If you’re anything like me, your skin and lips get super dry in the winter. I feel like I’m continually applying Nivea’s lip balm, Beauty Kitchen’s Naturaline, and/or Glow Recipe’s Lip Pops and my lips still seem dry – I guess that’s more a reflection on my skin than these products.
Since environmental humidity is low in winter, our skin naturally dries out unless you do a whole lot extra to combat it. Harvard Health notes that dry skin “occurs when skin doesn’t retain sufficient moisture” which can be caused by bathing frequently and washing the natural oils off your skin, using harsh soaps that also wash away natural oils, and just general ageing. Yet, you can combat it, which is the good news!
But with the masks finally coming off (goodbye, “maskne,” you won’t be missed) our lips are taking centre stage, so here are tips to keep your lips supple, moisturised, and feeling healthy as we approach (hopefully much) warmer weather.
Lip scrubs
There are many lip scrubs on the market but some recommend using a dedicated toothbrush (or an old one if you prefer) and lukewarm water to brush and massage your lips to remove any excess dry skin. Kind of like the skin brushing techniques we wrote about but for your lips!
If you’re feeling frugal, you don’t need to splurge on this lip craze; you can simply make your own at a fraction of the cost and keep your lips exfoliated and moisturised.
For a simple DIY scrub, mix 1 teaspoon of honey (or agave nectar) with 2 teaspoons of sugar and scrub the mixture into your lips for a minute or two then rinse away. You can use this basic recipe or add oils to it such as almond, olive, and coconut oil for added moisturising properties.
One of my favourite skincare product brands, Fresh, has this lovely sugar lip polish exfoliator for £15. It may be a little pricey but it uses brown sugar, shea butter, and jojoba oil and they recommend you scrub your lips and wash it away with a soft damp cloth.
The Body Shop has an £8 lip scrub that you use by applying and rubbing your lips together, and then removing the excess skin with a tissue, which is kind of neat!
If you want something that smells a little nicer, there’s also a watermelon lip scrub for under £5 by Barry M Cosmetics.
You can find lip scrubs for any price point or try your hand at making your own in the kitchen. But either way, exfoliating your lips will help keep them free of dead skin cells and moisturised after you swipe on your fave balm of lipstick, that is.
Lip masks
Have you seen those fun lip masks that are shaped like cartoon lips and have a jelly-like texture? Lip masks are “the new thing.” Well, to be more precise, they started to become popular in the West in 2016 but originated as part of Korean skincare regimes much earlier but once we got hold of them, they’ve been on the mask to-do list ever since.
Lip masks are designed to give your lips an instant nourishment boost, and if you’re going on a night out, it’s recommended that you do a lip scrub, a mask, a moisturising product, and then apply a swipe of your fave lipstick or tinted moisturiser so that your lips look luscious – now that they can be unmasked in public again.
You don’t have to do these processes daily – a couple of times a week or as needed will often be sufficient.
There are lots of products on the market but Cult Beauty has these on offer. For the more budget-friendly options, there are Patchology Moodpatch Keep Smiling masks or the Patchology Flash Patch Lip Gel, both at the £3 per mask price point.
For mid-range, there’s the Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask at £19 per 20g pot; Milk Makeup’s Maltonin Overnight Lip Mask at £21 per container; or Paula’s Choice Hyaluronic Acid and Peptide Lip Booster at £24 per 10ml tube.
Those who want high-end treatments can look no further than La Mer’s Lip Polishing Scrub for £55 or Mimi Luzon’s 24K Pure Gold Lip Treatment for £115. There are endless options to choose from.
Lip balms and moisturising lipsticks
If anyone wore cheap lipstick in the 90s (or a little later), some lipsticks just seemed to suck the moisture right out of your lips, which is not what you want in winter. And if you don’t want to be that person who has a weird grease outline from chapstick and petroleum jelly vaseline swiped on top which isn’t the best look, then you’ll want to reach for a moisturising lipstick.
The good news is so many brands create absolutely gorgeous formulas these days that provide plenty of moisture.
Some of our favourites include Bare Minerals Hydra Soothing Lipstick (£20), Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk Lipstick (£25), Rare Beauty Lipsticks with Gratitude Dewy Lip Balm (£15), Clinique’s Dramatically Different Lip Shaping Lipstick (£22), and YSL’s Rouge Volupte Shine Lipstick (£32).
If you want a subtle hint of colour with a tinted lip balm, we recommend NARS Afterglow Lip Balm (£22), Dior Addict Lip Glow (£29.50), Chanel’s Les Beiges Lip Balm (£32), and Shiseido’s Color Gel Lip Balm (£26).
For good old-fashioned(ish) chapstick style brands where you just want some moisture, there are products like Burt’s Bees Lip Butter with Orange Blossom and Pistachio (£4.99), Eve Lom Kiss Mix Lip Treatment (£16), Fresh Sugar Caramel Hydrating Lip Balm (£15), Dr PawPaw Original Balm (£4.25), and Caudalie Lip Conditioner (£6).
There are all sorts of products at any price point and lipstick will look its best when you look after your lips.
Liquid matte lipsticks
If you haven’t tried one of these beauties yet, you’re in for a real treat. Known for their long-lasting rich colours, liquid matte type lip wands are glamorous and resilient. Available in rich, neutral, or shimmering shades, these can leave your lip colour smudge-proof and kiss-proof, yet the colour will not easily transfer to your glass or straw.
However, one not-so-great feature, is that they can dry out your lips, so it’s important to follow our recommendations above for exfoliating and moisturising your lips before applying the liquid matte colour. And at the end of your day, don’t forget to completely remove the product and moisturise your lips before bed.
We love these iconic Huda colours (£15) or this nude one from bareMinerals (£12.95), and this budget-friendly option from Maybelline is available for only (£6). And here’s one from Chanel if you can afford a splurge treat (£33).
These flawless and velvety “miracle” wands can provide you with up to eight hours of rich colour that won’t smudge, streak or transfer; although you may risk drying out your lips if you don’t invest the time to moisturise before and after application.
General skincare
To keep your winter skin healthy, there’s lots of advice out there but in general, it’s recommended you add humidity to your environment at home, especially if you keep popping the radiators on. Some say that increasing your fat intake will hydrate your skin from within so reach for the avocado, almonds, olive oil, and walnuts – and drink plenty of water! Exfoliate, moisturise, and avoid harsh cleansers and water that’s too hot.
For extra moisture, we recommend our Super Smooth leg kit and our Super Smooth face kit. Read all about the amazing ingredients in each here. Our all-vegan superfood formulas contain star ingredients like coconut oil, linoleic acid, borage oil, jojoba oil, argan oil, rosehip oil, vitamin E, seabuckthorn, shea butter, and more. These ingredients when combined create rich moisturising that fully nourishes your skin, a luxury high-end product chocked full of all the best ingredients for a mid-range price.
The takeaways
Now that we can remove our masks in public once more, it’s time to enjoy wearing our favourite lippy again and soon (thankfully), it’ll be spring and summer and we’ll be baring more skin as we hopefully can jet set to sunnier locations and bask in the warm sun. But you might feel embarrassed to show off flaky, dry, red skin! So, to get glowing skin and lips by summer, invest some time on your lips!