Painful and unsightly, chapped lips are difficult to treat. Here are our tips and advice to overcome it. I promise, you will smile again!
Beauty asset par excellence whether they are made up with a pretty lipstick or left natural to highlight their original skin tone, the lips are an area of our face at the heart of all daily attention. Whether we smile or talk, they are – like the eyes – a part of our face that catches the eye. We therefore have every interest in pampering them so that they are beautiful, smooth and luscious.
You have certainly noticed, the lips are particularly prone to dryness. It is, in fact, not uncommon to have a feeling of dryness in the mouth, to feel the skin of the lips less flexible or even hard under the fingers or to have the lips downright chapped. This is especially the case during certain seasons of the year such as winter when the mouth is exposed to the cold daily with very low temperatures, or in summer under the effect of UV rays which dry out the skin completely. (body, face and lips included). The solar rays constituting a real aggression for the labial mucosa, in the same way as the winter cold. This is particularly why skin care experts generally recommend putting lip balm on your mouth for daily lip care, and even a sun lip stick containing SPF protection in summer or during sports. winter to avoid chapped lips.
Why are the lips dry and sometimes chapped?
To better understand the phenomenon of dry or chapped lips, just take a closer look at the skin of the lips. The mouth is an area where the skin is thinner and more fragile than on the rest of the body of course, but it is also an area of skin which is especially thinner and more fragile than on the rest of the face where the epidermis is already much more delicate than on the body. If you had to compare it to another sensitive area of the face, it would certainly be the skin around the eyes, which also dries up quickly due to its thinness. Indeed, the thinner the skin, the less resistant it is to external aggressions (cold, wind, sun, drying cosmetics such as lipsticks), and therefore more prone to drying out. But this is far from the only reason for the fragility of the lips.
The thin skin of the lips is also devoid of a horny layer (the superficial layer of the skin which acts as natural protection) and therefore of a hydrolipidic film, which greatly increases its propensity to dryness. This area of skin is indeed devoid of this natural fatty film which acts as a real moisturizer to form a barrier to external aggressions, and of the sebaceous glands which largely produce it. So it's no wonder that lips need daily hydration for protection!
Likewise, the labial mucosa does not have melanocytes because they are cells found in the surface layer of the skin. In short, it does not tan or produce melanin. A fact that may seem trivial if we forget that this brown pigment is naturally produced by the skin to protect itself from the sun. It is, in fact, precisely this innate pigmentation of the skin in reaction to sun exposure that partially protects it from the harmful effects of ultraviolet rays and burns.
And to make matters worse, the mouth is one of the most exposed areas of the face – due to the relief of the lips – even though they are therefore less well protected than the rest of the face.
Another small downside of this sensitive area: the skin of the lips is also very permeable, that is to say that it is easily allowed to penetrate by water which – contrary to what one might think at first glance – tends to dry it out rather than hydrate it.
It is for all these natural reasons that lips are particularly fragile and easily damaged. But a lack of care (such as skipping the application of lip balm in the morning), a poor diet (with a deficiency in vitamins good for the skin, vitamin B for example), or even taking certain medicinal treatments, can also be at the origin of a phenomenon of dry lips, damaged lips or chapped lips. And that's not to mention the drying effect of certain makeup products like matte lipsticks, whose formulas designed to prevent shine are drying out when used too frequently. There are therefore a multitude of possible causes.
What exactly does having chapped lips mean?
It is possible to have dry lips without necessarily having chapped lips. Dry lips can be more or less severe depending on the person and the time of year. When you have dry lips, the skin in your mouth may simply be less flexible than when they are healthy. When dehydration is more intense, small, dry skin – sometimes hard to the touch and whitened by severe dehydration – can also appear on the surface of the labial mucosa and partially peel away, making the lips uncomfortable. But that doesn't necessarily mean your lips are damaged to the point of chapping.
Certain symptoms, on the other hand, are not mistaken as to whether or not you have chapped lips: the surface of the lips which clearly cracks into crevices and the sensations of tingling / tightness associated with it and which are felt at the level. from the mouth. These are undeniable signs.
The lesions or cracks can then be more or less extensive and deep, some sometimes going so far as to start to bleed. Usually at this stage, the chapped lips become particularly painful and the most serious lesions tend to heal with difficulty because the many movements of the mouth when you articulate regularly reopen the chapped skin.
How to avoid chapped lips? Our advices
To prevent the appearance of chapping on the lips, it is useful to adopt a few good habits every day. To work from the inside out, you can first of all drink enough water each day because consuming enough water helps to keep skin well hydrated, beautiful and supple all over the body and face (including the mouth). Also, be sure to eat a balanced diet and consume foods rich in vitamin B that ensure good hydration of the skin from the inside by reducing the natural loss of water through the epidermis.
As for makeup, it is best not to apply makeup on your lips daily. But if you are a die-hard lip makeup fan, at the very least think about favoring less drying lipsticks, namely moisturizing and shiny reds rather than matte lipsticks. In addition, it is important to remove make-up from your mouth in the evening. If the pigments in your long-lasting lipsticks are too strong, know that there are makeup remover oils that will be of great help in removing stubborn residues.
On the skin care side, also consider performing a lip scrub on a regular basis to remove small dead skin that forms a barrier to the care applied to the lips. These will only be more effective in countering dry lips. Of course, it's also imperative to adopt a daily moisturizing lip balm to care for the lips before they even get damaged.
In case of sun exposure, do not forget to swap your simple moisturizing lip balm for a lip stick that contains sun protection so that it acts as a barrier to drying UV rays (and to avoid any risk of burns on lips in passing).
Bad reflexes to forget in case of chapped lips
To relieve cracked and cracked lips, it is common to adopt a licking tic. The sensation of dryness felt in the lips, prompting us to moisten our lips mechanically with our saliva. If this gesture provides, it is true, a certain relief on the spot because it restores a little flexibility to the mucous membrane, its beneficial action is only of short duration and it ends up worsening the situation and the state of our lips. damaged. The saliva that wets the lips actually tends to dry out the lips. Worse, it accentuates the tingling and worsens the chapping.
Another reflex to ban: tearing off small dead skin that remains clinging to the mouth. You could injure yourself and bleed your lips. Needless to say, this raw, chapped lips are all the more painful.
Finally, if lip scrub is recommended for maintenance and prevention, it should be avoided on damaged lips because it then becomes too aggressive.
How to cure chapped lips?
Not surprisingly, you will first have to treat your mouth with appropriate care. To do this, you can count on a lip balm, of course, but not just any! Indeed, a simple moisturizing stick will not be enough to overcome chapped skin.
It is advisable to choose nourishing and repairing lip balms, which contain highly nourishing and regenerating active ingredients such as shea or cocoa butter, honey or beeswax, olive oil or oil. argan oil, and sometimes vitamin E, an unrivaled repair vitamin for the skin. Thanks to their compositions, these lip balms specifically designed for damaged lips not only hydrate the mouth, they repair damaged skin and help heal cracks faster for a beautiful mouth. In the process, they create an occlusive film on the surface of the lips which retains water well in the heart of the skin, in addition to effectively protecting the lips from external aggressions to prevent recurrence. Their regenerating and protective formulas are also very useful for quickly soothing the unpleasant sensations felt in the event of chapping in order to gain comfort.
Our selection of lip balms for chapped lips
SOS treatment for deep cracks
Filmogel Cracked Lips of Urgo
Natural remedies for chapped lips
Lip sticks or lip balms with smoother formulas are not the only products that can treat chapped lips. There are also some natural ingredients that come in handy for relieving cracked lips easily at home. You can use shea butter, honey or even pure vegetable oils for lip care. Choose organic ingredients preferably to be sure that they do not contain chemicals.
To treat your lips with shea or honey:
- apply a good layer of honey or vegetable butter on your lips.
- leave on for a quarter of an hour like a mask, then gently remove the excess treatment. Use lukewarm water if necessary to remove the honey.
- then moisturize the lips with a nourishing balm or this time by applying a very thin layer of shea or vegetable oil.
To treat your lips with vegetable oils such as argan oil or olive oil:
- take a few drops of vegetable oil on your fingertips.
- apply the amount of oil to your lips, massaging them so that the oil can be absorbed by your parched lips.
- leave on the excess oil to offer even more intense care to your lips
- Gently wipe off any remaining excess with a tissue.
Vaseline
Used in the composition of certain cosmetics, petroleum jelly is a fatty substance which has been proven to hydrate, soften and soften chapped lips. This petroleum derivative – which will not be suitable for fans of organic and natural cosmetics – is also a solution to heal cracks in the lips. Vaseline is then used in a thick layer as a lip mask and / or instead of daily lip care.
Our other tips to find beautiful lips
- Swap your usual lipsticks for a while (the formulas of which can worsen the dryness of the lips) for tinted lip balms that will color your lips with a pretty color while maintaining an optimal level of hydration in the labial mucosa .
- If the dryness of the lips persists despite the care because it is rather linked to a vitamin deficiency, it may be useful to try taking food supplements to regain the beauty of your lips.
Our tutorial to make your lip balm at home:
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