You need to start approaching your lip care much different from how you go about your skincare routine on the rest of your face because the skin on the lips is much different than from the skin on the rest of your face. The protective layers are much thinner because the skin on the lips is very thin and there's almost no protective stratum corneum. They are also a lot more susceptible to damage from environmental exposures like ultraviolet radiation from sun and your lips are also exposed to elements including cold which can lead the lips to chapping. Read on to find out some tips to heal chapped lips. Keep scrolling! 

1) Apply non-irritating lip balms


You should be very selective while choosing your lip balm. There are a wide array of lip balms, lip ointments and lip masks that contain a ton of ingredients that can be very irritating to the skin of the lips especially when you are in the throes of chapped lips. When the lips are chapped, they are even more vulnerable to irritating ingredients such as camphol, phenol, fragrance and common irritants such as peppermint and citrus that are frequently found in lip care products. Propyl gallate is a relatively common allergen found in lip care products. 

2) Apply SPF lip balms when outdoors
Make sure you are wearing an SPF lip balm when you are outside specially at the daytime. It is pretty much essential for your lips as we mentioned earlier that lips are much vulnerable to UV damage which can further weaken the function of the skin barrier making the chapped lip issue even worse. You can also get sunburn on your lips and that is definitely going to make your lips dry, cracked and peeling.

3) Wipe lips after eating 


Pay attention to the foods and beverages you are consuming. We tend to blame everything on our products or look for them to solve all of our problems but a lot of irritating ingredients such as peppermint, cinnamon or citrus can be present in the foods that we eat. When we consume these types of food and beverages that contain these types of irritants and it's left on the skin of our lips that can be pretty irritating. The only solution to this problem is as soon as you finish your drink or beverage, take a damp cloth and wash out your lips then pat it dry fully. In this way, you won't have any irritating residue sitting on your lips. 

4) Stop licking your lips


Stop the habit of licking your lips. It's really difficult to do this when you get the habit of licking your lips every time they feel dry but saliva inside your mouth can be very irritating. It has digestive enzymes in it that help to begin to break up your food left on the skin. Saliva will evaporate and pull more water from the skin of the lips further drying them out.

5) Avoid chewing gum
We have already mentioned that a lot of foods have spices and flavorings that end up being irritating to the skin of the lips and chewing gum is one of them. Most gums have flavors in them which makes them tasty. Flavors including peppermint, mints, cinnamon or some sort of fruity combination can cause an irritation to the skin of lips. Chewing gums can worsen the problem of chapped and dry lips so you must avoid them. 

6) Stop peeling or exfoliating chapped lips
Do not pick, peel or attempt to exfoliate the peeling skin off your lips. This may seem counter-intuitive to you but the anatomy of the skin of lips has hardly any barrier so by peeling or exfoliating using sugar scrubs, you are further weakening the skin of lips which then contributes to more water loss and the enhanced penetration of irritants. By doing exfoliations or peeling, your skin feel smooth or soft only for few time, after that there's going to be chapped and dry lips. 
    
       What should you do to avoid cracked lips? Use Emollient-based lip balms with petroleum jelly to avoid water loss and dry lips. We also suggest you to use a tiny drop of facial oil onto your lips, massage it for few minutes. This will encourage to strengthen the skin barrier and makes your lip soft and smooth.

7) Avoid contact with metals 
You really need to avoid contact with metals. People don't realize this but a lot of metals contain nickel which is the most common allergen across the board. Do not expose the weekend barrier of dry chapped lips to nickel. It can worsen the condition of your lips and make them dry and chapped. Nickel is mostly found in paper clips, jewelry chains and bracelets and metal things.

8) Get a humidifier


It can make a huge difference for an array of skin problems and that is to get a humidifier for the bedroom at night especially in winters. When the air is a lot drier, using a humidifier can in the bedroom can help reduce the impetus for water loss out of the skin especially the skin of lips and keeps your skin hydrated overall. 


7) Protect lips before applying products
Protect the skin of your lips before using facial products that might be too irritating for the skin of lips such as exfoliants, salicylic acid, glycolic acid and lactic acid. These are the ingredients that help to exfoliate the skin and can be well tolerated on the face but as there's very little protective stratum corneum to the skin of the lips, so these ingredients can worsen the situation of your lips. Always apply VASELINE PETROLEUM JELLY before applying these types of ingredients onto your face.


    If you follow these 10 tips, there is a good chance that your cracked lips will get better at most two to three weeks but if it doesn't get better, we strongly encourage you to see your health care provider. Use good quality ChapSticks or Lip Balms. Drink enough water to keep your overall face hydrated. Sometimes the deficiency of water can also cause dry and cracked lips so pay attention to this factor. Have a good diet. Stay happy, stay healthy.