Dry lips in winter: how to gently care for them again

Photo by Cesar La Rosa on Unsplash

Dry lips - what is the cause?

For many, brittle, cracked lips are a normal part of winter. When it is cold outside and heated inside, the skin dries out faster. This hits the delicate lip area particularly hard. She is extremely thin-skinned. And it has neither sebum nor sweat glands, which otherwise produce the skin's natural protective film. This makes the lips nice and red, but also a bit helpless.

But we don't want to blame winter for everything. There are other causes for chapped lips. You notice a direct effect when too much alcohol has flowed. Alcohol dehydrates. The lips usually feel it first. Even if you are under a lot of stress, they will dry out faster. And then there is the nutrient deficiency as a possible cause. If all else fails, you can have it checked out. However, the right care usually makes a huge difference.

Good lip care promotes regeneration

As already mentioned, the skin on the lips can hardly help itself. You have to do that for her. Your lip balm should therefore:

1. Provide protection from the cold and dehydration. So make sure your lip balm contains wax.
2. Support skin renewal with nourishing ingredients. Actually logical, right? Not even close. Many lip balms are still full of mineral oils. They don't take care of your delicate lip skin at all. Better choose lip care with vegetable oils.

☝️ Note: Mineral oils only seal the skin against water loss. This purely occlusive, i.e. closing, effect is not enough for dry lips. They need real care!

Which ingredients go well in lip balm

Natural waxes and oils offer you exactly this combination of protection and care. But there are many fats. To keep your lips supple for a long time, it is important to choose the most effective. So take a close look at the ingredients when you buy them. Be on the lookout for these particularly valuable ingredients:

1. Castor oil
   Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil
   There is none here Escape Danger: Castor oil spreads super slowly. It stays where you put it. As a result, it forms a protective film on the lips that lasts for a long time. It also penetrates into the intercellular spaces of the skin's surface and acts in depth.
2. Beeswax
   Cera Alba
   form waxes a protective film on the sensitive lips and give them more shine. They have a strong moisturizing effect and ensure a long-lasting feeling of care. Beeswax develops a kind of depot effect. It gradually releases the active ingredients into the skin over a long period of time.
   🌱 For vegans there are herbal alternatives such as candelilla wax (Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax/Cera) or Berry wax (Rhus Verniciflua Peel Wax/Cera; however, it has a less film-forming effect, which affects the protective effect¹).
3. Shea Butter
   Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter
   Butter is thicker than oil. This ensures that Shea butter protects your lips for a long time. At the same time, it softens the skin and promotes its regeneration - an important point in lip care! It helps acutely and makes your lips more resistant.
4. Seabuckthorn Pulp Oil
   Hippophae Rhamnoides (Seabuckthorn Fruit) Oil
   The Oil from the sea buckthorn fruits protects and soothes the lips. It inhibits inflammation, promotes the healing of cracks and boosts cell regeneration. Here, too, you get protection and strengthening in a double pack.

🌟 Tip: Use waterless care products for your lips in winter. You can usually recognize them by the fact that they come in a care stick or jar. Lip gloss and creams, on the other hand, usually contain a lot of moisture. It's counterproductive when it's cold.

Dos & Don'ts for dry lips in winter

Let's reiterate: Lip care with waxes, vegetable oils and no water is good. However, there are still a few things we can do to make life even harder or easier for our chapped lips. Here are the three biggest mistakes and help in everyday winter life.