Fresh habits to include in your beauty regime to ensure petal soft lips
When you see advertisements for those luscious you lip glosses, don’t you wonder how those models have such perfect lips? Surely it can’t all be Photoshop? No pigmentation, no peeling skin, and they look like they are baby soft. Well, like with most skincare routines, there are tips and tricks to maintain your lips without using botox or fillers.
Whether it is discolouration, peeling skin due to dry weather, or fine lines due to smoking or ageing, it’s easy to take care of your lips just by trying a few home remedies. So you can have dewy fresh lips just like those models, here are some beauty tips to add to your routine.
Moisturise
We all use lip balms and chapsticks most of the year, especially in winter, but it is important to keep in mind that the lips can tan just like other parts of the skin. For the day time, get a lip balm which has a sunscreen, and at night, after you have applied your night cream, use some regular chapstick on your lips. This will help your lips stay moist for longer.
During the day you can use a lip balm with a pink tint to give your lips a natural colour, but try to use lip balms which have some essential oil or natural emollients, as those with chemicals will only dry your lips further.
Interestingly, when we lick our lips, our saliva, instead of moistening them, actually does the opposite and dries them further. So make your lip balm your best friend if you want soft lips at all times.
Natural moisturisers like aloe vera or coconut oil, help you to have soft lips without burning a hole in your pocket.
Exfoliate
When we exfoliate, we usually purse our lips and scrub the rest of our face and neck. Next time, apply some exfoliant to your lips as well to scrape off the dead skin cells. A simple home remedy is to apply a bit of oil to your lips then rub a mixture of sugar and lemon juice on them. The lemon will rid you of any tan and the sugar will remove dead skin.
You can use a soft toothbrush on your lips in gentle, circular movements to clear the lips of dead skin. Apply a bit of coconut or olive oil after you do this to soften your lips further and have the skin absorb the oil.
When you use a face mask, you can make a mixture of honey and olive oil to nourish the skin of your lips. You can even use Vitamin E which is available in the form of oil or capsules. Break one open, apply to your lips, and all around them, for best results.
Be healthy
Drinking lots of water, coconut water and citrus juices can help replenish your body’s moisture requirements.
Increase your intake of fruits and vegetables rich in Vitamin A and beta-carotene, as this will help your lips look pink at all times.
Most of us tend to bite our lips when we are stressed. Try and break out of this habit as biting lips is a surefire way to make them dry and have the skin peel off.
Avoid smoking. Nothing darkens the lips like the butt of a cigarette. What’s worse, the constant pursing of the lips as you inhale the nicotine creates small vertical lines above the upper lip, and below the lower lip, which make you look older.
If you must smoke, then, every time you break an egg, run your finger along the inside of the shell and apply the egg white around your lips. It is a great source of collagen and as it dries on your skin, it tightens and works as an anti-ageing aid.
And if you are strong enough to quit smoking, you can use the money you save on cigarettes to buy yourself that lovely red lipstick and gloss you have been eyeing for a while…
