All About Lips

With the cold and dry winter months approaching, our lips need extra TLC. The reason our lips get chapped so easily is due to the fact that they are not protected by hair follicles, sweat glands and natural body oils which lubricate the rest of the skin on our bodies. Below you will find tips and product recommendations for keeping your lips healthy year round.

1. Exfoliate: Make your own lip scrub. Just smother your lips in honey (pretend you are Pooh Bear), then take some sugar and rub it gently in a circular motion. This will remove any dead skin. You can also use your bare toothbrush in small circular motions to gently buff your lips. I like to exfoliate my lips a couple times a week at night, then I follow up with a good lip balm.
2. Moisturize: Buy a good lip balm. I recommend an all natural one. Some of my favorites are from Jack Black, EOS, and Burt's Bees. I like to apply my lip balm at night and let it soak in and do its magic as I sleep.
1. Lip Balm Addiction: Your lips aren't addicted to the lip balm, you are! Make sure not to over moisturize your lips. If they are already hydrated, there is no need for lip balm. Lip balm seals your lips which doesn't let them absorb moisture from the air and the water we drink. Lip balms make our lips feel smooth and moisturized but they actually don't hydrate our lips too well. This is why you want to give your lips a break every now and then and let them breathe.
3. Sunscreen: The skin on our lips is more prone to becoming chapped, therefore we need to protect it from the sun. Invest in a lip balm that contains sunscreen. Jack Black lip balms contain SPF 25, and Trader Joe's lip balm contains SPF 15. This will protect your lips in both summer and winter.
4. Don't lick your lips! Even if they feel dry, licking them will not hydrate them, it'll only dry them out. 
5. Water: Drink lots of water. On top of its many other benefits, drinking a lot of water will restore hydration to your body and therefore your lips. You need to drink lots of water in order to give your lips the hydration they otherwise cannot get from lip balms.
6. Don't use cheap lip balms: Try to avoid products with sulfates, synthetic fragrances and dyes, petrolatum, mineral oil. Many of the ingredients in cheap lip balms are used because they are just that: cheap; but these products also dry out your lips!
7. Humidifier: If you live in a dry climate (hello LA!) then you can do yourself the extra goodness and use a humidifier at night in your bedroom. Humidifiers increase humidity in a room. If you get stuffy noses, then you are bound to breath through your mouth which ends up giving you chapped lips. A more moist room allows your stuffy nose to clear up more easily as well as allowing your skin to absorb more moisture from the air. I got mine from Target for $55 but they have more ranging from $15-200.