How to Eliminate Dry & Chapped Lips with this Effective Exfoliating Scrub

If you live in a dry, desert, and/or humid environment, then you’re familiar with the dry and chapped lips struggle.

Previously, mine had me biting my bottom lip until it was almost raw from peeling away the dead skin with my teeth. Not a very pretty picture.

Chapped lips can be a very annoying and irritating problem. And when it gets to a point where even the strongest lip balm isn’t cutting it, you need a serious cure.

In this article, we’ll examine chapped lip causes, chapped lip treatments, and the best ways to avoid a recurrence of the problem.

Chapped Lip Causes

Chapped lips are caused by a variety of lifestyle issues, which usually falls under one of the following categories:-

The skin around the lips is much thinner than the rest of our bodies, which makes it more prone to drying out.
Living in a harsh environment with extreme heat, cold, wind, etc can also lead to chapped lips.
Dehydration can cause chapped lips. This is when you don’t have enough water in your body constantly.
Biting your lips and peeling away dry skin with your teeth can make it even worse. Resist the temptation to do this.
Sometimes, vitamin deficiencies can lead to chapped lips.
If you use a drying matte lipstick such as Mac Ruby Woo, it may also dry out your lips over time if you don’t take time to replenish the moisture.

How to Prevent Chapped Lips

To avoid chapped lips issues in the future, engage all of the following tips and tricks:-

Drink plenty of fluids. I always find one of the signs of my chapped lips is not drinking as much water as I used to. Drink a boatload of water every day and eat water-dense vegetables like cucumbers, lettuce, and celery.
Exfoliate your lips at least once a week with the recipe below.
Use a strong, moisturizing lip balm. You can DIY your own using natural butter such as illipe nut butter, kokum butter, and cupuacu butter as a base. Apply this balm every evening as well.
If you live in a dry or humid environment, consider using a humidifier in your bedroom.

Back to my chapped lips issue, I tried several different things in the evening to solve it initially among which were:

Brushing my lips gently while brushing my teeth every night. This may have done more harm than good.
Applying a light layer of Vaseline before going to bed.
Applying a light layer of cocoa butter before going to bed.

They all worked temporarily but the dryness and peeling eventually came back.

A more permanent solution was required so I began experimenting with a mix of oils and natural exfoliants.

I changed the recipe every few weeks to find out which combination worked best for my lips.

I have sensitive lips and can’t be attacking them with exfoliants that are too coarse.

The recipe below is what I eventually settled on as the best DIY chapped lips treatment with just a few ingredients.

With frequent use, this treatment should also help you get rid of chapped lips permanently.

DIY Exfoliating Chapped Lips Treatment

Ingredients

1 teaspoon of baking soda or coconut cane sugar
1/2 tablespoon of rose water
1 drop of agave nectar or honey
2 drops of olive oil
2 drops of sweet almond oil
2 drops of coconut oil
2 drops of lavender essential oil (optional)

You can also make a few weeks supply in a small jar like this one but I like to mix it fresh every time I use it (2 – 3 times a week).

Directions

Pour the baking soda into your palm and dissolve with a bit of rose water.
Add the agave nectar or honey and the olive oil, coconut oil, and sweet almond oil.
Add the lavender essential oil and mix together with clean fingers and apply the paste onto your clean lips.
Rub over your lips in very gentle circular motions for a few minutes then rinse off with lukewarm water.
Apply a moisturizing lip balm. This step is essential. You can use the balm recipe from this article. You can also add beeswax into the lip balm as this is a great way to lock in moisture for dry chapped lips.