@selinseng I live in Chicago so I'm not in a dry climate. But my lips are naturally dry year round, and frigid winter weather makes that worse. Here's the routine that keeps my dry lips healthy and moisturized:
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Exfoliate, 1-2 times a month: I use either a wet terrycloth cloth (in my case, a reusable bamboo round) or a sugar scrub (usually a jar of ColourPop Lippie Scrub). I don't do this often because lips have the thinnest skin on the face. It's easy to damage that skin by over-exfoliating. Not saying you can't use a lip scrub once a week if you want; just don't overdo it.
Lip serum, AM & PM: gives my lips a boost of antioxidants and hydrating ingredients. I use Glossier Bubblewrap for this, but I just learned it was discontinued. Sigh... Bubblewrap was marketed as an eye & lip moisturizer but, for me, it's not nearly moisturizing enough on its own. But it's great as a lip serum when applied to damp lips. (I never use it anywhere on my face except my lips.) Now I have to find a replacement product. Might be a good time to try #Paula's Choice Hyaluronic Acid + Peptide Lip Treatment Booster 0.33 oz/ 10 mL, or see if any facial serums in my routine can safely work as a lip serum.
Lip balm, AM & PM: a petrolatum-based balm is the most occlusive moisturizer available, so that's what I use. My balm of choice is Aquaphor Ointment (not the one marketed as a lip balm, just the plain ol' ointment). It contains lanolin; if you're sensitive to that ingredient, you'll want to try something else like CeraVe Healing Ointment, Vaseline, or any brand of petroleum jelly. Whatever you choose, make sure your lips are damp with water (not saliva) before applying lip balm. This ensures you'll seal in hydration instead of dryness. If my lips have fully dried down by the time I reach this step, I just tap a little water on them to dampen them and then immediately apply Aquaphor. The only time I have to reapply Aquaphor throughout the day is after eating. It keeps my lips moisturized for hours.
SPF balm, AM: I'm diligent about sunscreen on all exposed skin except my lips. For some reason, I tend to forget my lips. The only SPF balm I like is Vanicream Lip Protectant Sunscreen SPF 30. It doesn't smell or taste like sunscreen. Since it uses zinc oxide and titanium dioxide as UV blockers, it sometimes leaves a bit of white cast on my lips. I usually wear lipstick over it, so that doesn't bug me much. It's not moisturizing enough on its own for me (contains no petrolatum), so I apply it over Aquaphor.
Also, resist the urge to lick your lips throughout the day. It feels like you're rehydrating them, but you're really coating them with enzymes that break down your lip skin over time. Plus, the saliva will quickly evaporate and leave your skin feeling drier. This is one of the reasons I don't like to wear flavored lip balms: too much temptation to lick them. &#; Anyway, if your lips start to feel dry, you're much better off tapping a little water on them (if you've got some available; I've dabbed a little cooled-down coffee on my lips while out and about) and reapplying lip balm while they're damp.
As much as I love wearing lipsticks, taking care of the vessel, a.k.a. the lips comes first. Because honey, no matter how phenomenal a lipstick is, there is no way I&#;m going to wear it with dry and chapped lips. OK, maybe I could, but it sure does feel more comfortable when I prep them well.
My lips are naturally dry. It&#;s even drier when I don&#;t have enough sleep, don&#;t drink enough water and the whole shebang. So I do need a good regime to keep them in tip-top condition. Not just because it&#;ll help with the lipstick application and increase the wear time, but first and foremost, who likes the feel of dry lips and the look of chapped lips? Ew. The thought of it cringes me.
Heads up, this is a long one.
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Those are the current products that I use for my lips; some are not photographed but I&#;ll mention them later. It has been quite tiresome finding the ones that actually work on my lips, instead of making them worse. But, I&#;m glad I&#;ve managed to find a few and created a schedule for them.
I have two regimes for night and day time. Each product is chosen and used accordingly to what I think suits me (lips) best. Let&#;s start with the first one.
Night time routine.
If I&#;m wearing a lipstick, I will remove it first with Bioré Makeup Remover for Eye and Lip. Now that&#;s done, I will take a little bit of Fresh Sugar Lip Polish and start exfoliating my lips; massage the product back and forth and in circular motion. I&#;ll wash it off, usually in conjunction with cleansing my face as well. Or lick it all off.. Kidding. Or not :p
I may or may not use it everyday, depending on my lips&#; needs.
When I use a toner/lotion/essence that uses a cotton pad, I will run the pad over the lips as well for that extra exfoliation, after I&#;m done with the face of course. I even like to soak the pad on the lips for a couple of minutes. I use SK-II First Treatment Essence and Menard Beauness. I&#;ll let the liquid to be absorbed before moving on to the next step. Usually while waiting, I&#;d apply Sunday Riley Start Over Active Eye Cream.
I will then apply Rosebud Salve in a Tube to my lips and continue with the rest of my skincare. I&#;ve used this product for the past couple of years now and this is probably the first product that gave me that shining light of hope of moisturized lips I had longed for. I can just reapply this whenever I need it without the heavy feel. Because of the wetter texture, I reserve this for night time. But sometimes I&#;d wear it on day time too.
Another alternative is a product that I&#;ve been enjoying a lot lately. It&#;s the famous NUXE Rêve de Miel Ultra-Nourishing Lip Balm. To be honest, I didn&#;t like it at first. I couldn&#;t stand the grapefruit scent. The texture, ugh, it was very hard, not emollient and even slightly gritty. It felt very thick on my lips and not in a good way. But my logic was saying that it&#;s probably just the top layer that&#;s usually drier than in the middle. So, as I dug and dug more with every night&#;s use, the creaminess started to show and gosh, c&#;est très bon. I honestly have no complaints now, apart from the scent which I just have to get used to, I guess. It does everything it says on the description. It&#;s feels incredibly nourishing. It soothes and repairs chapped or peeled lips. And the best part, it protects my lips until the next morning. Usually with other product, including Rosebud Salve, I couldn&#;t feel it anymore by the time I wake up. Not with NUXE though, it&#;s still there. Holy grail material indeed.
Morning routine.
My morning lip care routine is quite similar to night time. The only exfoliation + extra nourishment (apart from the lip balms) that my lips get is by swiping a lotion-soaked cotton pad over them while applying my skincare. Usually in the morning, I use Menard Fairlucent Clear Lotion. Again, I&#;ll let the cotton pad sit in for a little bit, take it off and let the liquid get absorbed, while dealing with the rest of the skincare bits.
As soon as my lips are dry, I&#;ll apply Nivea Med Protection Lip Balm SPF 15. It will sort of seal the moisture in and smooths the lips. It&#;s a little bit waxy and feels like your run-of-the-mill generic lip balms, but I find this one works a lot better than Nivea&#;s other lip balm lines.
Usually, I will stop at that. But, if I&#;m going to wear makeup that day I will continue by adding Kiehl&#;s Lip Balm #1 about halfway through the makeup routine. A little story, this is the only lip balm that I didn&#;t buy at my own will. My significant other bought it with Charlotte Tilbury K.I.S.S.I.N.G in Velvet Underground and SUQQU Eyebrow Liquid Pen in UK so that we could get a tax refund. Silly, I know. But he just needed a few more pounds to be eligible, so he thought that I could always use a lip balm. That was very sweet of him.
Unfortunately, this is my least favorite of them all. It&#;s a combination of that obnoxious weird scent (which is why I can&#;t be bothered using it at night time, I might suffer) and the too-greasy of a formula. I don&#;t like the applicator too, I wish it&#;s designed better to dispense the product more efficiently and less messy. Half of it will get absorbed into the lips by the time I finish my makeup though, but it still feels.. wet. That being said, it&#;s doing a very good job at hydrating my lips. And that right there, is like a smack on the face.
Here comes my favorite part: lipstick prepping. I only trust Jack Black Intense Therapy Lip Balm SPF 25 for this purpose. There&#;s a story behind this balm and a short-but-packed review that I mentioned in my Lipstick Queen Velvet Rope Private Party post. I&#;d apply this about 5 &#; 20 minutes before I apply any lipstick, letting the invigorating sensation to go through my lips. As I said before, as much as I dislike mints, this is my current HG for lip balm for under the lipsticks. Not just because of the moisturizing + plumping effect, but it&#;s also a fantastic mediator for the lip products to glide on, including when I have to reapply my lipstick. Bullets, crayons or liquids, I&#;ve found no trouble at applying them on my lips. I still blot the balm beforehand, but I adjust it depending which lipstick I&#;m going to wear and the kind of finish I aim for that day. Jack Black Lip Balm is a permanent occupant in my handbag.
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And that&#;s a wrap!
If there&#;s any tip from me, DO NOT PICK your lips. No matter how tempting that is.
It was painful when my lips were bleeding, scathing and it never looked pretty. All of this effort will go to waste if I can&#;t keep my fidgety fingers off of my lips. But, with regular exfoliation and moisturization, I rarely have chapped/cracked lips anymore (except when I&#;m feeling unwell). And that bad habit, surprise surprise, went away on its own.
I&#;m pretty content with my lip care routine at the moment. Of course, there&#;s always a room for improvement. However, I don&#;t want to fuss about it for now. As long as they&#;re doing their jobs, I&#;m good &#;
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