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Lip Service
It’s the most romantic month of the year—and one of the harshest on lips. Follow these steps to get a soft, luscious pout.
By Jennifer Lee

The dead of winter brings with it one of the calendar’s most kissable days—along with freezing temperatures, harsh winds, and dry indoor heating. Combine all that with the fact that lips are one of most exposed areas of the body, and you’ve got the potential for dehydration, chapping, or worse. Lips, of course, don’t have sweat glands or hair to protect them, and while that probably sounds like a good thing, it also means that their only protection from the elements is a delicate layer of skin. What’s more, lips can be tricky to heal, so it often requires some extra care to keep them looking and feeling their best year-round.

Pout Protection
One of the first steps to proper lip care is not licking your lips. When the saliva dries, it can dry out your lips with it, resulting in chapping and even cracks. So if you’re in the habit of doing this, you’ll want to stop immediately. Many beauty experts also recommend gently exfoliating the lips once a week with a warm washcloth to remove dead skin cells (lip products made with alpha hydroxy acids and/or vitamin A can be helpful too). In addition, it’s a good idea to invest in a humidifier to help counteract the dehydrating effects of indoor heating, or place a few pots of water around your home, near radiators or heat sources.

Keeping dryness at bay also means applying a moisturizing balm or lipstick several times a day. “It’s like wearing gloves to protect your hands,” says Dr. Kathryn Frew, a dermatologist at the Juva Skin and Laser Center in New York City. Sunscreen is, of course, essential, so you’ll want to select products that have an SPF of 15 or higher (contrary to popular belief, lips often get sunburned in winter), as well as healing ingredients such as vitamin E. There are several good nourishing balms to choose from, including Neutrogena Lip Moisturizer, Avon Moisturetherapy Lip Balm, Jane Iredale Lip Drink, and Fresh Sugar Lip Balm, plus lipsticks such as Clinique Liquid Lipstick and Esteé Lauder Futurist Full Treatment Lipstick (each has an SPF of 15 or higher).

But some cosmetics may do more harm than good. It’s no secret that lip plumpers are all the rage, but many are formulated with an active ingredient called cinnamic aldehyde (a synthetic version of cinnamon oil) that’s designed to swell lips by mildly inflaming them—a short-term benefit that can lead to longer-term irritation. (Particularly if your lips are already dry or chapped, you’ll want to avoid this ingredient.) And although it’s often said that long-wearing lipsticks can be drying, Frew explains they’re not necessarily bad for lips; they just have more wax and fewer emollients than regular lipsticks. If you like the effect of long-wearing formulas, be sure to add a topcoat of gloss for extra hydration.

Straight to the Kisser
If lips are already dry, chapped, or cracked, you’ll need more serious moisture therapy. Many dermatologists say the best way to treat chapped lips is to replenish the lips’ skin with products made from petroleum jelly. “It has fabulous effects and is about the best product you can use,” says Dr. Nelson Novick, clinical professor of dermatology at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. “For lips, petroleum jelly is still the gold standard.” Frew agrees, adding, “Vaseline really seals in moisture.” For severely chapped lips, Frew recommends placing a wet, room-temperature towel between lips for three minutes, then immediately lathering them with Vaseline.

However, many beauty experts oppose the use of petroleum-based products, including Joyce Terrizzi, owner of San Francisco’s Skin Care for Life. “You might as well use Crisco,” she says. “Yes, Vaseline will keep lips moist, but it’s also occlusive and can clog pores around the lip line.” Instead, Terrizzi suggests using topical SPF treatments made with ingredients such as shea butter or macadamia-nut oil, which will lubricate lips without clogging pores in the surrounding skin, she says.

While they may have differing opinions on which products are best for treating chapped lips, the experts unanimously agree that prevention really is the best medicine. And as with most things, following a few simple strategies can do wonders in keeping your lips soft—so all you’ll have to worry about this Valentine’s season is who’s kissing them.

Photo credit: Nicholas Monu

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