Winter lips aren’t always the most kissable. Winter air can dry your lips out and even make them flaky. Ick. You can have kiss ready; or pout ready (depending) lips by Valentine’s Day though.
1. Exfoliate: Try one of the following treatments…
- You can use a small, soft, and slightly damp washcloth to rub your lips about twice a week.
- Take a dab of honey and a dab of white table sugar and gently use this to exfoliate your lips. I did this by accident once (I was doing a honey skin pat) but it works well for lips.
Use an organic lip scrub treatment such as Natural Lip Scrub in Organic Cinnamon (organic, no petroleum – no parabens) or try NVEY ECO Organic Lip Exfoliator which sounds awesome – a blend of cranberry seeds and organic oils that help refine and smooth your lips.
2. Treat: Some people think using lip balm will dry your lips out more than using nothing; however, I think that using a bad lip balm might, but if you use a nice one, it can only help your lips. At least, that’s my experience. Grab a nice super rich lip balm, such as…
- I’ve noted before that I like the Burts Bees bees wax lip balm, but have been looking for a new brand. I’m thinking of trying Red Bee Real Lip Balm. Red Bee sound pretty nice; it’s handmade in small batches with only plant-based ingredients. No pesticides, alcohol, paraffin waxes, or preservatives and it’s available in peppermint, watermelon, strawberry and lemon. At just $5 a pop, it seems insane not to try this balm.
- A reader here suggested All Good Lips – which I still need to try, but it sounds nice and soothing. Made by Elemental Herbs, All Good Lips is a combo of 100% natural essential oils and is available with or without sunscreen and in original flavor, tangerine or spearmint.
- Try some Homemade Natural Cranberry Lip Gloss.
3. Top your lips off: Of course choose a color that suits your skin, but go for a satin shine or rich glossy finish, not matte, not in winter when your lips need brightening, and absolutely not on Valentine’s Day. The general color rule is that darker, deeper red shades – raspberry and burgundy are good for very pale and dark skin, while bright reds and light berry (think strawberry) are good for medium skin tones. That said, I’m not much for rules. I know what looks best with my skin tone because I experiment and you can too. If you need instant tips, read Choosing Lip Colors, which is short and seems on target.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
fig+sage 01.10.09 at 8:30 am
I too am a Burts Bees Lip Balm fan! The closest thing I’ve found to it in an organic version is Bubble & Bee’s Spearmint lip balm…similiar consistency, minty and just $3.99. Elemental Herbs All Good Lips lip balm is a bit oily & thin for my taste (for use on lips), but its great to keep in your bag for cuts, scrapes & bug bite relief (same formula as their fabulous All Good Goop) just in a lip balm tube.
Jennifer 01.11.09 at 11:48 am
Bubble & Bee sounds cool; although, I’d like to get away from the whole minty balm flavor. I’m more of a berry lips girl. I put up with the minty aspects of Burt’s Bees, because it works, but I’d rather ditch the mint. I’ll check out Bubble & Bee anyhow though, in case they have other flavors, plus, $3.99 is way cheap for organic.
fig+sage 01.11.09 at 12:02 pm
Oh, got it
In that case, you may want to check out BeeCeuticals USDA Certified Organic Raspberry & Blueberry Lip Balms (they are just $3.99 too!): http://www.beeceuticals.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=1&products_id=47! Good luck with your search 
fig+sage 01.11.09 at 12:08 pm
P.S. EcoLips has 99% organic Kiwi Strawberry lip balm for just $1.99. Now that’s a deal for any lip balm!!! http://www.ecolips.com/Products.aspx
Jennifer 01.12.09 at 1:28 pm
Ah cool. Thanks for the tips. I’ll have to check everything out. Even with my sugar scrubs, my lips could use some winter care