Lip Health in the Wintertime!
It’s a Monday morning in December and you’re heading out to work. You have a taste for orange juice, so you stop at your local convenience store. After paying for your drink, you say, “Thank you,” to the cashier. Immediately, you can feel that your lips are extremely dry. It’s easy to get chapped lips in the winter time but luckily today, Skincare Anarchy is going to show you how to avoid chapped lips for the winter.
First and foremost, protect your lips. Before going into cold weather or dry climates, try to moisturize your lips with a lubricating lip balm that contains sunscreen. Often times, we are not drinking enough water. Whether you’re thirsty or not, its best to keep a 16 oz of water nearby. One of the most common causes of dry skin is dehydration. Water is so good for your skin, especially for your sensitive lips.
Avoid licking your lips because saliva tends to dry your lips out faster. “Saliva contains digestive enzymes, like amylase and maltase, which wear down the skin on the lips. Over time, this will leave the lips more vulnerable to dry air. The skin can even break open and bleed. When we lick our lips, saliva adds moisture to the surface of the lips, but only for a brief moment. As the saliva quickly evaporates, lips will likely end up drier than before.” Cafasso, J. (2019, August 15). What Licking Your Lips Does, Plus How to Stop. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/licking-lips#takeaway
Recently, on the Skincare Anarchy podcast, we had special guests, Pauline and Johnny Paterson, the founders of Dr. PawPaw. If you didn’t know, Dr. PawPaw is an award-winning 100% natural, vegan and cruelty free brand that specializes in multipurpose balms that are packed full of pawpaw (papaya) fruit, aloe vera and olive oil.”
It was important for us to create multi use products but this obviously came with some hurdles in terms of retail because we had to explain to our retailers where to place them and in which section. However we always knew that each product had to multitask since the moment we got consumer feedback of how much people enjoyed that aspect of the line,” says Johnny Paterson.
A great product from the Dr. PawPaw inventory list to try to for chapped lips is their 2-in-1 lip scrub and balm. It’s best recommended to use before you head to bed at night. After applying the scrub, use a damp washcloth to wipe away excess product in a circular motion. This will boost circulation to the area. With the lip sugar scrub on the top pot and original balm is on the bottom pot, your lips are not only being nourished, they are being soothed. The grains of sugar within the sugar scrub pot, gently removes away dry and dead skin cells without causing any discomfort or bleeding. While the original balm, providing deep moisture, prevents your lips from getting parched or cracked.
If you find that your lips are flaking or peeling, avoid biting, brushing or or rubbing them. Picking and peeling off skin creates cracks and sores. By choosing lip balms that are ointment based, contain vitamin E, coconut oil or sunscreen, you give your lips a natural barrier of protection from heat and pollution. Ointments lock in the moisture and help heal cracks and splits in the skin. One thing you never want is for the skin barrier to be broken and the skin is left red, scaly, irritated or itchy.
Stay away from lip balms containing camphor, eucalyptus, and menthol. These ingredients dry out your lips. When your lips become dry and irritated, you apply more of this lip balm, and the cycle continues.
When practicing great lip health in the winter, it couldn’t hurt to wear scarves over your lips for that extra level of protection.
