Our lips are one of the features that is commonly associate with beauty, and is also one of the first thing that people notice when they look at a person’s face. We use our lips to communicate, to express, and even to show love. They are one of the most important features of our face, yet often neglected! Sounds like you, but don’t know what to do? Don’t worry! In this article, we will discuss what are the 6 ways to care for your lips.
Understanding the Unique Qualities of Our Lips
Our lips are built a little differently than the rest of our face. It is thinner, and do not have any sweat or sebaceous glands. This makes our lips more susceptible to the effects of ageing, dryness, and other forms of damage. Having no sweat or sebaceous glands also means that they cannot produce natural oils to keep them moisturised and protected. This will also cause them to lose volume as we age.
Why is it Important to Take Care of Our Lips?
It is essential to take good care of our lips, regardless of age. Our lips are a significant part of our facial appearance. How they appear can enhance our overall appearance. However, because of how thin our lips are by nature, they are more prone to dryness and damage. neglecting to take care of our lips can also lead to more severe problems such as infections, cold sores, and even skin cancer.
6 Ways of Taking Care of Your Lips
1. Use a good lip balm
When choosing lip balms, it is important to choose on that contains moisturising ingredients. Ingredients like petroleum jelly, lanolin, beeswax, and ceramides are excellent ingredients to consider. Natural ingredients such as aloe vera, coconut oil, honey, and cucumber are great too. It is also important to look out for ingredients that will dry out the lips. Ingredients such as menthol, camphor, and phenol are ingredients that best avoided.
2. Stay hydrated. Drink more water!
Mum was right. “Drink more water, good for you!” Staying hydrated is one of the most important things to do when it comes to having healthy looking lips. When you are dehydrated, your lips will also get dryer. Though there is no magic rule to tell us how much water to drink a day, it is still good to make drinking water regularly a habit.
3. Always remove your lip products
Lip products such as lip tints or lipsticks contain ingredients that can stay on the lips even after the colour aspect is gone. Make it a habit to throughly remove your lip makeup so that your lips will not be dried out further from these residue.
4. Exfoliate your lips
Exfoliating your lips can help it to rid of its dead skin. Choose a gentle exfoliator that are not too harsh on your lips, and remember to moisturise your lips with a lip balm after. It is important to avoid over-exfoliating. Less is more. Do not give yourself abrasions for no reason!
5. Use an SPF
Using an SPF on the lips are just as important as using it on the rest of your face! Our lips are actually more susceptible to UV damage because of, once again, how thin they are by nature. Protect your lips with a lip balm with SPF in the day, and reapply as required.
6. Avoid smoking
Smoke from tobacco can be really irritating to the skin, and you guessed it, the lips too. It can cause them to dry our and crack a lot more easily. Smoking can also cause premature skin ageing and other problems like mouth ulcers, gum pain, and increase your risk of cancer. The repeated action of pursing the lips while smoking can also lead to the formation of “smoker’s lips”, where numerous lines are formed around the lips.
Seek Professional Help if You Must
Those were the 6 ways to care for your lips. However, it is also possible that your lips may not look the way you intend for them to, despite these preventive measures. Times like this, it would be great to receive professional advice from a qualified doctor. Make sure that you seek help earlier than later, because it is much easier restoring less, than having to restore more if the condition worsens. Good luck!