Once your lips become chapped, it’s pretty much impossible to ignore them. And they just get worse as it gets colder and the air gets drier—no wonder winter is such a bummer! Our lips lack oil glands to keep the thin, delicate skin moisturized, which can quickly lead to dryness, cracks and redness. If you’re suffering from dry, flaky or even painfully chapped lips, here are a few natural ways to heal them and keep them moisturized.
11 Ways to Avoid Chapped Lips
1. Gently exfoliate
It is super simple – and tasty – to do a lip exfoliation. You can go crazy with fun flavors like peppermint or vanilla, but a simple combo of oil and sugar, plus a dash of honey, will do the trick. This honey sugar lip scrub is a classic.
Honey is a humectant, which means it locks moisture in to your skin. A little honey combined with sugar (to gently exfoliate) and almond oil rubbed gently onto the lips will moisturize and slough off dead skin. You can even eat the scrub! We also have a pumpkin spice version (complete with lip balm recipe) if you want to keep it seasonal.
Here’s a recipe if you need it, but basically you want equal parts liquid and sugar. Then use your fingertip to apply the mixture to your lips and gently scrub. Rinse with warm water when you’re done.
- 2 teaspoons sugar (you can use pretty much any sugar: raw sugar, brown sugar, regular sugar)
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 teaspoon almond oil
If slathering honey and sugar on your lips doesn’t sound appealing (hey, to each her own), try a very gentle scrub with the softest toothbrush you can find, one to two times per day, to exfoliate.
2. Repair overnight
Follow up the exfoliation with a simple overnight lip repair mask. You can try a collagen-infused mask or make your own. Honey helps your skin retain moisture and vitamin E treats the dry patches. Wear the mixture on your lips overnight and then wipe off any excess in the morning.
- 1 teaspoon vitamin E oil (about 3 vitamin E capsules)
- 1 teaspoon honey
Even easier, just slather some coconut oil on your lips at night; by morning they’ll be soft, supple and crack-free.
3. Make your own lip balm
You can DIY lip balm. Seriously, it’s easy, go do it! That way you can skip ingredients like lanolin (aka sheep grease—gross!), parabens and fragrances. I highly recommend using honey in your lip balm; it makes an effective chapped lips treatment. You can also skip animal products altogether with a vegan lip balm recipe without beeswax.
4. Use thick emollients
Waxes coat lips, forming a protective layer that tends to stay on longer than an oil. For a DIY approach, make this all-purpose body balm. It’s soft enough for really dry lips, but the beeswax creates a protective layer—so you won’t be reapplying on the hour. It also includes cocoa butter and coconut oil and has a ton of other uses.
Coat your lips with a thin layer of oil, like sweet almond or coconut. This rich body oil can be used head to toe—including on dry, chapped lips. We love it in this DIY warming vanilla-chai oil, which is totally safe for your lips.
5. Soothe cracks with vitamin E
If your lips are starting to get cracked and painful, open up a vitamin E capsule and put a little of the gel right on the problem spots (this works well for the corners of your mouth, too). Layer over homemade lip balm or coconut oil to heal overnight.
6. Try a lip mask
My chapped lips love this soothing mixture that uses milk’s lactic acid to exfoliate, rather than a scrub. Rose oil is anti-inflammatory to ease irritated skin, and the subtle rose smell and flavor is a relaxing bonus.
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 drop rose essential oil
Combine the milk and essential oil in a small dish. Dip a cotton ball into the mixture and apply to the lips. Let the liquid sit on your lips for 5 minutes (you can hold the cotton ball to your lips if you want). Refrigerate any extras and use within 2 weeks.
7. Skip menthol and camphor
If you’re not ready to DIY, then at least toss the balms with menthol or camphor. Those ingredients draw moisture from your lips, which just makes chapping worse! Plus, you don’t want to be licking your lips and ingesting that all day. Look for look for balms that contain coconut oil, shea butter, cocoa butter or beeswax or try one of these natural lip balm options.
8. Make smart lipstick picks
And don’t forget about your lipstick! Some ‘long lasting’ lipsticks will turn your lips dryer than the Sahara Desert. They suck the moisture out of your lips, and when the color settles into the grooves of your lips it’s not a pretty sight.
Try a lip gloss with a hint of color from raspberry or cranberry. For lipstick diehards, Burt’s Bees is one that uses natural moisturizing ingredients like moringa oil and raspberry seed oil.
9. Protect lips from the sun
No matter the season, sun exposure will dry out your lips. And no joke, sunburns on the lips are super painful and can lead to lots of fun peeling. The sun can also be a trigger for cold sores so when you’re putting on your daily sunscreen, don’t forget to protect your lips.
10. Hydrate from the inside
I was the person who hated hearing everyone preach about drinking more water until I actually started doing it. And for me, the biggest benefit of drinking at least 32 ounces a day (with the goal of 64 ounces) was that I could finally break my lip balm addiction. Because I wasn’t constantly licking my dry lips!
Lesson learned: If you’re hydrated, your lips will be too. Drinking water can be even harder in winter so if you’re having trouble getting to 64 ounces each day, try these hydration hacks. I’m relying more on herbal tea – and when you’re ready to venture beyond peppermint, here’s a great breakdown of new types to try.
11. Invest in a humidifier
The other skin game changer for me was running a humidifier at night. Rather than suffer through dry skin and lips, invest in an inexpensive warm mist humidifier to stop the dryness before it starts.
P.S. Now that you have the perfect pout, try cinnamon to give you plumper lips the natural way!
950
Hiii! Thanx for sharing these tips. You can also include organic juices in your diet to detox your body and add an extra factor to your efforts.
My lips were dry and I played the oboe so it was really hard but now it is not.
This is great advice my lips feel softer already ????
Good day,i commend your write up and research.i am currently having my lips in that form but i hope your prescriptions will correct them. please i am also having a lot of black spots on my face from pimples ,please can my face still be spotless and what is your advise
Easy! Look up korean skin routines and voila!!! Well heh at least thats what i do just follow their routines and done
Would Cod Liver Oil be good for keeping lips soft and moist.?
I have a problem with my lips they are cracked what can I do. Please help
Do you have a recipes for foamiing hand soap.. If so could I please have it thank-you REBECCA/
These are great tips. I can’t wait to try the scrub and balm.
Just a note about humidifiers in general. They are an excellent way to control humidity locally. The debate rages on over the pros and cons of warm vs. cool mist versions. Just be mindful they both need to be cleaned regularly – as in weekly or more often. Both types can build up bacteria or worse, mould, very quickly. Not just in the water reservoir, but also throughout the unit, on the outside and in the aroma/medication compartment. The manufacturers instructions often differ for each unit on how to dismantle and properly clean them. Although some may suggest warm mist units must reach the boiling point, so therefore kill this problem, they do not reach the required temperature for long enough, (often leading to spore formation of mould) or in enough places throughout the humidifier to prevent microbe (bacteria or mould) growth within the unit.
In addition, most experts suggest a comfort zone in your house of 30%-50% or 60% relative humidity. However, the optimum range of 45%- 50% is suggested to prevent microbe growth and/or damage to household items and structures while counteracting nose bleeds, asthma, etc. Very inexpensive analog gauges (<$10) can be purchased to monitor relative humidity in the required room.
Finally, humidifiers are great ways to disperse essential oil concoctions depending on preference and requirement. For example, peppermint and eucalyptus for common cold and sinus issues, lavender and camomile for restful sleep…etc. Again, each unit is different and may require some tinkering with recipes for safety, functionality, and efficacy.
Sorry to be a downer but if you are using humidifiers for improved general health or symptom relief, I doubt you want to compound the problem by dispersing mould and bacteria into the air. I prefer wafting lovely lavender for my slumber induction.
Thanks,
Elizabeth
Note: I am not a doctor, but as a paramedic who suffers from asthma and eczema, I work in extreme cold conditions often (-30°C plus wind chill highway extrications). I have owned more than a few brands/models of humidifiers and acquired a wee bit of experience and knowledge over the last 15 years.
Great tips! I’m on my way to get a humidifier right now, actually. Not for my lips, but my nose! It’s just crusting apart :( But yes, always opting natural and beeswaxing it up for the winter! Cheers.
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