Taking care of your lips is probably the last thing on your mind, that is until they start cracking up.

Chapped lips are dry and tight and can be very uncomfortable. Severely chapped lips may cause painful stinging reactions when eating or even speaking.

If you happen to be dealing with chapped lips, you are not alone as most individuals will experience chapped lips at some point or another.

Probably you are wondering why your lips tend to chap and crack — even if your skin is oily? Well, for starters, your lips don’t produce sebum like other parts of your skin, and this is why your lips are prone to dryness.

Also, your lips are likely to become chapped and cracked during the winter when it’s dry and cold outside. Extreme heat or wind can also cause your lips to become chapped.

Fortunately, a few simple steps can help keep your lips soft, smooth and crack-free!

Here are a few tips that you can use as part of a lip care routine to help get your lips in tip-top shape no matter the season.

It’s important to note that there are two parts to any lip care routine — hydration and exfoliation. However, you’ll only need to exfoliate if your lips are prone to chapping and cracking.

Hydrate

When it comes on to your lips, your moisturiser is your best friend. Yes, any time your lips feel dry it is definitely an appropriate time to apply some lip balm.

Here’s how you can always ensure your lips are kept hydrated.

• Use an applicator or your fingers to apply moisturising balm liberally over lips, including at the corners.

• If you’re spending time outside and your lip moisturiser doesn’t contain sunscreen, you might want to follow up with an SPF 30+ lip balm.

• Reapply as necessary at regular intervals throughout the day. Experts usually recommend using a hydrating lip product 2–4 times per day. However, you may need to use more if you have very dry lips or eczema.

Exfoliate

Exfoliating your lips can help eliminate some dry, flaking skin that builds up and restore the softness, and smoothness that you desire.

While exfoliating your lips can make a world of difference, it’s important not to over-exfoliate. So, it would not be wise to exfoliate more than two times a week as part of your morning or nighttime routine.

Here’s how you exfoliate your lips:

• Apply a small amount of exfoliating scrub to your fingertips.

• Gently rub over the lips in small circular motions for no more than 30 seconds.

• Leave mixture on lips for 10 minutes, allowing the nourishing oils to soak in.

• Rinse with warm water.

• Pat skin dry with a clean towel.

• Apply a protective balm to lock in moisture and soothe lips.

• To boost your lip health, stay hydrated and avoid picking or biting your lips.

DIY lip Care home remedies

Taking care of your lips can be quite simple. Here are two DIY recipes that you can use to support your lip care routine.

Lip scrub

To make a simple lip scrub at home, you’ll only need to combine two teaspoons of a naturally abrasive ingredient, such as salt or sugar, with one tablespoon of a nourishing ingredient.

Nourishing ingredients can include coconut oil, jojoba oil, avocado oil, beeswax, pure petrolatum (Petroleum jelly), almond oil and shea butter.

If you prefer your scrub on the thinner side, feel free to add more oil to obtain a looser mixture.

Lip balm

To make your very own DIY lip balm, you can use the same nourishing ingredients minus the sugar or salt to make a lip balm at home.

Here’s what you’ll need

• Two tablespoons shea butter
• Four tablespoons liquid oil, such as coconut, almond, or olive oil
• Three tablespoons beeswax pellets

Directions

1. Melt all ingredients in the microwave for 30 seconds.
2. Stir together.
3. Keep microwaving and mixing until the ingredients are well-blended.
4. Pour mixture into pots or tubes and let it cool.

And there you have it! Your lip balm is done and ready to work some magic to restore your lips.

It’s important to remember that your lips don’t have the sebaceous oil glands found elsewhere on your skin and this one of the main reasons why your lips are prone to dryness and chapping, especially in cold, extremely hot, or windy weather.

A regular lip care routine can help keep your lips soft and smooth. Look for a lip balm with ingredients like shea butter or petrolatum and apply it anytime your lips feel dry.