Your lips are always on the move: they talk, they sip, they laugh, they kiss, they smile - and that’s only a fraction of what they can do in a day! With all that work to do, it’s no wonder why they can feel a little tired. If your lips are like most, they can probably do with a little T-L-C!
At Noteology, we love treating our lips to spa days of their own. Not just because it feels great, but it’s important for your overall lip longevity.
Lips get their shape in part from collagen, a critical protein. But as you age, your body will produce less collagen, which usually manifests itself as a loss of skin elasticity and plumpness. Coupled with exposure to ultraviolet light from sunlight, your lips may lose their fullness with time.
To give your lips a little extra care to keep them looking and feeling their best, try:
Wearing Sunscreen: You wear sunscreen, hats, and sunglasses when you go outside, but what about protecting your lips? Like the rest of your skin, your lips need SPF protection. Apply SPF lip balms daily and especially when you’re heading outdoors. UV exposure can not only put the sensitive skin on your lips at risk for premature aging, but it can also raise your risk of more serious skin damage.
Frequent Hydration: Did you know that lips lack natural protective oils found in skin on other parts of your body? It’s true! A lack of protection from natural oils means that your lips are highly exposed to weather, sun, and other free radicals. Beneath lipsticks or on bare lips, lip balms can go a long way in keeping your lips feeling soft and well hydrated while also protecting them from exposure. Re-apply moisturizing lip balms throughout the day, after meals, and before bed. Hydrating your body by drinking lots of water helps too!
Eating the Rainbow: There are so many wonderful foods for improving the health of your skin, and that includes caring for your lips! Try eating more:
- Red vegetables, which contain lycopene, which acts as a natural sunblock and boosts collagen
- Dark green vegetables, which are loaded with vitamin C, which can slow collagen breakdown with age
- Orange vegetables, which are rich in vitamin A, which restores and rebuilds collagen
Using Shea Butter Balms: Use a lip balm that contains nourishing ingredients, like shea butter, to really give your lips the care they need. Our natural lip balms include shea butter formulas that offer nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients that stimulate healing while keeping your lips moisturized and protected. Plus, shea butter is rich in Vitamins A and E, strong antioxidants that repair the skin, and Vitamin F, a rich source of fatty acids to soften and rejuvenate.
Exfoliate: While keeping your lips moisturized is part of the battle, it’s important to also exfoliate your lips so that they’re free of any chapping. It’ll help with letting those nutrients and healing ingredients from our shea butter lip balms sink in.
Give your lips a little scrub with these gentle, DIY lip scrub recipes:
- Sugar Scrub: Mix together a little honey, sugar, and coconut oil
- Raspberry Scrub: Mash up 4 raspberries, a little coconut oil, and raw sugar
- Honey Cinnamon Scrub: Combine brown sugar, coconut oil, ground cinnamon, and raw honey
- Coffee Scrub: Coffee grounds and a little bit of olive or coconut oil
Apply any of the scrubs above gently to your lips and rub them together for a few seconds. Rinse and then apply balm.
After treating your lips with these tips, they’ll be ready for anything, maybe even finding true love. The science behind kissable lips is actually really interesting. Some scientists have found that kissing plays a role in finding a mate, not just because of a potential partner’s lip locking technique, but more so about how he or she smells!
When you lean in close to kiss, you’re exchanging biological information with your partner by picking up each other’s pheromones. In animals, pheromones can be responsible for attraction and mate selection as this “scent” of sorts gives signals on immune system compatibility. If immune systems are detected to be different, it’s likely that attraction may spark - and that research has also been found to be true in humans, too.
Now, pass the lip balm!