With winter comes dry air, dry skin and even dryer lips. Beyond feeling incredibly uncomfortable, chapped lips simply look awful and distracting. In this post, we’ll give you some tips to help you prevent dry lips in winter, as well as advice for healthy-looking lips, year-round.
What causes chapped lips?
Your skin is your body’slargest organ, and a remarkably sophisticated one at that. Normally, your skin is capable of producing natural oils which provides moisture – but there’s no such oil to be found on your lips.
This means that your lips are among the most vulnerable parts of your body when it comes to dryness. It’s also common for people to go out with their face exposed when it’s cold, which can also speed up drying through exposure to the wind.
We tend to self-sabotage ourselves when it comes to causing chapped lips. Our reaction to dry lips is to lick them. However, our saliva will quickly dry out, and end up leaving behind enzymes that only speed up the drying process. This creates a cycle that leaves winter lips dry, peeling and flaky.
Managing chapped lips
First things first – don’t lick your lips! You might feel an unbearable urge to do so in the dryness of winter, but we insist that you do your best to resist. If you need to moisturize your lips, make sure to carry some chapstick. Make sure to avoid lip balms that include camphor, eucalyptus or menthol – these ingredients might make your lips feel fresh, but will contribute to the drying.
You should also make sure to stay well hydrated during the winter, so that your body has enough moisture. Nutrition can also have a significant effect on the appearance of your lips, so make sure to get enough nutrients such as iron and B vitamins to keep them plump and firm. That means eating plenty of dark leafy greens (maybe add another food here).
It’s a good idea to keep your face covered (this also helps prevent catching winter based bugs like the flu), especially when going out in the wind. If you still feel dry when at home, it can be very worthwhile to invest in a humidifier.
Other ways to make lips look great
Fighting back against dryness is an important first step in to keep them looking plump, luscious and youthful. But some people naturally have thin-looking lips, giving an older and “tighter” look to the face. This will be something that no amount of chapstick can fix.
Thankfully, a lack of volume can be fixed through the use of dermal fillers. These injectables can add volume to places of your face that appear sunken or thin – including your lips. If you’re interested in dermal fillers in Toronto, or other cosmetic procedures to help improve a youthful appearance, then don’t hesitate to contact us today.