Our lips need to be carefully cared for to keep them healthy and soft. Especially in winter, extensive lip care is important so that the lips do not become dry, rough or chapped. Because the change from cold temperatures and warm heating air really puts a strain on them. The corners of the mouth are often particularly badly affected, as they often tear in winter. We reveal how you can prevent chapped lips in winter and what all belongs to a good lip care.
Our lips need care
Our lips belong to the outer mucous membranes and are therefore particularly sensitive. Unlike normal skin, they have namely no sebaceous glands and no fat-water film. This means that they are less well protected from external influences and are not supplied with oil and moisture. Since the lips also contain very few color pigments, they are also hardly protected from UV radiation. That is why it is advisable to apply a sunscreen to the lips both in summer and in winter when the weather is nice. It is best to buy a special care stick with an integrated sun protection factor. Especially in winter, it is important that we care for our lips regularly. If we don’t, they become chapped, rough and brittle. This is due to the fact that lips are exposed to particularly strong temperature fluctuations in winter. While it is usually frosty cold outside, warm but dry heating air prevails indoors.
What to do against chapped lips?
To treat chapped lips, you should use special lip care products. These contain substances that repair small broken areas and thus make the lips smooth again. In addition, they often also ensure that the lips are supplied with moisture. Make sure that lip care products are rich in lipid-replenishing substances:
- Products with shea butter or apricot kernel oil are well suited, as the substances contained are very similar to the fats in the skin.
- You can also use care sticks with almond, olive or jojoba oil without worry.
- Due to their slightly germicidal effect, care products with beeswax or zinc are also recommended.
Some care sticks ensure that the collagen reserves in the lips are replenished. These decrease approximately from the age of 40 more and more. Therefore, such products are particularly suitable for people in middle age. If the lips are not only rough, but cracked or even bleeding, you should do without lip balms for the time being. In this case, it is better to use a cream that promotes healing of the skin. Here, for example, you can resort to ointments with dexpanthenol.
First aid for torn corners of the mouth
Especially often tear the corners of the mouth in winter. Then bacteria and fungi can easily settle and cause an infection. To prevent such an infection, creams or pastes with zinc are recommended. In addition to the cold, torn corners of the mouth can also be caused by a vitamin B6 or vitamin B12 deficiency and insufficient iron or zinc. Be sure to have these values clarified if the corners of your mouth tear more often.
5 home remedies for chapped, dry lips
In winter, you should avoid licking your lips. This is because it only dries them out even more. Also, you should not chew on your lips. Otherwise, small injuries can occur, through which germs can easily enter the body and cause inflammation. To prevent or treat rough, dry lips, the following home remedies are recommended:
- If you are outdoors more often in winter, apply a thin layer of a grease cream to your lips beforehand. This will protect the lips from drying out.
- Treat your lips every week a little massage. To do this, you rub best with a soft toothbrush gently over the lips. So dead skin flakes can be effectively removed. Then apply a good lip care.
- Instead of a lip care, you can also simply spread some honey on your lips and leave it on overnight. But be sure to avoid licking the honey with your tongue.
- Cream your lips thickly with a care cream, especially at night – so they can regenerate overnight.
- Milking grease is also good for the care of chapped lips in winter.However, make sure you reach for a product without petroleum jelly.
2 Recipes for lip care
A good lip care you can often do yourself quite easily. We give you two practical recipes to hand:
- Honey-quark mask: mix a spoonful of quark with a spoonful of honey and then apply the mixture thickly to the lips. After 10 minutes, you can carefully wash the mixture off again with a little lukewarm water.
- Olive oil for the night: Give a few drops of olive oil on the lips every night before bedtime. So these remain soft and supple.
