Dry, cracked, peeling lips…ugh! Winter can be harsh on our skin and especially on our lips. Between being outside on windy days and the dry indoor heat from our homes, office and car, the tender skin on our lips can crack and peel and become very sore this time of year.
It’s important to take care of our lips to protect the delicate skin from the elements. In this article, you will find my top three tips to sooth, soften, and protect your luscious lips.
Sugar scrub
No fancy exfoliators here! Just a simple home-made sugar scrub will leave you lips feeling smooth and soft in about 10 seconds! Why use a sugar scrub? The granules of sugar provide a very gentle abrasion to lift off loose dead skin. A natural oil such as olive oil or coconut oil acts as a carrier to keep the sugar on your lips while gently massaging them for 5 to 10 seconds. When you are done, you rinse the sugar away but the oil that is left behind leaves your lips smooth and moist.
I found this sugar scrub recipe from Katie Wells at www.WellnessMama.com. Katie is my go-to gal for everything from natural cleaners for my home to natural remedies such as how to make my own vapor rub. Her sugar scrub recipe is easy to make and consist of only 2 ingredients sugar and oil. I like to use coconut oil because I like the coconut scent and as a solid it’s easy to apply.
But I do have a quick sugar scrub hack that you can do anywhere anytime. All you need is a packet of sugar! I was at my office the other day and noticed my lips feeling very chapped and dry. I didn’t have a scrub with me but I did find a packet of sugar in the coffee area of the break room. I went to the sink and opened the packet of sugar pouring the sugar into the palm of my hand. I dampened a finger with a little water, dabbed some sugar, and gently massaged my lips. After I was done I rinsed my lips and then applied a nourishing lip balm and voila! Beautiful lips once again! It can be that easy friends.
Lip Protection
Now that we are on the subject of lip balm let’s dive into that! It’s important to use a quality all-natural lip balm to nourish and moisturize your lips. My favorite is Primally Pure Lip Balm which contains only a few nourishing ingredients that leave my lips feeling smooth and healthy. Primally Pure Lip Balm comes in 5 flavors including peppermint, grapefruit, lavender, cocoa and my personal favorite creamsicle. Although, I haven’t tried the peppermint yet. I’m going to add that to my Primally Pure order today as I think the peppermint will be very cooling for my lips year round.
Primally Pure includes all natural ingredients such as organic beeswax, extra virgin coconut oil, organic mango butter and essential oils. Since our skin is the largest of all our organs it absorbs what we put on it which is another reason that I choose and recommend that only natural ingredients be applied to our skin and lips. To get 10% off your Primally Pure order, use the discount code Simply10 at check out.
Hydration
Did you know that chapped, peeling lips is a sign of serious dehydration? One would think that during the winter we don’t need as much water because with the cool weather we don’t typically sweat as much. In fact, the opposite is true. Winter weather and constant indoor heat is very drying. We lose a lot of water without even realizing it that is pulled from our skin by the environment.
It’s important to remember to drink 1/2 your body weight in ounces of water each day. For example, a person who weighs 160 pounds needs 80 ounces or 10 cups of water each day.
To calculate your needs, take your weight in pounds and divide by 2. The result is the number of ounces to consume daily.
160 pounds ¸ 2 = 80 ounces
Drink one to two cups as soon as you get up in the morning. Then every two hours consume another 2 cups or 16 ounces. To help you move water in and out of your cells, take 1/8 teaspoon of sea salt once or twice a day either by mouth or add it to your water along with a squeeze of lemon. Sea salt has minerals that are electrolytes which help replenish our fluid stores and remove toxins from our body.
Drinking enough water is essential for having beautiful, luscious lips and also for optimal health. It’s so important that I have an entire section dedicated to the health benefits of staying hydrated in my brand-new book that is coming soon!!! The Simply28 REAL Food Cookbook contains over 100 recipes to help lower blood sugar, boost your immune system, give you more energy and look and feel better than you ever have before! It is coming soon on Amazon in both print and eBook versions.