Five Ways to Pucker Up for Perfect Lips

Now that summer is in full force, you are likely to be spending more time outside. While this has tremendous benefits for your physical and emotional well-being, it can be precisely the opposite for your lips. Exposure to sun and wind can dry them out, leading to chapping, cracking, and sometimes even bleeding. What can you do to make your lips soft and moisturized throughout summer? Our staff at Jefferson Plastic Surgery has some suggestions.

Just Add Water

Keeping your lips moist and staying hydrated can help you maintain plump and soft lips all summer. Start with a lip balm (not a gloss or a tint) that contains shea or coconut butter, beeswax, and sunscreen. Apply any time you will be outside for more than five minutes, and reapply liberally if your lips feel dry. Since lip balm tubes are small and inexpensive, keep several around - at home, in your car, in your purse or backpack, and in your gym bag.

While lip balms will keep your lips hydrated, you also need to hydrate your entire body. Drinking plenty of water helps your body flush out toxins and impurities, and helps with blood circulation, which is necessary for hydrating your lips. Aim for 64 ounces of water a day.

Gentle Exfoliation

Removing dry skin from your lips will reveal softer skin underneath. However, if you exfoliate too much, you may actually cause your lips to crack and bleed. Gently rub a wet washcloth over your lips to gently exfoliate them, but only once a week. There are special lip scrubs on the market, but these should also only be used no more than once a week.

Quit Licking!

Licking your lips is an almost unconscious habit. While it may seem to refresh them, it actually does precisely the opposite. The saliva on the tongue will actually dry lips out even further once the initial moisture has dissipated. This can also lead to cracking and bleeding. If you feel the urge to lick, it’s probably time to reapply your lip balm. This is why it is so important to have some handy wherever you might be.

Don’t Be a Mouth Breather

Every time you breathe through your mouth, the exhaled air will dry out your lips. This is why you often get dry, chapped lips if you have a cold or sinus infection. If you tend to have a stuffy nose, try using a nasal spray, humidifier, or neti pot to clear out your nasal passages so that you can breathe more freely through your nose.

Plump Up Your Pout

If you are still not quite satisfied with the shape of your lips, it may be time to consider injectable lip fillers to fill out your lips and make them look fuller. In this procedure, our doctors will inject a filler at strategic areas just below the surface of the lips. The filler will add volume to your lips. The procedure is done in our offices and generally takes no more than 30 minutes. Furthermore, recovery time is quick.