Lip salves or lip balms are fantastic personal care products. Applying a lip balm to your lips adds a protective layer which seals in moisture to prevent dry and cracked lips. Most lip balms contain natural ingredients mixed with synthetic chemicals like additives, preservatives and fragrances. Others are purely made from natural ingredients like shea butter and beeswax.
How often you should use a lip balm depends on your needs. If you experience dry lips frequently, then you would’ve to use a lip balm more often. It’s even recommended to apply lip balm to your lips before going to bed at night.
There are many factors and conditions that can cause dryness and chapped lips. Wind, dry air and cold temperature as some of the conditions that could affect your lips. Constantly licking your lips or regularly eating spicy could increase your risk of having dry lips as well.
The heat of the sun could also cause dry lips. This is one of the reasons why you need to stay hydrated if the weather is hot or warm. Proper hydration keeps your lips moist and well nourished.
If you’re not interested in buying a lip balm, you can actually make one at home. There are many recipes and guides online that you can use to make your own lip balm. Most of the time the guides are thoroughly but pretty easy to follow.
Additionally, most of these homemade lip balm recipes involve using natural ingredients and sometimes organic ones. Natural lip balms are highly recommended for people who want to moisturise their lips without dealing with the nasties commonly found in commercially produced lip balms.
Do you really need to use a lip balm?
Not really, no. If you’re always hydrated and never experience dry lips, then you probably don’t need a lip balm. The main reason, and probably only reason, to use a lip balm is to keep the lips moisturised to prevent it from cracking.
However, you can apply lip balm into your lips as a preventive measure. For instance, if you will engage in an outdoor activity and will be under the sun for an extended period of time.
Prevents dry lips
The main reason to use a lip balm is to prevent cracking lips or moisturise dry lips. Dry lips can lead to many problems for your healthwise. Bacteria could get into the cracks for your lips and could cause infection.
Not only do lip balms prevent dry lips, they also facilitate healing of any lip abrasions. Most natural lip balms contain ingredients like chamomile and shea butter that are known for their healing and antibacterial properties.
Preventive measure when taking medicines
Some medicines cause our lips to go dry. Most medications that contain vitamin A could cause dry mouth which could then lead to dry lips. Using a lip balm can help you manage and deal with the dryness.
Takeaway
Lip balms are not necessary but they come in pretty handy if you want to keep your mouth moisturised and you want to prevent dry lips. You can also stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water and bring a reusable water bottle with you wherever you go.
When Should You Use a Lip Balm
Many people bring their favourite lip balm wherever they go. Yes, even men. Because dry and chapped lips don’t recognise gender. Having a lip balm with you when your lips start feeling dry is a life-saver.
However, it should also be noted that overuse of lip balm can do more harm than good to your lips so use it in moderation. Because using applying lip balm to your lips too often prevents the body from producing natural oils of its own that could moisturise the lips naturally.
Lip balms might appear harmless but you should take extra precaution when using them. Some lip balms such as those containing sunscreen could cause serious health problems when swallowed. So it’s better to avoid licking your lips if you applied one of these lip balms. And besides constantly licking your lips is not good. Because it causes your lips to dry quickly.
Another thing to keep in mind is to never use an expired lip balm. So always check your lip balm’s expiry date before applying it into your lips. If you notice that it’s already past its expiration date then you should just throw it away into the bin.
Natural lip balms are highly recommended. Instead of putting nasty chemicals into your lips, moisturise your lips with natural ingredients such as beeswax, jojoba oil and shea butter. These natural ingredients are fantastic at keeping our lips hydrated and moisturised.
It is also recommended to make it a habit to wash your hands before using your fingers to apply lip balm into your lips. Dirty fingers may carry bacteria and germs that could get into cracked and chapped lips.
So now that’s out of the way, let’s take a look at the different times when you most certainly need to use a lip balm.
Dry and Cold Weather
Weather conditions can cause dryness of the lips especially during dry and cold sessions. During these seasons, you want to apply lip balm to your lips to prevent it from drying. You should use a lip balm as often as needed during the dry season in particular because the heat of the sun can cause dryness. Dry lips increase the risk of infection.
Too much humidity can also cause dry lips. While drinking plenty of water would be more than enough to keep you hydrated and your lips moisturised, it’s still good to have a lip balm in your pocket.
After Drinking or Eating
Eating spicy foods can dry your lips so does drinking alcoholic beverages. So if you plan on doing either or both, make sure you have a lip balm with you to keep your lips wet and moisturised. Better have a natural lip balm than regular ones so that you can be assured that it’s non-toxic.
When Necessary
Apply lip balm when necessary. When necessary depends entirely on you. People are unique. If you’re prone to dry lips then you would’ve to apply lip balm more often than a person who’s not prone to dry lips. If you’re one of those people experiencing dry lips more often than you wanted, make sure to have a natural lip balm with you.
Most Common Ingredients in Natural Lip Balms
Lip balms come in a wide range of ingredients, fragrances and colours. But they’re primarily used to hydrate and moisturise our lips. They’re also used to prevent dry lips.
There are many factors that can affect the efficacy of lip balms. Its ingredients and how the person reacts to these ingredients are only two of these factors. This means that a lip balm might work for some but not for you. So there’s a bit of trial and error involved which happens all the time especially with choosing personal care products.
If you’re looking for a lip balm to use, we highly recommend sticking to natural ones. Natural lip balms don’t contain the same nasty chemicals and substances that are commonly found in their chemical-laden counterparts.
Lip Balm Ingredients
And whatever natural lip balm you decide to use, make sure to look for these ingredients because they’re great for preventing dry lips as well as heals cracked and chapped lips.
Shea Butter
Shea butter is one of the go-to natural ingredients of ecofriendly skin care products. It’s known of its natural healing and antibacterial properties. Additionally, most skin types don’t have allergic reactions to shea butter which makes it the ideal skin care product ingredient.
Beeswax
Beeswax is a natural ingredient used in many ecofriendly products like skin care, food wraps and more. It’s considered safe and good at locking in moisture. It also creates a protective barrier on the surface of the lips without clogging the pores.
Lanolin
Lanolin is a natural ingredient however it is animal-derived. This means that any lip balm that contains lanolin is not vegan-friendly. Despite this, it’s one of the most common ingredients added in skin care products.
It’s known for its natural emollient properties. It softens and soothes the skin especially the lips which is great at maintaining healthy kissable lips.
However, one thing to note is that lanolin comes from wool animals like sheeps. So if you’re allergic to wool, it’s better to stay away from lip balms that contain lanolin.
Essential Oils
Essential oils are pretty common ingredients found in a wide range of personal care products. Many people think they’re overused. That might be true and for good reasons. These oils are simply effective at keeping our lips healthy and preventing dry and cracked lips. They also promote and speed up healing so they’re ideal for cracked lips.
Glycerin
Another common ingredient used is glycerin. It’s great at preventing pigmentation which helps maintain soft pinkish lips. It’s also a good moisturiser because it retains moisture which is great for preventing dryness of the lips.
Glycerin is also good at exfoliating because it effectively removes dead skin cells. It also helps relieve discomfort from flaking and cracking lips.
