Do your lips crack and dry out very often? Are you tired of buying a new lip balm and feeling moisturized for a few days, only for the issues to resurface after a few days?
Don’t wait for them to crack and hurt! Moisturize them the right way. In this article, we’ll walk you through step-by-step how to care for your lips with the right products and even create your own lip scrub and balm like a pro!
How do our lips work?
Our skin is composed of three layers: the epidermis, the dermis and the hypodermis. The skin is the barrier between the internal organs and the environment, and its function is to maintain the balance between the interior and exterior. So, if we think about our lips, they need to breathe, be hydrated, and be nourished. Moreover, the skin of our lips is in constant renewal to resist the big changes of temperature, the sun, and the digestive enzymes in our saliva. It is, therefore, necessary to help it get rid of dead skin.
Here are our tips for you…
Do not:
Expose yourself to the sun for too long
Lick your lips
Use lip balms with allergenic fragrances.
Use lip balms made with petroleum (even if it protects the lips, it doesn’t let them breathe, and you have to admit that petroleum on your skin doesn’t have any good properties).
What to do:
Exfoliate your lips once or twice a week to remove dead skin that would interfere with exchanges with the outside.
Remember to moisturize them, protect them from the sun and extreme temperatures on very cold or hot days.
Don’t forget to drink water. Water is even more important on dry days and when you eat salty or spicy foods.
To start a good routine, you can always use a natural exfoliant like sugar mixed with the oil of your choice and honey.
You can protect them from dehydration with shea butter (deodorized if you don’t like the smell), castor oil or lanolin. Using these oils, butters and fats is very good and can even be sufficient, but we know that it might not be pleasant for everyone.
For this reason, we end up using our conventional lip balms with pleasant smells and textures. That’s why it’s important to learn how to choose products for our lips so that we don’t harm them.
The natural exfoliator
Find a container that you like to use your exfoliator in.
Wash the containers and utensils you will use (especially the storage container).
Fill the storage container with the sugar of your choice
Put the sugar in the bowl to mix.
Add vegetable oil of your choice and the honey and mix until you get the desired texture (you don’t want it to be too oily). I recommend adding half a teaspoon at a time.
Add coloring or flavoring, if you like, and mix it all.
Pour the mixture into your container and now you are ready to use it.
This recipe is very easy and can be easily modified. The sugar will help to gently remove the dead skin on your lips and the oil with the honey will leave your lips silky smooth. You can always do it with either honey or oil, but the two together are always a plus!
Which products to choose from?
I chose deodorized shea butter (so filtered with clay) because I don’t like the smell of shea butter, especially when wearing the mask, but that’s up to each person! Otherwise, I use the other ingredients because:
Shea butter is very rich, it protects, softens and restructures the skin. It can be used for the lips, the body and the hair.
The coconut oil will protect our lips and will make them soft while bringing a good smell.
Sweet almond oil is very popular for massages because of its beautiful light texture and its soothing and softening properties when dry and delicate skin. So it is perfect for our lips.
Well, now that you know the importance of taking care of your lips, you can do your routine with a homemade lip scrub and lip balm and let us know!
