Healthy Lips
Care for dry and chapped skin: how to protect your lips
With the right care, chapped lips are a thing of the past
© Deagreez / Getty Images
Chapped lips are not a sign of a lack of care, rather they lack protective sweat or sebum glands. With the right (home) remedies, you can protect your mouth from external influences.
The skin on the lips is extremely thin and therefore reacts much more sensitively to dry air, heat and cold. If too much moisture is removed from it, it can quickly tear or fray – this not only looks ugly, but is a painful process. Apart from that, bacteria have an easy time if your lips are not adequately protected. Regular lip care with the right products is all the more important, because what many people don’t know is that many over-the-counter lip care sticks are the reason for dry lips. This article explains why this is the case and which (home) remedies help to relieve and prevent chapped lips.
That’s why conventional care sticks are not so good
Cheap paraffin oil (paraffin liquidum or petrolatum) is often used in the production of conventional lip care sticks, i.e. refined petroleum, which tends to dry out the skin instead of caring for it. In other words, the more you reach for the pencil to moisturize your chapped lips, the drier they become. According to Stiftung Warentest, that’s not all: many lip balms contain ingredients that are harmful to health, so-called mineral oils. The hydrocarbons contained therein, MOAH (“Mineral Oil Aromatic Hydrocarbons”) and MOSH (“Mineral Oil Saturated Hydrocarbons”) for short, are suspected of having a carcinogenic and mutagenic effect on our body. The consumer portal therefore only recommends lip care sticks from natural cosmetics – in principle, no mineral oil may be used in these products.
According to Stiftung Warentest, these lip balms are recommended, for example:
Tipp: Alternatively, you can also access cruelty-free lip care products from Facetheory fall back on, which do completely without single-use plastic. With the code “2030” you get a 20 percent discount on orders over 30 euros.
Seasonal lip care: That’s what matters
Since sensitive lips react equally to heat and cold, care should be adapted to seasonal conditions: in summer, be sure to use one Lip care stick with UV protection (at least SPF20) – it protects the skin from the sun’s rays and keeps it from drying out. In winter, on the other hand, you should go to one lip care or one Lippenbalsam for dry lips that protect sensitive skin from the cold.
Another tip: If you are not only prone to dry lips, but also get herpes more often, you can use one Manuka care stick use. It cares for and protects sensitive skin.
Five practical tips for the right lip care
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If your lips feel dry, do not wet them with your tongue – the saliva that evaporates on the surface will make your lips even drier!
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Remove dead skin cells with a gentle Lippenpeeling – but only twice a week at most. Alternatively, a soft toothbrush is also suitable.
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So-called lip masks can help condition and repair your lips. Depending on the manufacturer, it must be absorbed for 15 minutes or allowed to act overnight.
- Also Lip Butter can help provide your lips with essential nutrients. However, be sure to wash your fingers before applying.
- The simplest beauty trick for dry or chapped lips is: drink lots of water. At best, two liters distributed throughout the day. This keeps your body hydrated.
The best home remedies for dry lips
When it comes to regular lip care, there are also a variety of practical home remedies that moisturize your lips and thus protect them from drying out, such as:
- Honig: Not only does it moisturize, it also makes your lips soft and supple. Apply a little bit to the skin and leave it on for five minutes. You can then gently wipe off the honey with a facial tissue – avoid licking it off or you’ll end up with saliva on your lips again (see above).
- Olive oil: Due to its naturally greasing effect, olive oil is ideal for lip care. It provides the skin with nourishing ingredients, makes it nice and soft and supple – and is available in every well-run household. Apply just a few drops of it to your lips.
- coconut oil: Achieved a similar effect coconut oil, an all-round talent in the cosmetics industry. Unprocessed and in its natural form, it can relieve dry lips as well as cracked corners of the mouth. Apply a fingertip of it and let the oil work in briefly.
- Cocoa and Shea Butter: While cocoa butter is effective against dry and damaged lips in summer, it is suitable Sheabutter especially good in the winter months to protect your lips from the warm air from the heating inside and the cold, wet weather outside.
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