There’s no denying that we love our lips. But what we don’t realize is that regardless of how much we love our puckers, our lifestyle is taking a toll on them. Maybe you only notice that your lips look a bit rough so you swipe chapstick over them, but don’t try to understand the reasons behind parched lips. To give your pretty pout its much needed TLC, avoid these surprisingly lip-damaging habits.
- Slathering Your Favourite Lip Balm. We bet you didn’t see this one coming. Although lip balms are believed to add extra moisture to chapped lips, balms containing camphor or menthol ingredients actually do otherwise. So instead of going for minty balms, pick up creamy ones as they provide better hydration without stripping your lips off of its natural moisture.
- Licking Your Lips. Constantly licking your pout might seem like an instant solution to rehydrate your lips, but doing this actually does the opposite. Your saliva is packed with acids and strong enzymes made to break down food; therefore using it to supposedly hydrate your lips isn’t the best thing to do. Every time your lips feel dry, drink water instead.
- Picking on Dead Lip Skin. While it can be really tempting to bite off dry lip skin, don’t! Not only will this lead to lip bleeding, it’ll worsen your lips’ condition. Instead, exfoliate your pucker twice a week using your toothbrush. If you want, you can also do a lip scrub using brown sugar and olive oil.
- Ditching Lip SPF. Just like your face and skin, your lips need protection against the sun too. Your lips have the thinnest skin among all your body parts, which is why they’re very prone to sunburn. Prevent this from happening by slapping on a coat of balm or lipstick with at least SPF 15 in it. Not only will it protect your lips from sun damage, it’ll also keep your pout moisturized.
- Using Expired Lipsticks. Lipsticks usually last anywhere from one to two years, and the easiest trick to tell whether or not your favourite lippie is past its due date is by smelling it. If it starts giving off a rather funky smell, toss it out. Sure enough, you wouldn’t want the chemicals in your expired lipstick to mess up your pretty puckers.
Maintaining a lovely, kissable set of lips is actually easy. Just remember to keep your pout well hydrated, use the right lip products, and exfoliate them at least once a week.