Let's Talk Lips

I live in a city where the weather is dry all the time, even our monsoons aren’t humid enough. In school, we used to carry around our little bottles of Vaseline that used to leak and ruin our bags, and lip balms made their first appearance in our town well into my teens. I used to think that a lip balm should be used only when my lips begin to crack, because of which I have tasted my own blood for way too long and laughed out loud with my mouth in the shape of a butt hole because if I smiled any wider than that, my lips would most certainly turn into the bloody version of Niagara Falls.

Around my fourteenth birthday, I decided that it is high time I started using something on my lips, mostly out of the fear that I might end up looking like the Mouth of Sauron. I started experimenting with whatever I had at home. Lip balms just seemed to sit on my lips, doing pretty much nothing. Ghee smells nice when used for cooking, not when it is constantly on your lips, right under your nose. The only thing that helped was my good old Vaseline.

As it turns out, there is a reason behind all this- your lips get used to the instant relief your lip balm provides and they stop building their own protective barrier, making you reapply even more balm, thus creating a vicious cycle of sorts. Basically, keep it simple, and you will be fine. 

Everyone’s lips react differently to different products- these are some of the things that worked for me:

Vaseline

This is the most basic lip treatment that people turn to because it is fragrance free, has no added colours, and almost always works. It is made up of paraffins, waxes, and mineral oil, all of them being occlusive emollients, which help you avoid loss of moisture by locking in the hydration on your lips.

Beeswax

It is antioxidant, anti-inflammatory anti-bacterial, and anti-dry lips. Beeswax helps in healing cracked lips that have seen better days by forming a protective layer on your lips to shield them from harsh climate, pollution, and emotionally distant partners.

Shea Butter

Shea butter contains fatty acids that sink in quickly to soften your lips. It is one of those all-purpose lip treatments- contains vitamins A and E, provides spf, prevents aging, and stops your lips from getting dehydrated. It is basically Sharmaji ka beta of lip balms.

Boroline

I was introduced to this product by one of my friends whose skin is pretty much perfect. It didn’t do much for my skin so, I repurposed it as my night time lip treatment, and woke up with perfectly moisturised, smooth lips. Boroline is a multipurpose cream that can also be used on cracked heels, dry skin, minor cuts, etc. It contains Boric acid (mild anti-bacterial anti-fungal), lanolin (an emollient), paraffin, mineral oil and zinc oxide (sun protection). The fragrance in it is a little too strong for me to apply it during the day, even though it is not an offensive smell.

A handy guide of dos and don’ts

 Tips:

- Apply Boroline for 15-30 minutes, wipe it off with a cloth, then apply a matte lipstick.

- Humectants- like hyaluronic acid and glycerin- pull in the moisture and occlusives- like shea butter and beeswax- stop it from evaporating, which will make your lips drier than before. If you plan on applying a lip balm with humectants in it, always follow it up with an occlusive.

I am sorry about using the words emollient, occlusive, and moisture so much.