Our lips without forming words, say so much about us just by appearance alone. They are the precursors to a smile, a frown, a sexy sigh, squeal of delight, deep thought, a giggle, or any other message that we want to convey to others. They are focal points and make a statement even when we have nothing to say.

What do your lips say about you?

Are yours soft, sensitive, smooth, moisturized, lush, and supple? Those are some of the best qualities of healthy lips.

Or are they painful, sharp, peeling, irritated, pinched, or bleeding? Those are signs of neglected and unhealthy lips.

During these harsher fall and winter months, it’s very important to keep your lips from being ravaged by loss of moisture and over exposure to the elements. You want to keep them kiss able, as this is the season for hibernation and snuggling.

Common causes of dry, peeling, and chapped lips:

Constant lip licking

• Human saliva dries out the lips

Over exposure to harsh climates

• Daily exposure to free radicals, and the sun without protection

Dehydration

• Dry lips indicate lack of hydration, drink plenty of water (not just juice or soft drinks, to hydrate your body)

Vitamin deficiency (Riboflavin especially)

• A daily vitamin supplement or a diet rich in B vitamins is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle; a clear symptom of a deficiency is if there are cracks around the corners of one’s mouth.

Smoking

• Constant contact with a cigarette to the lips removes or diminishes the healthy oils secreted from the lips to keep them healthy and moisturized.

• Nicotine darkens and dries the lips out. It also creates fine lines around the mouth from all of the puckering when pulling on a “drag”.

Potential Medical Condition

• An underlying medical issue could be the cause of moderate to severe lip peeling and dryness. If this is the case, I strongly urge seeking advice from a health professional to remedy this condition.

Here are some tips to keep those lips in the best possible health and look amazingly “Kiss-ably” good:


Try the following:

Exfoliate your lips (Can be done daily) – For Very Dry and Chapped Lips

• Exfoliate either in the morning or evening before bed

• Natural exfoliation scrubs that you can use are:

• Sugar and olive oil scrub, make sure that there’s enough olive oil in the scrub, so that it is not uncomfortable when exfoliating your lips

Before bed –

• If you’ve exfoliated, apply moisturizer

• A vitamin E and or Aloe based product is a great for the lips (do not use petroleum jelly, aka Vaseline, as this is great for creating a barrier, but it does not actually moisturize the lips)
  

In the A.M. –
As part of your morning routine, apply moisturizer that contains Sun block or SPF protection. For those of us a little more conscious of what we put onto our bodies some natural sun blocking ingredients are:

1. Aloe Vera
2. Coconut oil
3. Extra virgin olive oil (used in natural sun block recipes for the body)
4. Chamomile oil (used in natural sun block recipes for the body)

• For those that have the challenge of “Levidensis labiae”(Thinner lips) apply your favorite lip plumper at this point

• If you don’t want to pay insane prices or pain for a lip plumper, there are plenty of painless natural alternatives ☺

• Apply lip color

• Lipstick or gloss is fine, please be sure to apply after applying moisturizer to protect the lips

• Apply sealer

Throughout the day

• Be sure to re-apply moisturizer, lip stick color/gloss, and sealer if necessary

Hydration, hydration, and more hydration – 8-10 cups of water per day is significant