips

Plenty of soothing ingredients can help you treat your chapped lips. You can check the product content in the packing. Some commonly used soothing ingredients are,

• Castor seed oil
• Hemp seed oil
• White petroleum jelly
• Shea butter
• Cocoa butter

Suppose your lips start stinging or burning, and you feel uncomfortable after applying lip balm. It means the lip balm irritates your lips. You need to stop using lip balm and find a different product.

3) Drink plenty of water 

Drinking plenty of water is one of the best natural ways to detox and hydrate your body.

So make sure to drink more than 2 to 3 litres (8 to 12 glasses) of water every day. It keeps your body hydrated and bid goodbye to chapped lips.

Once your water intake increases, you can see the results on your lips, skin, and overall health.

4) Bitting or licking of lips must be avoided

Whenever our lips become dry or chapped, it is a natural tendency in all of us to wet our lips by licking them.

This is harmful to our lips because our saliva evaporates very fast. Once it disappears, your lips become drier and hence become chapped.

Rather than biting or licking your lips, carry a lip moisturizer or lip balm to keep them moisturized all day.

5) Use a lip balm or moisturizer

Using lip balm with SPF (sun protection factor), 30 is prudent to avoid cracked lips.

In addition, it is advisable to use lip balm with higher SPF every two hours outdoors. These lip balms’ titanium oxide and Zinc oxide protect your lips from sun damage.

The Bottom Line

I am sure you love soft and plump lips, but you also know they need the proper treatment. Avoid dehydration and use lip balm suitable to your lip type. Drink plenty of water that helps retain the moisture and texture of the lips.