Chapped lips are painful, uncomfortable and unsightly. Have you ever tried putting lipgloss on rough, dry lips? You just get these colored, ugly flakes—gross! So how can you heal chapped lips? Try these remedies and healthy habits that will keep your lips smooth, pink and oh so kissable.
Stop licking your lips
Saliva contains digestive enzymes that irritate the thin lip membrane. Instead, keep lips moist with lip balm. Look or one with white petrolatum (pure petroleum jelly) and beeswax which do the double duty of moisturizing lips and locking in moisture (preventing evaporation).
Drink a lot of water
Dry lips are a sign that you’re not getting enough water. So keep drinking even before you’re thirsty! Rehydrate more often during colder months, or if you are in rooms with furnaces and heaters which can suck in moisture in the air.
Find lip balm with SPf
Get a lip balm that protects your skin with decent SPF, at
least SPF 15 but ideally more if you’re athletic and spend a lot of time outdoors.
Rotate lipsticks with tinted lip balms
Using lipstick everyday can dry out your lips. Get a couple of tinted lip balms so that you can get some color and shine and healthy moisturization too. You may also want to switch to lipsticks that have moisturizing ingredients like Vitamin E.
Get medicine
Neosporin tastes awful (so that’ll cure your desire to lick your lips) but it can moisturize your chapped lips, reduce inflammation, and fight off bacteria hiding in cracks and fissures. Another alternative is to ask your dermatologist for for a hydrocortisone ointment and apply every day (seal with a layer of Vaseline). You can also get Rosen’s ointment, often recommended for children. It’s not that pretty to look at but you can apply at night and wake up with significantly softer lips.