As girls, almost all of us love wearing lip colours – be it vibrant and bright shades or nude and pastel hues. But no lipstick can create a perfect pout if your lips aren’t well cared for!

The skin on our lips is much thinner than the skin on the other parts of our body. This makes it easier for them to crack and chap and makes it much more important for us to take extra care of.

Our lips have a lesser amount of oil glands and no ability to create the sun-filtering natural melanin. This means that they have virtually no protection of their own. Chapped lips are most common in winter, when the cold, dry air dehydrates our skin. But winter isn’t the only season which spells trouble for our lips. Dry air, sun and wind will equally dry your lips all year round.

Regular use of lip balm offers the fastest remedy for chapped, dry lips. Composed of waxes and oils, some formulas also contain menthol or camphor to soothe rawness and stinging. Others feature allantoin or aloe to speed healing. Many incorporate sunscreens as must for outdoor exposure, but make sure they contain UVA-protecting ingredients like avobenzone, titanium dioxide or zinc oxide.

In addition to the above, there are a few other things that you can try in order to aid the effect of the lip balm. Before you start understanding about the various lip care tips and tricks, here is a brief glimpse at the troubles you may face with your lips.

Common Lip Problems and Their Causes:

Here are a few problems you may encounter with your lips:

1. Chapping:

• To prevent and treat, apply a good lip balm daily.
• Do it in such a way that it slightly overlaps the edges of the lips.
• Look for a balm which provides sun protection and has elements like Vitamins A, C or E and AHAs.

2. Splitting:

• Cracks often occur after sleeping in dry air.
• To prevent this, be sure to apply a good lip balm before going to bed
• Also try and use a humidifier as it will help retain the moisture in the air.

3. Lipstick Bleeding:

• This begins as the skin around the mouth loses collagen and elastic tissue with age, or is aggravated by smoking.
• Using a waxy lip liner to outline lips will help contain your lipstick within the line.
• When cosmetics no longer help, the more permanent (and expensive) solution is to have collagen injections to fill the cracks.
• Or you could always not smoke and give up on that!

4. Cold Sores:

• Caused by viral infections, these look like blisters or open scabs.
• To avoid re-infection, use cotton swabs to apply lipstick while sore is visible.

Now that you know the different types of problems that you can face with your lips and the causes that result in the same, let us look at the tips that will help contain the problem.

10 Simple and Effective Lip Care Tips:

When it comes to lip care, you should firmly believe in the saying ‘prevention is better than cure!’ It is always possible to restore the health of your lips. But it takes time for the results to be visible and in the meanwhile, you will have to put up with the pain that lip problems cause.

Here are some simple tips that will help you to take care of your lips:

1. Do not Touch or Lick your Lips:

Lips do not have any protection of their own, which means that each time you touch them or lick them, they are getting directly affected.

It is essential that you do not do anything that will make the problem worse.

Never lick your lips. It might feel good for the moment and also feel hydrating for your lips. But once the saliva evaporates, it will leave the lips even drier. The enzymes in the saliva are simply too harsh on your delicate lips.

The next thing to never do is breathe with your mouth open. Imagine how much of the moisture must get stripped away with all that dry air blowing over it.

And the last in this segment, is but obvious. Don’t kiss anyone with any infections on their lips. For it takes absolutely no time for an infection to spread to any cracks on your lips too!

2. Follow Healthy Diet Plan:

A good diet is essential not just for your skin but even for your lips.

Vitamins and other nutrients reflect directly on the condition of your lips. It is essential that you stay on a healthy diet to have lovely lips!

3. Stay Hydrated By Drinking Lot of Water:

Staying hydrated is one of the most important things when it comes to healthy lips. Just as your skin needs to be kept hydrated from the inside, so do your lips.

4. Remove Makeup:

Your lips need to be able to breathe by being clear.

• Make sure you remove all traces of makeup from your lips before you sleep.
• Use a damp cotton ball and wipe your lips clean.

5. Keep Your Lips Hydrated Overnight:

While we are awake we know when our lips dry out, but this could be a problem when you are asleep.

The air around you tends to dry out your lips while you sleep.

• Make sure you use a heavy or hydrating lip cream or some petroleum jelly before you sleep.
• You can also use cream or raw milk for the same or even ghee (clarified butter).

6. Massage your Lips:

You can use some nourishing oils to massage your lips for about 5 minutes every day.

This improves the blood circulation in your lips and ensures that they get the nutrients that are needed.

7. Scrub Your Lips:

Scrubbing your lips is important to ensure that they stay healthy and soft. Removing dead skin cells is a must to make sure that your lips don’t succumb to any infection.

• Use any mild scrub that is available in the market for lips
• Alternatively, you can make your own lip scrub at home with some rock sugar.

8. Always Carry a Lip Balm:

You never know when your lips tend to start drying out. Make sure you have a good creamy and hydrating lip balm with you even while you are traveling.

9. Use Lipsticks when Stepping Out:

Yes, the good news is that it is good to use some lipstick before you step out.

Since, the lips have no natural protection, wearing a lipstick will help you add a layer to them.

Using lipsticks protects your lips from the sun, dry air, dirt and other outside factors.

10. Know when it is time to ask for help:

Sometimes, despite all these preventive measures, your lips still need help.

If you have tried the above home remedies and tricks and it still is not working, it is time to visit a doctor. Make sure you don’t make it too late!

Keep these simple and amazing tips in mind to get those naturally healthy and soft lips. Take care and flaunt your perfect pout in style!