Dry lips – problem and solution

Two features of our body contribute to the problem of dry lips:
1. The skin protecting the lips is much thinner than the skin of any other part of the body.
2 The lips have no sebaceous glands, so they lack a natural source of moisture.

The problem of dry lips can also be associated with a lack of vitamins in the diet — primarily, fat-soluble ones: A, E, D. If wounds and cracks form in the corners of the mouth, this is a sign that vitamin C or group B vitamins are deficient in the body.

In winter, this problem only gets worse. This is not surprising, because the winter season is a particularly difficult time for our skin: in the open air, it is exposed to low temperatures and wind, and inside – the air is overheated and dried by heaters. All of these factors contribute to dehydration of the skin, causing a feeling of tightness, dryness and peeling of the lips.

With the onset of winter, many people buy various hygienic lipsticks and balms, and use them several times a day, but their lips continue to be dry. Why does this happen? In fact, the balm often only aggravates the situation with the dried skin of the lips.

The main function of lip balm is to prevent the evaporation of moisture from the surface of the lips, as well as to protect them from frost, wind and sun. For these purposes, many manufacturers include petroleum products in the lip balms and lip care sticks such as paraffin, vaseline, as well as mineral oil and synthetic waxes, which create an air-tight film on the skin. Under this film, metabolic processes in the skin are affected and this prevents the healing and restoration of damaged skin of the lips. This is why the choice of lip balm should be handled carefully – not every cure will be good for you.

However, it is necessary to protect our lips. Therefore, choose balms, which include natural ingredients: beeswax, shea butter, mango, jojoba and others. But remember that there is no water in them, which means that there is no moisturising of the lips, only protection.

What should you do? Before you protect the skin of the lips, it must be moisturised!

So, here is a simple solution:
1) At the first stage, apply a moisturising cream on your lips. An under eye cream will be good for moisturising.
2) Only after this do you apply a lip balm or lip care stick. In this way, you fix the moisturising cream on the lips. Now, the lipstick will work as a barrier to moisture evaporation.

A few more tips on how to prevent the problem of dry lips:
• Drink more water. Saturate your body with moisture to maintain a normal water balance.
• Do not lick or bite your lips! Not only in freezing temperatures outside, but also when you are indoors. In this way, you can transfer bacteria from the mouth to your lips – they can get into the cracks and cause inflammation.
• Once a week, perform light peeling, massage and have a moisturising lip mask. This will help make your lips smooth, improve blood circulation and moisturise this area of the face.
• Be sure to wash off all makeup before going to bed (especially waterproof lipstick) and apply a moisturising cream on the lips at night.
• Choose lip balms with SPF filter and antioxidants: vitamins E, K, and coenzyme Q10.
• Moisturising the lips from the inside will help biorevitalisation of the lips (this procedure can be combined with facial biorevitalisation – an injection of a preparation part into the skin of the lips). For additional adjustment of this zone, you can also use light hyaluronic acid fillers, which do not create volume, but moisturise the lips.

Follow these recommendations on preventive lip care, and in a month you will get rid of the discomfort and dryness in the lip area.

Your consultant
Liana Blazevic,
Chief cosmetologist
Era Esthetic Clinics