LIP BALMS ARE NOT ENOUGH

I have tons of lip balms neatly stored in a box. From drugstore brands up to mid range ones and I have reviewed some of them, telling you how great it is and how it relieved my dry and flaky lips. The funny thing is that I still have flaky, dry and chapped lips up until now. No matter what brand I use, I will still have dry lips although I will experience smooth and flake-free lips for maybe a week or two but after that, even with regular use of a lip balm, my lips will be dry again. Now I wonder what could be wrong. Is there really a lip balm out there that can make my lips smooth forever? If so, shut up and take my money honey! Haha. 

Kidding aside, I guess some of you are wondering too why even Chapstick although it relieves wind burn and dry lips, the effect is only for a short period of time. I have done some research which is also the reason why I am not posting any reviews here because I want to find more facts and probably the best answer on why does a lip balm feels not enough to relieve our dry, chapped and flaky lips. Here I will share with you what can be the causes of dry lips, facts about lip balms and the answer on why lip balm is not enough to keep our lips moisturized.

There are actually some reasons why our lips are dry or flaky here is what I have found:

1. Nutrient deficiencies. If your lips are dry, it may not be just about the weather but it can also serve as a sign about health issues like lack of vitamins in your body, dehydration, or excess in nutrients. As the saying goes, Too much of one thing is also bad for you. 

2. Harmful chemicals. This is partly true specially when I use a harsh toothpaste, my lips tend to be more dry after brushing my teeth. It could be because the ingredient is too acidic or is not PH balance. Some shampoos specially those that are not organic contains specific ingredients which are toxic same with the facial wash that we use. This products reach our lips while taking a bath and may be the cause of dryness. 

3. Ingredients of the Lip balm. There are some cases when the lip balm itself is the reason for the dryness or make the condition of the lips worse. This is because some ingredients of the lip balm is actually not good for you or you are allergic to it. Like if you allergic to menthol, beeswax, shea butter or petroleum. The best thing to do is to read carefully the list of ingredients before you buy or try it.

4. Weather. This i one of the main reason of having dry lips. The change in weather from hot to cold can make our lips dry and sometimes even wind burn. 

I have conducted an experiment where in half my lips, I use Vaseline lip therapy on the other side, The Face Shop lip care cream. I did these for 3 consecutive days and my lips have almost the same effect. After three days, my lips are still dry and flaky. I looked at my reviews about some of the lip balms I have tried and read my planner. To my disappointment, most of the effect are only for a short period of time like a week or so. Not a single lip balm gave my lips smooth and moisturized for a month and then it came to me. Lip balms are actually not made to moisturized the lips. It just prevent moisture loss. I have to read this article  over and over again before I finally agree to it. True to what it say, lip balms just give a barrier on our lips which seals in the moisture but it does not really gives moisture to our lips. It just feels like it is moisturized because the moisture that is already on our lips are just being sealed. Did you get it? No? For example, a book is our lips and the plastic cover is the lip balm. Whatever the condition of the book is whether brand new or old and crumpled, the plastic cover will just cover it. But if you remove the plastic cover, the book will be the same. Same with our lips and lip balm, the lip balm gives a protective layer to our lips, sealing the moisture that are lips have. I am not saying that lip balms don't help in making our lips smooth, Chapstick really helps in my windburn issue. What I am saying is that it is not enough. 

Have you ever experience applying lip balm on your flaky lips? There is an urge for you to peel that flakes right? That is what lip balms can't remove. Lip balms softens our lips but it doesn't exfoliate. It can be compared to our face. We wash our face twice a day right? But sometimes, washing our face is not enough. We also have to exfoliate to remove the dead skin cells thus, giving us renewed skin which helps in better absorption of the products we will use on our face. Same goes with our lips, if we exfoliate it at least once a week, it removes those nasty flakes on our lips giving us a smoother layer of lips. I have tried this using V&M naturals coffee and sugar lip scrub two to three times a week. My lips as of now are much smoother and the flakes are lessened. I am happy to know this as it saves me money from buying and buying different lip balms because as I thought it is the only way to relieve dryness and chapped lips. 

So the next time you have dry and flaky lips, never rely on your lip balms only. Exfoliate your lips first to remove the dead skin on your lips and apply lip balm to seal in the moisture. And that's it. I hope you have learned some thing and now we know that lip balms are not enough to have moisturized lips. Have a great day!