How to Choose a Lip Balm

With Christmas gone and all that’s left of winter are cold days and dark mornings, you need to make sure you’re taking care of yourself the best you can. There’s a variety of ways that the winter months can take a toll on your body, both physically and mentally. The cold weather brings its own problems, and one of these problems is dry, sore and chapped lips. If you aren't addicted to lip balm and even if you are, sore and chapped lips are a common occurrence, but the bane of most people's Winter months.. 

Chapped lips can be very painful at the best of times, but when the winter air dries skin quickly, the skin on your lips is often forgotten about. But this makes choosing your lip balm even more important than ever. There may not seem like there is a massive array of types to choose from, but that’s where you would be wrong. Because there are. And you need to make sure you get the one that will heal your skin and stop causing you pain.

What to Look For In A Lip Balm

You used to be pretty limited in what you got in a lip balm. A small stick, not dissimilar to lipstick that you could carry around in your pocket. These are still available, and they’re a great, handy and cheap way to ease some of the pain, but there’s so much else on the market now, from natural balm to scented and much, much more. The main thing to remember is that there still is only a few to choose from, the rest are all filled with things to dry your skin out further in an attempt to keep you using it.

The price will always dictate the quality you get, because good ingredients come at a premium. Some people are happy with paying a couple of bucks for a lip balm, while others want age defying and nice tasting. These will of course cost you more.

You may be loyal to a certain ingredient in a stick, too. Aromatherapy and natural remedies are a very popular health topic right now, so you may want to line-up your lip balm flavors with tried and trusted ingredients. There are also, however, ingredients to avoid in a lip balm. Take a look below at just a few:

Castor Oil

Castor oil is an irritant that can often cause chapped and sore lips more than help them. It’s a thick oil that some sticks claim to include, but it is one of the most common allergens on the market. Castor oil might be good for your hair, but it will damage your lips. 

Flavoring in General

Flavoring may sometimes be natural, but it would cause dryness if you’re allergic to it. It’s best to know any allergies you have before using any kind of skin healer, lip or otherwise.

Petroleum Jelly or Vaseline

This may seem like a strange one, but petroleum jelly or Vaseline locks in - and out - moisture from the lips which in turn can cause chapping and harsh pain. For the same reason it is used on sporting injuries, it seals a wound which may feel great on application to your lips, but isn’t benefiting them as much as you may like.

Chapped Lips Remedies: What Type of Relief Should You Go For?

We’ve built up a list of the best relief types to go for to help you sooth the pain of winter and sore lips!

Sunscreen

Sunscreen chap sticks are great because they protect your lips from drying out in the winter sun. They will also sooth your lips in the winter. UV dries out your lips and while a little bit of sun is often good for our skin, the skin on our lips is particularly sensitive, even cause pimples on lips, sunburns, cancer or bacterial infection. Sunscreen brands now stock a range of lip balms and you will be able to easily find these in local supermarkets or pharmacies.

Look Out for Shea Butter

Shea butter is an amazing and hydrating ingredient that can be used all over the body, but has really great benefits when used in chap sticks on your lips. This ingredient is chock full of vitamin F, a great vitamin that helps hydrate your lips and in turn keep them smooth and healthy.

Olive Oil

This is something you can do to gently ease the pain of chapped lips if you don’t have a chap stick to hand. Using olive oil will smooth over your lips and stop them from hurting in the short term, and it’s also a good idea to dab on your lips while you’re sleeping. This way it gives the oil more time to soothe your skin while you’re dreaming of better lips.

Keep Hydrated

Chapped lips are dry lips, and dry lips come about a couple of ways. Of course the cold air outside and the dry air inside your home are a couple of sure fire ways to cause you pain, but you also get chapped lips because you are dehydrated. A lack of water in your body means that the whole of you can not get the hydration it needs, therefore stopping your body to function properly, and that includes the skin on your slips. While you’re applying balm, drink plenty of water too. This will help rehydrate your cracked lips back to full strength.

It’s really important to remember not to pick at chapped lips. Although it might be really addictive, it’s only doing you hard. You will end up causing healthy skin on your lips to come off and wilt, which isn’t good because that very skin is healthy and there to protect you. You’re essentially creating a cut from nothing and doing away with skin that is not ready to die. Try and resist the urge. Again, using balm may help you stop the urge to play with your lips.

The most important things are to remember are to stay hydrated, don’t play with skin that’s not ready to fall off and always keep in mind what your allergies are and whether these can be found in your balm. If you can find a natural chap stick without fragrance then this is certainly the way to go. These need not be expensive, but you get what you pay for. Be sure to stay away from Vaseline and petroleum jelly-based product in the long term, because this will not allow moisture to hit your lips.