Let's Talk Lips

Cold and blustery weather paired with dry indoor air can really do a number on our lips. Take a look at this diagram of lip skin to see how different it is from the rest of our skin. ​

• The protective layer on the epidermis (called the stratum corneum) is much thinner on lip tissue, which means it dries out more quickly. It's also more fragile. 
• There are no sebaceous glands (oil glands) in our lip tissue. This means that our skin's natural moisturizer (sebum) is not present in our lips. This is why we need to help them out by adding beneficial oils (not water) to the surface of the lips.
• Wetting our lips with saliva actually dries out the lips even further, due to the evaporation process and enzymes present in our saliva.

What We Can Do

Here's a few things we can do to combat dry lips.

• Drink plenty of water. Dry lips are often a sign of dehydration. If drinking water sounds boring, try mixing it up with fruit-infused water or add some essential oil drops to your water. I love a touch of peppermint in my water!

• Always keep a lip balm handy. I like to keep a lip balm in a pocket of each coat so I'm not caught without one when I'm out and about. Remember that your lips don't have sebaceous glands, so help them out!
• Be messy when applying your lip balm. Extend the balm past the lips to include the skin around the lips. Nourish the skin where those fine lines will tend to appear.
• Read the ingredients in your lip balm. Be aware that many manufacturers use petroleum-based ingredients. We use organic babassu oil, shea butter, and beeswax.
• Avoid stronger-scented balms such as cinnamon or peppermint if your lips are sensitive. 
• Consider lanolin as a lip balm substitute, especially if you struggle with cracked or severely dry lips. For more info on lanolin, check out our blog post on lanolin here.

We hope that this information can help you better take care of those lips this winter!