It’s another pleasant Sunday, a time for me to share my beauty tips. Today, I want to talk about lip care and here you will find 5 super easy steps that I do to care for my lips.
Everyday, our lips are exposed to the harmful effects of the elements, but we normally neglect to care for them. They are as delicate as our eyes, overused daily especially if you’re a chatterbox like me, and we should give them the special treatment that they deserve.
I honestly hadn’t really cared about these things and it was only recently that I started to change my bad habits, well almost. It’s still hard for me to do the first step – which is actually the easiest – but I’m doing my best.
THE REASON
This is the story that changed my bad lip habits
I can’t remember the exact date when this happened, but I can still remember the pain I felt that morning and I still see the effect on my lips. It was one of those mornings when I had been partying all night and I woke up with a bad case of hangover because I was dehydrated beyond dehydration. I couldn’t open my mouth.. my lips were stuck together because they were too dry. I know I wasn’t thinking straight because when I got up from bed to brush my teeth in the bathroom, I forced open my mouth and although my lips did part, it resulted in a big cut in the center of my upper lip.
It bled, but dried up after a while. I couldn’t go out for days after that because the healing wound was really noticeable on my upper lip. I thought it will heal just fine, but no! Now I’m left with a crooked upper lip with a big dent at the center. Oh well, at least I’m unique this way. LOL!
Without further ado, here are the 5 steps to a healthier, softer and more beautiful lips!
Step 1
Drink Up!
Ever since we were kids, we were always told (not just by our parents but it was also taught in class) to drink lots of water – at least 8-10 glasses a day. This is very important for our health and well-being, and as a bonus, it also helps in keeping our lips hydrated. When I’m dehydrated, like when I’ve had too much alcohol (not water) to drink, I notice that my lips are especially pale and dry. Drinking water almost immediately solves this issue.
I’m still struggling with this step, though, because I’m just not a water-drinker. I don’t like drinking something which has no taste. I had remedied this last year when I bought a special pitcher made for lemon water. It has a compartment at the center where you will put the lemon slices and it will also keep all the seeds from getting mixed with your water. This pitcher made life easier for me, at least when it comes to making and drinking lemon water.
But I had stopped drinking lemon water lately because the price of lemons here had tripled, and if I sum it up, I would be spending around Php1,350 a month just for my lemon water. I can use that money for makeup instead, so I’ll just have to force myself to drink pure water. What I do now is think of the benefits I would get by drinking water so I am distracted and not notice the tastelessness of the water. It’s also not recommended to drink large amounts of water in just one go, so I try to drink a glass of water every hour or so, and about 2 glasses after eating.
Step 2
Buff Away!
Our lips tend to get chapped, flaky and dry especially during colder months when the air is dry. Even during hot and humid days, when we turn on the air-conditioner, the air gets dry as well, so our lips still suffer. I used to have a bad habit of pulling the flaky and dry patches from my lips. When I’m extremely focused with work, I unconsciously do this. I only notice it when I feel the pain and taste the blood from where I have pulled.
Searching the internet, I found out only last year that our lips also need to be exfoliated every now and then, not just our face and body. I came across a lot of lip scrub recipes and the one I’ve recently been using is the sugar scrub. I use brown sugar which is softer than the white version, take about half a teaspoon and using just my clean ring finger, gently massage the sugar in small circles across my entire lips. After about 2 minutes, I just rinse it with water and I feel that my lips are softer and more kissable-supple.
I only use the sugar scrub twice a week, sometimes even just once a week. For days when I’m not exfoliating with brown sugar, I use a soft toothbrush that I use only for my lips (a baby toothbrush can also be used) and gently massage my lips with it. Using a toothbrush alone is not that effective, though, so I put a bit of Vaseline Lip Therapy first before massaging with the toothbrush. This is the easiest way for me to exfoliate my lips, and is often the method I use when I’m in a rush.
Step 3
Hide and Shield
5 Basic, Easy Steps to More Beautiful Lips
Just because you’re not a smoker doesn’t save you from having dark pigmented lips. Exposing our lips to the harmful rays of the sun without any protection will slowly darken its color, might result in sun spots and even worse, cancer. I also learned this the hard way because I seldom use sun protection and now I have a dark spot on my lower lip. There’s also a great probability that it was caused by one of the wounds caused by me pulling the flaky patches on my lips, but still! For days when I’m not wearing any lipstick, I now use either Chanel Hydrating Lip Treatment SPF 15 or Ocean Potion Moisturizing Lip Potion SPF 45.
Step 4
Moisture Allure
5 Basic, Easy Steps to More Beautiful Lips
Eventhough most of the lipsticks I use are moisturizing, I still make it a habit to use a lip balm underneath. It helps in keeping my lips moisturized and also protects it from chapping and flaking. I use my Chanel Rouge Coco Baume which is a better version of, and I believe is the replacement for, Chanel Hydrating Lip Treatment SPF 15. Chanel Rouge Coco Baume is better because it’s more moisturizing than the Hydrating Lip Treatment, but since it doesn’t have any SPF in it, I don’t use it during days when I know my lips will be exposed to the sun. Dior Addict Lip Glow Color Reviver Balm has an SPF 10, but it changes my lip color, so I couldn’t use it underneath a lipstick. I can maybe pair it with a lipgloss! Oh, why haven’t I thought of that before?
For matte lipsticks, my go-to lip primer is MAC Prep+Prime Lip. I apply it first, wait for it to get a bit tacky which is about a minute, then apply my matte lipstick. I think this also helps prolong the wear time of matte lipsticks. Last night, I used it underneath my MAC Nouvelle Vogue Matte lipstick (reviewed here), and even after hours and hours of drinking and partying, my lipstick still looked fresh and intact!
Another product I’m currently using is the NARS Multi-action Hydrating Toner. It was the SA at NARS Makati who recommended this product to me. She said that during the last NARS event in Makati, Jenny Smith (NARS’ lead makeup artist) used it on the model’s lips prior to applying lipstick. The SA tried it on me and I felt that it really made my lips appear smoother and hydrated. So although this product was not originally made for the lips, I now use it to prime my lips before I even apply a lip balm.
Step 5
Sleep With It
5 Basic, Easy Steps to More Beautiful Lips
I don’t know why, but even though my lips are alright before I go to bed, they still become dry by the time I wake up in the morning. I’ve tried lots of products like the cute EOS lip balms, Smith’s Rosebud Salve, Chapstick, Burt’s Bees, Nivea, to name a few. But not one of them worked on me.
Then I found Vaseline Lip Therapy Advanced Formula. I apply it before I sleep at night, and I really notice the difference in the morning. My lips are supple and soft like never before.
ADDITIONAL LIPS TIPS
- Refrain from licking your lips because contrary to what most people believe, licking your lips will result in even drier lips.
- Avoid puckering your lips as this will give you wrinkled lips in the future. I see a lot of selfies, including mine, where lips are puckered. They are really cute, well to me they are, and I loved doing it ever since I was young, and now my lips are wrinkled because of that. Oh, but, I don’t care! I still pucker my lips just because. But, if you don’t want wrinkled lips in the future, you should avoid it.
I hope this helped you as much as it did me! Do you have any lip care products that you want to recommend? If so, please feel free to leave a comment below. Hope you’re having a wonderful, fab and savvy weekend!