Does Lip Balm Worsen Chapped Lips? Here’s The Truth
Chapped lips are a common concern, especially during colder months or in dry environments. Many people turn to lip balm for relief, believing it will provide the moisture their lips crave. However, a question often arises: can using lip balm actually exacerbate chapped lips? Let’s delve into this topic and uncover the truth.
Understanding Chapped Lips
Chapped lips are those when the skin of your lips turn dry, flaky or cracked. This is usually due to a variety of reasons, some common ones being weather changes, dehydration and certain lifestyle habits. When ingredients differ greatly from brand to band, it can affect how well lip balm actually hydrates and protects your lips.
The Role of Lip Balm
Normally lip balms include ingredients like beeswax, petroleum jelly and oils to make a shield that helps keep the moisture in. They provide quick relief when used, but overuse can create a dependence cycle. An irritating ingredient, or fewer natural emollients than there might be in a better lip balm formulation means the product could actually make lips more chapped over time rather than less.
Ingredients to Watch For
Choosing a Lip balmIt becomes very important to check the ingredient list when selecting a lip balm. Other ingredients, such as menthol or phenol (camphor) create a cool tingly feeling on skin that may feel nice but can actually cause more irritation. Natural oils, shea butter and vitamin E dissolve well also would better hydrate your lips naïvely while balms with these ingredients do not.
Tips for Healthy Lips
Hydrate: Drink enough water throughout the day to keep your body (and lips) hydrated.
- Stop Using Lip Balm: Don’t reach for lip balm the first time your lips feel dry or chapped — evaluate whether it is something with which you need to do so.
- Choose High-Quality Products: Balms with natural ingredients that calm down instead of irritate.
- Occasionally Exfoliate: Gently exfoliating your lips will remove dead skin and allow the contact of lip moisturizers to penetrate.
- Shield Against the Elements: You should also wear a scarf or mask over your lips to insulate them from strong winds and bitter cold.
Conclusion
Whether lip balm causes chapped lips is a little trickier to answer. Although they might relieve the situation in some cases, others can be used in a way that will make you experience dryness even more. Choosing the correct products — and good lip care habits in general, will keep your lips velvet-y soft AF without perpetuating a cycle of never-ending chappedness. Simply put, everything in moderation and with the right ingredients will help keep your lips hydrated.
