VOGUE | JULY 2021
The Ultimate Lip care routine for your softest pout ever
While we devise (often extensive) skincare routines for our faces, we don’t always pay the same attention to our lips. But considering the lips are one of the most delicate areas of the visage— and almost constantly exposed to environmental elements—it’s time to rethink this.
Below, find everything you need to know to prevent chapped lips and achieve your softest lips ever—including what to look for in a lip balm, and the lip care routine for your prettiest pout yet.
How to prevent chapped lips
To avoid dry, cracking lips, you’ll want to fine tune your lip care routine (more on this below), avoid exposing your lips to too much artificial heat during the colder months, and perhaps try a humidifier.
“A pharmacist secret to keeping your lips soft in winter is to have a humidifier running in your bedroom at night. It will also protect your skin from sensitivity flare-ups and prevent you from waking up with that winter dry-throat,” says QED Skincare Founder and Pharmacist, Shoshana Eisner.
How to choose your lip balm
For soft lips, an excellent lip balm is non-negotiable. Also known as lip butters and occasionally as lip moisturisers, lip balms lock in hydration and protect against further moisture loss.
Here’s what to consider when buying your next balm.
Lip-loving ingredients
For soft lips, select a product with rich ingredients that will moisturise and protect. Eisner recommends shea butter and jojoba oil for long-lasting hydration, cocoa butter, coconut oil, avocado oil and sunflower oil to protect from the elements and beeswax along with carnauba and candelilla waxes to add shine.
Don’t forget your SPF
“Skin cancers can occur on lips, particularly the bottom lip, which has more sun exposure. For daytime use, it is essential to use a lip balm with SPF. Ideally choose one with zinc oxide or titanium oxide as the sunscreen, as you are going to be eating it,” says Eisner.
If it dries your lips out, ditch it
If you’ve ever heard the tale that some lip balms can dry out your lips and brushed it off as a beauty myth, it’s time to reconsider. “It sounds crazy but sometimes lip balms will dry out your lips. If after three days of using a lip balm, your lips are not improving, toss it out,” advises Eisner.
The lip care routine to follow for soft, juicy lips
Having these key steps in place will get your lips feeling ultra-soft and keep them that way. For best results, you’ll want to maintain this regimen over the long-term.
Step 1. Scrub
Exfoliating the lips serves two purposes: It removes dry, dead skin which is key to smoothness, and it assists your products in properly penetrating into the skin. Eisner recommends exfoliating the lips no more than twice a week. If you haven’t got a lip scrub handy, she’s got a clever DIY trick for you: Gently buff your lips in circular motions with “a soft toothbrush with some lip balm on it.”