Are you dealing with dry lips? Sometimes winter and poor personal care can get the best of us and dry lips show up without an invite. But, you can experience chapped lips any time of year if you neglect that area of your skin. The result? They can feel tight, flakey, and downright uncomfortable. Here’s the thing—dry lips are really just your body’s way of saying they’re thirsty for additional hydration and need some extra special care. But, what are some of the causes of dry lips and how can you pamper your pout? Here’s everything you should know about perfecting your pucker.
What May Cause Chapped Lips
So, why does the skin on your lips get so much dryer than other parts on your body? First off, the skin is thinner. That skin also doesn’t have any oil glands, so it can’t produce moisture on its own. This means that without deliberately hydrating your lips—be it with your hourly chapstick application or a nightly moisturizing routine—they can easily dry out from weather, sunburn or breathing with your mouth open. But, those aren’t the only reasons you might experience chapped lips. Let’s take a closer look at some of the other possibilities.
External Factors
You might scorn humidity in the summer for frizzing your hair, but you should be thanking it for helping to keep your skin hydrated and giving you those soft lips you love. Here’s the thing, when winter rolls around and that summer humidity disappears, your lips no longer have a natural airborne moisturizer. But, be careful about spending all of your time outdoors in the summer trying to get a hold of all that humidity. Frequent sun exposure can also be one of the causes of dry lips—especially the bottom one.
It’s not all about weather either. When we say external factors, we’re also talking about the food on your plate. Spicy food can compromise the skin’s barrier on your lips, which could make dry lips worse. And the heat in those shishito peppers from Japan or those chorizo tacos from Mexico might leave you licking your lips in an attempt to cool them down. As a result, the saliva from your tongue may strip moisture from the lip’s skin. So, while you might love trying the local cuisine during your travels, consider steering clear of spices if you’re especially prone to frequent chapped lips.
Let’s not forget about water, either. When your body is dehydrated, your skin may be more prone to becoming dry—and this can go for anywhere on your body, but especially your lips.
Other Considerations
Let’s say you’ve increased your water intake, eliminated all spicy food, and frequently started applying chapstick, but you still can’t figure out how to get rid of dry lips. Well, it might be out of your control. Let’s chat allergies. That red lipstick you love to wear and the rose-scented moisturizer you can’t live without may not be as loved by your skin. In fact, you may experience an allergic reaction on your lips due to pigments in makeup, skincare products, and fragranced products. The result could include dry, dry lips. But, it’s not always allergies. It could also come down to nutrition. Without the right amount of iron, zinc and B vitamins, your skin may suffer, which could result in dryness of your lips.