Four Steps To Treating Dry, Chapped Lips (And The Products You Need)
Our lips rely on extra hydration as naturally they are prone to dryness as they don’t contain any oil glands. Throw into the mix of cold weather, blustery winds and drying central heating, and it’s little wonder why chapped, flaky lips are our skin bugbear during this time of the year.
“The skin on our lips is so soft and thin that the blood vessels can be seen through it, this is what gives our lips their red colour,” explains Dr Shreya Andric, Consulting Dermatologist for NIVEA. “And don’t lick your lips. Licking your lips regularly causes evaporation pulling the moisture away from your lips, further dehydrating them and leaving you with cracked lips.”
Instead, follow these four simple steps to ensure your lips are in tip-top condition all year round.
Step 1: Buff away with a lip scrub
(or use your toothbrush)
This iconic sugar lip exfoliator punches well above its weight. It gently exfoliates lips shifting dry bits away to reveal fresh soft skin.
Powered by safou oil, this forms a natural barrier to shield the lips from extreme and changing weather and seal in moisture. This non-sticky texture doubles up as a gentle exfoliator that removes dead skin while repairing parched lips. A superb formula.
This scrub-and-balm-in-one needs no removal. The grainy particles dissolve leaving a film of moisture in its path and silky soft lips. With change from £4, you really can’t go wrong.
Step 2: Boost hydration with a thick balm
The OG of this category. Arden has been soothing lips for decades with its original best-selling formula. This is packed with all the same brilliantly calming and nourishing properties but in a handy solid stick.
From the Irish MUA who keeps it real with hardworking products at affordable prices. This teeny 15ml pot contains a lightweight sheeny formula that works brilliantly on top of your usual lipstick or worn alone to moisturise and protect lips.
This vegan wonder lip balm contains upcycled hemp seed oil and shea butter, plus rosehip and grapefruit oil – expect a hydrated pout within minutes.
This handy buttery balm stick should be in everyone’s back pocket during the winter months. Loaded with peptides and nourishing ingredients that replenish and keep dry chapped lips at bay.
Step 3: Use an overnight treatment twice a week
This Tik Tok flavoured overnight mask is mega popular for good reason. Glossy, ultra-moisturising, deliciously scented – it will have you licking it off your lips in no time. The pot is miniscule, but the smallest amount is plentiful for each application.
Consider this part of your skincare routine. This overnight lip treatment is packed with a powerhouse complex containing cosmeceutical actives, omegas and antioxidants that leaves lips soothed, plumped, and feeling baby soft come morning.
Rihanna’s viral lip mask coats lips with a surge of long-lasting moisture for plumper-looking pout. In just 1 week, this skincare-rich lip mask reduces the look of fine lines and wrinkles. Best of all, the unique packaging dispenses the perfect amount of product in a clean, efficient, and long nail-friendly way!
This iconic non-sticky, non-greasy lip balm will upgrade your nightly skin routine. A 12-hour overnight formula that supercharges your pout’s hydration levels while you sleep.
Step 4: Apply SPF, whatever the weather
A brilliant stick formula that is packed full of nourishing oils that keep lips soft, shiny, and hydrated and protected, with no flaking in sight.
With a demi-matte finish and non-sticky feel – as well as no silicone, paraffin, beeswax (or other animal-derived ingredients) – this convenient stick is a practical everyday sidekick that the whole family can share.
The ultimate skincare-meets-cosmetics hybrid has been a bestseller in its native Australia for two decades. Adored for priming, perfecting and protecting dry flaky lips and widely used by makeup artists to add a subtle dewy gloss or to prep lips before colour application.
Plumps, protects, and nourished with vitamin E, this fast-action formula packs in moisture and repairs the driest of lips in record speed.
Luxe formulas to try…
Beautifully scented with just the right amount of gloss to give great shine, but with all the benefits of a moisturising lip balm. A surprisingly weighty addition to a handbag, so best kept on your desk or on your bedside table.
An astonishing amount to spend on a lip product, but it really does deliver and gets rid of peeling chapped lips fast, plus the shiny silver applicator is a super luxe feature you’ll want to show off and makes application mess-free.
Even the hefty price tag doesn’t put off loyal fans. This excellent lip comforter is hard to keep on shelves mainly due to its velveteen texture and subtle minty finish that instantly restores and conditions lips. Plus, the slimline packaging means its pocket-friendly too.
An ultra-rich multitasker cased in pretty packaging, that offers instant comfort to parched lips, hands, face, and body. Dreamt up by actress-turned-producer Scarlett Johansson and entrepreneur Kate Foster, to create a gentle solution to treating sensitive skin.
The products on this page have been selected by our editorial team, however, The Handbook may make a small commission on some products purchased through affiliate links.
