Beauty Day!

Happy Thursday, everyone!  Most of you may not know, I've been a skin care consultant and make up artist for over 10 years.  I thought I'd share some of the tips I've picked up over the past 10 years.

The biggest problem people complain about (men, too!) in the fall is chapped lips.  When the air gets colder, and the heat is on inside, our skin is constantly exposed to dry air.  The skin on our lips is actually very thin.  When it's damaged, we notice it so much more quickly.  But you can heal the skin...and prevent the damage...with just a couple of easy steps.

To prevent chapping - the best tip I ever learned is to exfoliate your lips!  You can purchase products with granules that will slough the dead skin and moisturize at the same time.  Or, you can do something that's free. ;)  When you brush your teeth, take your damp (fully rinsed) toothbrush and gently massage your lips with it.  Just one pass on the top and one on the bottom, every day, should help to prevent the skin from cracking.  My younger daughter is more prone to dry skin, and I've used this trick on her since she got teeth, and her lips rarely chap.

Another tip to prevent chapping - stop licking your lips!  Your mom was right, you know.  Licking your lips will actually cause them to chap because the moisture will evaporate from the surface of the skin, and will also pull moisture out of the skin, leaving it drier than it was before.  To moisturize, use a non-scented, non-flavored petroleum-based balm.  You will never see me recommend petroleum-based products for any other area of skin.  But because the skin on your lips is so thin, you need something to seal them.  Avoid scents and flavors because a) they could irritate damaged skin and b) you will just be tempted to lick your lips more.

What about healing?  When my kids have chapped lips, I always have them use a damp wash cloth VERY GENTLY on the skin, to remove the damaged, peeling skin.  Then we apply a first aid cream.  We use an Aloette product called Visible Aid - you only need a tiny bit of this, and it moisturizes and numbs the area a little bit.  But you could also use a triple-antibiotic cream as well.  The point is to seal in some moisture and get the skin healing.

I hope this helps!  Next week we'll get into some more skin care tips.  If you have a skin care or make up question, go ahead and leave it here, and I'll try to answer it in a future post.