Such a natural problem for the cold seasons, like weathered lips, cannot be ignored. Painful discomfort erases the pleasures of everyday life, whether it is drinking hot cocoa, makeup with fashionable lipstick, or kisses with a loved one.
But fortunately, this trouble can be helped - simply, quickly, cheaply and with guarantees of success.
First of all, it is necessary to clean the affected area, with a means for washing, plus possibly for removing makeup (if lipstick was used). Then get wet with a towel and calmly assess the extent and nature of the damage.
Symptoms are manifested individually - with the entire kit or with individual parts, and may include the following symptoms:
- itching
- burning;
- peeling;
- cracks;
- inflamed redness;
- hyperemia of the area around the mouth (redness due to overflow of blood vessels);
- dryness;
- rash along the contour of the lips;
- rashes in the form of bubbles;
- swelling of the lips.
If everything is limited by a feeling of skin tension, peeling and slight cracks, then the problem is most likely to be solved in the next 48 hours.
If deep cracks are found, including the corners of the lips and the skin comes off, figuratively speaking, as with a molting lizard, restoration of health and beauty will take 5-7 days.
Naturally, it’s useful to know the probable causes of the incident trouble:
- exposure to wind and cold air (both cooling itself and temperature differences when going to / from the street);
- dry air in rooms, especially in the cold season, when heating devices are working;
- lack of vitamins responsible for skin elasticity - A, C, B2 and E;
- dehydration (the norm is 1.5-2 liters per day, moreover, it should be pure water, green and herbal tea, homemade juices, milk);
- food allergy / pollen / cosmetics;
- the use of high fluoride toothpaste;
- the use of low-quality, expired cosmetics;
- diseases accompanied by a runny nose / stuffy nose - among other things, pathogenic bacteria adversely affect the skin of the lips.
Thus, for a perfect solution to the problem of weathered lips, you should, first of all, take care of neutralizing / eliminating the factors that provoked this.
In serious cases, for the first couple of days you should strictly adhere to two rules:
- Refusal of decorative cosmetics - lipstick, shine. Firstly, it still doesn’t work out beautifully, and secondly, many components prevent the skin from “breathing” and interfere with regeneration processes.
- Removal of sharp, sour, irritating products from the table (vegetables pickled with vinegar, strongly peppered dishes, tea with lemon, sweet soda). And also refusal to use burning hot food / drinks.
And regardless of the degree to which the lips are weathered, the use of hygienic lipstick with vitamins and oils is indicated. It is advisable during the day and always - at night and before going out.
The use of folk remedies is both a first aid and a way of further treatment. And here are some recipes you can pay attention to.
- Oils. By no means are ethereal, but sesame, olive, almond, peach and sea buckthorn are very good. Apply a couple of drops on the lips and after 30 minutes, remove the residual greasy trace with a paper towel.
- Egg yolk and fat sour cream. The first ingredient nourishes and moisturizes, and the second, as you know, treats even sunburn. Just mix them in equal proportions and apply on lips for 30 minutes, then rinse.
- Butter and chamomile. This recipe has been known since the mid-19th century. The main thing is that the oil must be natural. Melt a small piece in a water bath, add a few inflorescences and measure half an hour to languish. Strain and refrigerate. When it hardens, smear it with balm 6-10 times a day.
You can still find recipes for weathered lips with glycerin, however, recently, cosmetologists have warned against its use. Firstly, he is still very actively able to draw moisture from the tissues, and this is completely bad. Secondly, at the cellular level, it is capable of destroying cells if the body lacks vitamin E. In a word, against the background of an abundance of other substances that are even more effective and not so full of side effects, it’s perhaps time to forget about glycerin altogether.
Concomitant and indirect causes of lip damage are a number of habits, namely:
- biting them, scratching their nails;
- frequent licking (especially in frost);
- breathing through the mouth;
- smoking;
- preservation on the lips of the remnants of spicy, sour food;
- insufficiently thorough cleansing of the skin from traces of makeup.
All this contributes to the aggravation of existing miniature (almost invisible to the eye) tissue injuries, as well as the entry / multiplication of pathogenic microorganisms.
Preventive care is very important.
Peeling / scrub once a week. Due to the timely removal of dead skin surface particles, living tissues receive more nutrients, and regeneration processes are more active in them.
For chemical peeling with fruit acids, store-based products are better suited, and mechanical cleaning (with abrasive particles) can be home-made.
Popular options are honey or olive oil, mixed in equal proportions with sugar. After applying the composition to the lips, they need to be massaged with your fingertips for a couple of minutes, then counted out 10 minutes and rinse off with warm water.
However, peeling is contraindicated if severe inflammation or cold sores appear on the lips.
And finally, it is important to note that if the lips do not return to normal for more than a week, if they are very inflamed, very sore, blood appears, a weeping crust appears - this is sufficient reason to prefer a visit to a dermatologist for home and folk methods of treatment.
Since sometimes weathered lips are a symptom of a much more serious disease, or a specific case requires the use of drugs from a pharmacy.
