My lips were once the driest lips in the world. One summer, my lips were so dry that the skin around them shed, and I was left with a sort of light-skinned natural lip liner surrounding them to contrast with my tanned skin. After several months of having very chapped lips (chronic dry lips is apparently a thing), I decided to finally actively target the problem. I initially thought it would be due to dehydration - and it was, partially - so I started drinking the recommended 3L of water a day. The dryness really went down but my lips were still chapped. I finally decided to invest time into researching and trying lots of different lip products throughout the years, and here, I’ll tell you about the ones that worked the most. But first:

What to avoid

One thing that doesn't help with dry lips is licking them all the time. Which I admit, I used to do quite often. It was sort of habitual for me to lick my lips multiple times a day because I would think they're dry, wouldn't have a chapstick with me, so used my saliva instead (get over it). The cold wind, dry weather and saliva mix would consequently make my lips dryer and more chapped than where they started. So if there's one thing you should take out of this: try to do it only when you really need to, and even then, try not to do it.

The second thing to avoid is dehydration. If there's something I've noticed it's this: most people don't drink as much water as they should. I'm not going to sit here and lecture you about all the benefits of water, point is, if you don't drink enough water, you won't be hydrated enough, and if you're not hydrated enough, chances are your lips will be dry. So try to drink at least 2L of water or more as a start.

WHAT TO USE

I have probably tried 3/4 of the chapstick of the world ( probably not, but I hope you get the point, I've used a LOT of lip products so I kind of know what I'm talking about #crustylipgang ). My favorite chapstick in the whole wide world is by Beesline. The thing with lip products is that the stick is either too hard, too soft, or the product is too colored or not moisturizing enough, but this one is exactly right.

BEESLINE Lip Care Flavour Free

All hail the perfect chapstick. The mother of all chapsticks. All chapsticks should strive to be like this chapstick. The formula is smooth, it glides on your lips, and leaves them looking fresh but not oily. It provides moisture for a long period of time, and regular usage will make them smoother over time. Beesline is an amazing line ( I also use their suntanning oils and aftersun spray which I'll talk about in another post) developed in apitherapy, which means that all of their products are based on something bee-related, like honey, pollen, propolis, etc... Their chapsticks contain beeswax (helps seals moisture) as well as Vitamin E&F that help "Soothes, moisturizes & regenerates dry and chapped lips" and "Protects the lips from climatic conditions & skin drying caused by acne treatments". Which I can attest to. Just try it and your lips will be thankful. You'll also wonder how you settled for other chapsticks in the past (no one is paying me to say this btw, but hey Beesline what's up?)

Honorable mention: Menturm Medicated Stick

LA NEIGE LIP SLEEPING MASK

A Lip sleeping mask? what kind of posh princess needs that? If this is your reaction right now, it was mine last year. I buy a lot of k-beauty products and I always get suggested the laneige lip sleeping mask as something I might like. I would use to look at the price, make fun of the whole concept, and quickly scroll down. But that all changed when I went to South Korea for the first time in December of 2016. If you’ve ever been to Korea in winter, you probably know that it gets as cold as a puppy killer’s heart over there. I had planned to spend a month with my friends, and by the second week, I had virtually all but lost my lips to the cold. What was once a soft pink tissue, afflicted here and there by brittleness, had transformed into icicles of death. To say that I was desperate would be an understatement, so, one day while in Myeong-dong, I entered a shop, eyed the sleeping mask down, eyed my credit card, eyed what was left of my lips in the mirror, and was sold. To be honest, this product is basically just lip balm ( the best lip balm I've ever used, but still lip balm) in a fancy package and smart marketable name, there is no such thing as a sleeping mask for lips. But it works. Boy oh boy does it work. I slathered on a substantial amount before going to sleep, and on the next morning, my lips were revived. I wouldn't say that they were completely 100% back, but a solid 90%. So yes, I still use this product to this day and have repurchased it a couple of times.

(If you use my code: DEWILDE you can get up to 5% off on any yesstyle purchase at checkout)

EXFOLIATION: YOUR TOOTHBRUSH

I have tried numerous lip exfoliating products along the years, and haven't come across any that really made a difference. The exfoliating agent was either too harsh, too soft, too smelly, too tasty (lush popcorn lip scrub I'm looking at you), and I finally gave up on exfoliating my lips. Until I discovered the toothbrush. This isn't anything innovative, creative or out of the box, it just consists of using your toothbrush (the bristles) as an exfoliator. The cool thing with this is that you can really control how harsh or soft you want the process to be by varying the force you apply. I only use it on my lips, brushing it once or twice a week before I go to sleep ( so that I won't have to deal with lip skin residue peeling off during the day), and wake up with softer lips. But I don't exfoliate the surrounding skin area that also tends to shed - you shouldn't use this on your skin - just apply an ample amount of chapstick or sleeping mask or whatever and it will eventually get better. I usually do this after brushing my teeth while my lips are still wet but you can be a little fancier and put some vaseline or chapstick on them before exfoliating too.

That being said, I have used this exfoliator in the past and it did work for me: Tony Moly, Kiss Kiss Lip Scrub , It's not expensive and it does the job if you feel like the toothbrush method isn't for you.

You can use my code: LKV995 for 5% off any Iherb purchase at checkout if you want.

IN CASE OF EMERGENCY

OLIVE OIL

Have you ever gone out of the house without chapstick, and as the hours of the day passed, your lips got dryer and dryer? If yes, a quick solution would be to put some olive oil on them ( available almost anywhere at any restaurant, chances are if you're gone that long you're probably also planning on eating in one at some point). Anyway, I did that a couple of times and it saved me so I though I would share, and if you're into home remedies for dry lips and DIYs, you're welcome. I guess?