Dry Lips be Gone
Tony M. was, in my books, one of the best looking gals – oh, okay, make that the best looking – I have come across. Typically tall, dark, and, yes, handsome – complete with an imposing aquiline nose, perfect set of buko-colored teeth, a pair of cocoa-tinted deep set eyes, wavy hair as dark as the night, and… the point has been stressed more than enough.
One drawback: Kissing Tony M. makes one forget all the superlatives about him, though.
He has papel de liha for lips.
Or, to be nicer, uses fine sands for lip balm.
And that – the dry lips – is a killer.
Truth is, the extremes aren’t good for the skin – and lips are part of that, by the way – i.e. be it dry air or cold temperatures, especially when, well, delivered by wind, the skin’s moisture is taken away from the body by extreme conditions. Lips, obviously, for being thinner, are more vulnerable, and are thus among to first show signs of dryness.
Fortunately, for Tony M. – and those in the same boat as he is – while having dry lips can be discouraging (and, in certain cases, unhealthy – e.g. simplistically, dry lips can cause chafing, thus wounding, among others), having them is not an end-all.
For dry lips to be gone, here are easy must-remembers:
- Quit the licking. Simply, saliva dries/evaporates quickly, leaving the lips dry (arguably, even drier).
- Drink lots of water for hydration.
- Apply lip balm – and not just for chapped lips, but also for angular chelitis, stomatitis, and cold sore. Balms, by the way, come from such products as: beeswax, petroleum jelly, menthol, camphor, and scented oils, among others. On these, it’s the grease that keeps the lips moisturized (and who said fat’s no good, eh?). N.B. for outdoorsy people, there are actually sunblocking balms – e.g. Nu Skin’s Sunright Lip Balm 15 (that has SeaLastin, a seaweed-based ingredient), which may be applied under lipstick, and, get this, on the eyelids (another sensitive area of the face); and Godiva’s lip-whitening (and nipples, too, by the way) lip balm.
- Buy a humidifier for your house – to keep the house temperature neutral (avoiding the extremes).
- Visit the doctor – e.g. cracks at the corners of the mouth can indicate riboflavin deficiencies, and doctors may recommend vitamin B-2 supplements to deal with this; just as ill-fitting dentures may cause chapped lips, so some realigning may be needed.
The thing is, something can be done.
And should be done.
Else, be like Tony M. – always seen as among the best, but an observation always added with: “IF ONLY…”
