In winter, temperatures drop, humidity drops and lips dry out quickly! They become rough and tense, and may even peel and bleed. So how can you keep your lips supple, soft and hydrated even in winter? We scanned all the content that exists to bring together the 5 tips from dermatologists for taking care of your lips.
Why do lips get chapped?
The lips are a slightly different area: the skin of the lips is 5 times thinner than that of the rest of our body and they have neither sebaceous glands nor sweat glands.
As a reminder, these glands are those which produce sebum and contribute to the hydrolipidic film: the lipids on the surface of the skin barrier form a protection which slows down dehydration. Without this protection, the lips dry out much faster than the rest of the body.
A second reason would be the exposure of the lips to external factors. Think about it: food, tobacco, alcohol, wind, cold etc. Our lips face constantly changing environments - food can be very acidic like lemon, tobacco is known to dry out the lips, etc.
With all these factors, lips can become chapped and cracked very quickly.
5 tips from dermatologists to take care of it
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First habit to lose: licking your lips regularly while thinking about fixing things. Saliva is slightly acidic and, although it provides momentary comfort, it takes away what little moisture is present in the lips. Dermatologists explain this phenomenon by the fact that saliva contains a drying enzyme. A reflex to lose!
- It's also linked to saliva... We don't tear off dead skin and we avoid biting our lips. Dr. Piliang, a dermatologist, emphasizes: "It's best not to rub your lips or remove peeling skin with your teeth or fingers." She indicates that unfortunately this can create cracks or even wounds which will be more difficult to treat. In addition, some dermatologists recommend using lip products that contain gentle exfoliating acids in order to avoid mechanical scrubs that are often too aggressive. So choose active ingredients like PHAs or possibly AHAs, precisely dosed to gently eliminate dead skin.
- Choose night products that act like a mask for deep repair. Look for rich active ingredients or vegetable oils that can form a protective film on your lips at night, which, like your skin, loses a lot of water while you sleep. The doctor Tomassian (founder of The Dermatology Collective in Los Angeles) recommends using squalane in high concentrations because "this active ingredient moisturizes the lips wonderfully."
- Remove makeup from your lips! And yes, we tend to forget it, but makeup or not, we must take into account cleaning our lips. Just like the skin, they accumulate dust, pollution, impurities, etc. throughout the day. And they dry out even more if you have used lipstick for example. So we take the reflex to remove makeup with oil and we avoid using all potentially drying formulas like micellar water. Which, moreover, forces us to rub our lips harder to cleanly remove makeup.
- We generously reapply lip balm regularly throughout the day to protect the lips from external aggressions and protect them in particular from major temperature fluctuations. Nina Roos, dermatologist in Paris, emphasizes the importance of "nourishing and repairing the skin of the lips." She recommends preferably using a lip balm or butter and applying it at least three times a day. And if you are ever on vacation in the mountains or in a very sunny place, we prefer a lip balm with SPF. The lips are extremely fragile and could be damaged even more quickly due to UV rays.
