Winter has a way of making its presence felt before it fully arrives. As soon as the winds turn a little cold, our skin slowly begins drying and cracking.
While dry skin is expected during colder months, our lips actually suffer more as they’re a tad bit extra delicate.
With that, the inflammation on lips isn’t limited to just drying and cracking, it often turns to having peeling lips and even bleeding. So, why do all these symptoms appear, especially with the onset of winter?
Let’s answer the why behind these questions, and look at how to stop lips cracking in winter:
Key Takeaways
- Lips crack more in winter due to low humidity, cold winds, pollution, and the absence of oil glands.
- Indoor heating, hot showers, and habits like licking or picking lips worsen dryness and delay healing.
- Natural remedies such as coconut oil, shea butter, and aloe vera help soothe, repair, and hydrate chapped lips.
- Hydrating balms, SPF lip balms, gentle scrubs, and overnight lip masks strengthen the lip barrier and prevent cracks.
- Avoid irritants like menthol, camphor, fragrance, and salicylic acid to protect sensitive, winter-damaged lips.
Why do lips crack in winter?
You all must be familiar with tightness, flakiness, or peeling of your lips during winter. But what exactly makes your lips so chapped?
Let us understand in this section:
Dry weather
It is the foremost dry lips reason. The air in winter contains less humidity, making your lips lose moisture faster. Then, the winds suck humidity out of them, making them dry and cracky. And the pollution outside is just the cherry on the cake, making chapping even more intense.
Lack of oil glands
Our skin has sebaceous glands that produce oils to fight with the loss of moisture. But, lips lack such glands. That means that once they are dry, there is no built-in way to replenish the hydration. This reason, paired with dry weather, becomes one of the chapped lips causes.
Indoor heating and hot showers
The same things that comfort us, are also drying our lips out. Well, how? The indoor heating and hot showers strip our skin as well as our lips of hydration. And when combined with colder weather, it makes your lips more prone to cracking and peeling.
Picking and licking lips
Picking and licking dry lips may feel satisfying (often impulsive and uncontrollable at times), but they can actually worsen the inflammation and delay healing. The saliva provides temporary hydration and relief, but evaporates quickly, taking whatever is left of moisture with it. So, make sure that you hold that urge of picking or licking your dry lips!
Natural remedies for chapped lips
Yes, winters can make your lips dry and chapped easily. But the good news is that the chapping is preventable and treatable! Following are some home remedies for dry lips:
Coconut oil
Coconut oil has been used for skin nourishment in the tropical world for ages. It helps soften rough skin on your lips – which is important to let balms be absorbed effectively and also locks in moisture.
How to use: Massage the coconut oil directly on lips. For better absorption, massage in a circular motion.
Ensure reapplication whenever lips become dry.
Shea butter
Shea butter is hailed for its skin repair properties. It is packed with nutrients like Vitamin A and E and works like a comfort food for your lips, helping them recover faster and providing better moisturisation.
How to use: Apply it directly like a balm. And don’t shy away from reapplying it again and again for round the clock hydration.
Aloe vera
Aloevera is rich in Vitamin C and E and has anti-inflammatory properties. It soothes the skin, calms irritation and supports skin repair. Thus, aloe vera is ideal to be used as a natural remedy for dry chapped lips.
How to use: Apply a thin layer of pure aloe vera paste on slightly damp lips to lock in moisture. Reapply when lips feel tight. But use it only 2-3 times a day, because aloe vera also has mild exfoliating properties.
DIY lip mask
It is sweet, sticky, satisfying to apply, and only contains natural ingredients. This is your ultimate feel good lip mask. And don’t worry, we are not giving you a long list of ingredients, you just need two.
Ingredients
1 teaspoon coconut oil
1 teaspoon honey
How to use
1. Mix the ingredients together, and apply a thick layer to your lips.
2. Leave it on for 20 minutes.
3. Wipe the mask off gently with a damp cloth.
Products to use
Natural remedies are inexpensive, easy to prepare, and apply. But in severe cases like cracked bleeding lips, you might need products with proven efficiency. Let us look at some products you should include in your winter lip care routine:
Hydrating balms
Got dry chapped lips? Then, a hydrating balm is the one thing that you must always have at hand. Choose balms with occlusives and humectants like beeswax, ceramides and hyaluronic acid. They prevent moisture loss and keep your lips soft and smooth.
SPF balms during the day
Hydrating balms do the job for moisturisation, but SPF balms are essential for when you step out in the sun. That’s because UV rays can worsen the dryness and pigmentation (yes, even in winters). So, get an SPF balm right now, and protect your delicate lips from sun damage.
Lip scrubs
A lip scrub gently exfoliates the skin, removing the dead cells which build up over time. This allows balm to penetrate better, making your lips smoother. To exfoliate your lips, use a mild scrub once a week. Be careful as using too much of it can worsen cuts and may increase inflammation.
Overnight lip masks
Why use a lip mask? Because it makes all your efforts during the day count. At night, the mask lets your skin heal itself. It hydrates the lips all night, supports barrier repair, and heals micro cracks. Think of it as a night time lip-recharge!
Additional tip: When buying products, remember to avoid ones with menthol, salicylic acid, cinnamon, fragrance, and camphor. Even though they feel good, they do more harm than good for chapped lips.
Conclusion
Here’s the thing about dry chapped lips – they might not seem like a big deal, but they are. They are annoying and uncomfortable – that prickly sting when you smile, and the constant urge to lick them can make you miserable. However, once you know the whys and hows, it becomes easy to work your way around them.
Our lips don’t have any outrageous demands, they just want moisturisation and some gentle care. Care can come in the form of a lip balm in your pocket, a scrub once in a while, or just resisting the urge to pick the flaky skin! (we’ve all been there).
So if you want smooth lips this winter, consider these tips as your lip-saver! And if you want extra-personalised winter lip care tips, talk it out with Dewi, your very own skincare advisor.
FAQs
1. Why are my lips suddenly cracking?
Sudden lip cracking may happen due to cold winds, low humidity, indoor heating, dehydration, vitamin deficiencies, or habits like mouth breathing and lip licking.
2. What are some of the dehydrated lip symptoms?
Dehydrated lips feel tight, inflamed, and rough. You may notice peeling, flaking, cracked lip corners or bleeding. All these act as signals that you need to take some steps.
3. What are some winter lip care tips?
Drink plenty of water and apply nourishing lip balm multiple times daily. Use a humidifier indoors, avoid licking lips, choose SPF products, exfoliate weekly, and apply overnight masks.
4. How do I treat severely cracked lips?
Apply thick healing ointment like petroleum jelly and balms throughout the day. Severe chapping, like a cut on the side of lip, needs gentle care. Keep clean, avoid stretching, and consult a doctor if needed.
