Top 10 things to know about lips
- Unlike your body’s skin, lip tissue is extremely thin and does not have any secretion glands.
- Lips have almost no melanin, the natural pigment in skin that helps screen out the sun's harmful rays.
- We subconciously lick our lips to moisturise them. Because moisture evaporates from the lips much faster than from skin.
- This dryness frequently results in chapping and cracking, and increases the risk of inflammation, soreness and infection. Dry air, wind, cold temperatures and breathing thru your mouth (especially with a cold) all have a drying effect on your lips by drawing moisture away and upsetting the natural balance.
- Stress is a major culprit of dry lips. During the fight or flight response our body shallow breath, again upsetting our lips natural moisture balance.
- Lips are particularly vulnerable because the skin is so thin, and thus they are often the first to present signs of dryness in your body.
- The best way to fight skin aging is to provide it with the essential nutrients needed to keep up its main functions: protection, hydration, and nutrition.
- Synthetic emollients are occlusive i.e. they coat the skin and do not allow it to respire (much like plastic wrap), which can cause skin irritation.
- Natural emollients actually nourish the skin and care for it. They are metabolised by the skin’s own enzymes and absorbed into it. They are readily biodegradable and edible.
- People who suffer from dry lips and skin are often deficient in essential fatty acids. Avocado, flax seed and walnut oil, with their naturally high essential fatty acid content are excellent moisturisers to be applied or consumed.
- As lips age fine feathering occurs on the surrounding skin. The best way to stop lipstick bleed is to use a lip liner pencil first. It helps prevent bleeding because the waxy ingredients in the pencil create a barrier.