A lot of people think that lip balm is to be worn each and every day in the winter. The day you forget to use your lip balm, your lips chap. It´s your own fault, you´ve forgotten to re-apply your chapstick, you´re supposed to do it every twenty minutes, you know ?
Actually, healthy lips on a healthy body don´t chap. I found this out myself: since I´m eating a high-raw diet, my lips haven´t chapped at all. And I used to have nasty winters with my lips before: the chapping didn´t limit itself to the lips, it spread to the skin around them. It looked as if I had drawn a thick red line outside of my lips, with an old nasty lip-lining pencil. This year -- nothing ! And it´s a cold winter. I have my "lip balm"with me always, but this year I´ve used it only as a kind of winter lip-gloss, because I like moist-looking lips.What should a lip balm do ?
A lip balm should heal your lips. That means your lips shouldn´t start Cracking again as soon as you stop using it. That means you don´t need to wear it each and every day, only when your lips feel dry or get chapped due to very cold weather or dry air.
A lip balm is also supposed to provide sun protection. Again, read up on chemical vs mineral filters, and remember that you´ll be eating a lot of whatever you put on your mouth. The mini version: mineral filters aretitanium dioxide and zinc oxide are safe, unlike chemical sunscreen which can release free radicals and mimic hormones.
If your lips chap...
* Change your food. I´ll risk repeating myself (again) and say it: skin problems are symptoms of imbalance or problems in your body, and should be treated from the inside out. Drink more water, cut out the salt: it´s drying. Up your intake of fresh fruits & veggies, avoid processed foods.
* Change your lip balm. A lot of lip balm ingredients dry out or irritate the lips. Try lanolin, cocoa butter (pure !) or shea butter.
* Stop licking your lips (if you do). Again, lip balm flavours or scents may be culprits. They make your lips tasty, and, er, lickable.
* Blame the air-conditioning. If the air is too dry, use a humidifier. If there´s nothing you can do about it, well then you need to keep your lip balm by you at all times.
kisses,
Photo by =Soyismyhomeboy
PS. This is weird