Chapped lips is one of the common problems where your lips feel extremely dry, cracked and sometimes flaking also known as cheilitis.
Struggling to get rid of dry and cracked lips? You have landed at the right place. Try these home remedies for dry lips and we promise next time you won’t need to constantly lick your lips for hydration.
But before we get into the deets, let’s quickly understand the cause of lips dryness.
What Causes Dry and Chapped Lips?
Chapped lips are typically caused by dry and cold weather conditions. Other external factors that lead to cracked and dry lips are excessive sun exposure, environmental pollutants, and spicy food. Chapped lips are also one of the symptoms of deficiencies in vitamin B6, B9, and B12.
Top 5 Home Remedies for Dry and Chapped Lips
Dry and Chapped lips can be healed with ultra-nourishing and hydrating compounds like aloe vera, coconut oil and honey. These natural ingredients are rich in antioxidants and conditioning agents to repair cracked lips and cure dryness. Here are the simple home remedies for chapped lips that will help you get rid of chapped lips:
Honey
Honey is a wonderful humectant with the natural tendency to pull the natural moisture from your atmosphere. It helps deeply moisturise your lips and its mild exfoliating properties eliminate the dead skin cells on the surface. The antibacterial compounds in honey prevent bacteria and sores to protect cracked lips against infections.
- How to Apply: Use your finger to apply organic honey on your lips 3-4 times a day. Massaging it through your lips for 1-2 minutes gives you faster results to get rid of dry and cracked lips.
Sugar Exfoliation
Lip exfoliation is one of the best dry lips home remedies to remove dead skin cells and dull skin on the lips. Sugar works as a mild exfoliating agent to remove the dead skin cells, help you get rid of the flaky skin and moisturise the skin underneath.
- How to Apply: Take 1 tbsp of sugar into a bowl. Add 1 tbsp of coconut oil and 1 tbsp of lemon juice to it. Apply and exfoliate in small circular motions for 1-2 minutes. Wipe it off using a damp cloth.
Aloe Vera
Aloe Vera benefit your skin in many ways. It has soothing, healing, and anti-inflammatory properties to treat dry and cracked lips. Its gel-like water base consistency helps intensely hydrate the lips, keeping them satiated for moisturisation while improving their texture and smoothness. The antioxidants prevent the progression of chapped lips.
- How to Apply: You can use organic aloe vera gel or fresh aloe vera gel extracted from the aloe leaf to apply it to your lips twice a day.
Coconut Oil
Coconut oil for skin is a great emollient composed of essential fatty lipids. It helps replenish the cracks and deeply moisturises the dry lips by protecting its natural moisture barrier. It has an antibacterial ability to keep your lips germ-free and avoid bacterial infection. It also has anti-inflammatory properties to relieve you from the pain of cracked lips.
- How to Apply: Apply coconut oil everyday before bedtime to get rid of chapped lips. Alternatively, you can combine it with sugar to use it as a lip exfoliator to remove dead skin cells and flakes on your lips.
Petroleum Jelly
Petroleum jelly that acts as a protective moisture barrier to trap the moisture. Also, it is the key ingredient in lips balm for dry and chapped lips. Consistent use of pure petroleum jelly helps soothe dryness and prevent cracked lips. It is one of the easiest home remedies to get rid of dry chapped lips.
- How to Apply: Apply vaseline (pure petroleum jelly) throughout the day and before bedtime to ensure your lips don’t feel dehydrated and prevent moisture loss. Using it regularly will give you desirable results in 1-2 weeks.
Tips to Prevent Dry and Chapped Lips
There could be several reasons for dry lips. Here are tips to prevent dry chapped lips:
- Drink at least 8-10 glasses of water to keep yourself hydrated.
- Never miss out on moisturising your lips frequently throughout the day.
- Exfoliate your lips once a week using a homemade lip scrub or natural exfoliating ingredients.
- Mouth breathing can cause dry lips, so focus on breathing through your nose.
- Avoid lip balms that contain artificial colours and irritating substances and indulge in some organic lip balms for dry lips that are intensely moisturising.
- Avoid licking your lips for hydration as it might only dry out your lips even more.
FAQs
What deficiency causes dry chapped lips?
Deficiency of multiple nutrients of iron, zinc, Vitamin B6, B9 and B12 is one of chapped lip causes.
Are dry lips a symptom of anything?
Dry lips is one of the symptoms of chapped lips due to cold and dry weather conditions.
Can low iron cause chapped lips?
Yes, deficiency of iron is one of the internal factors that cause dry chapped lips.
How long do chapped lips take to heal?
Chapped lips take a bit long, but dermatologists say that the average time is 2-3 weeks to recover completely.
Why are my lips so dry even when I drink water?
Cold and dry weather conditions including excessive sun exposure make your lips feel dry even after your drink enough water. One of the reasons could be that you have a very active lifestyle
Conclusion
Next time you are confused on how to get rid of chapped lips, look no further and try these home remedies for dry lips. We assure you will love the results.