14 Easy and Effective Life Hacks to Trade Your Chapped Lips For Smoother Ones

Chapped lips are not just uncomfortable to have but often very indicative of the body’s lack of hydration and moisture. Lips are often considered as one of the most sensitive parts of an individual which is why even the slightest physiological disturbances are reflected on the lips.

These dried and rough scaly skin on the lips are often times very painful to bear, not to mention that they look equally disturbing because of the external layer of dead skin cells littering it. It doesn’t really have a stagnant and one particular cause because the same varies from person to person and their skin types as well.

In this article, we are going to glance through the few natural everyday hacks that can help transform your dry and chapped lips into rosy pink ones.

Table of Content

1. What are Chapped Lips?
2. What Causes Chapped Lips?
3. How to Get Rid of Chapped Lips
4. Symptoms of Chapped Lips
5. How to Prevent Chapped Lips

What are Chapped Lips?

Chapped lips are nothing but the dried lips littered with dry, dead and scaly skin which is primarily caused by a number of reasons, be it whether or even an unsuitable lip balm that didn’t sit well with your lips; the possibilities are endless.

That being said, chapped lips can often be very painful and even bleed if necessary steps of hydration are not inflicted at the right time. One of the primary reasons for the lips to dry out faster in comparison to the rest of the body is because our lips don’t have any kind of oil glands of their own which is what subjects them to dryness if the same is not mitigated soon enough.

What Causes Chapped Lips?

While the causes of chapped lips are varying based on person to person, there are some standard causes behind chapped lips that can be taken into consideration when talking about this condition.

Some of the common causes behind chapped lips include:

1. Lack of oil glands in the lips: Lips don’t have any kind of oil glands in them which are what makes them more susceptible to dryness and lack of moisture if something is not applied externally. The lack of natural oils in the lips is what sometimes causes it to dry out and give rise to scaly, rough and dry lips.
2. Lack of body hydration: Not being hydrated enough is yet another common reason behind one’s chapped lips. If you are dehydrated, there are chances that your lips will appear even drier and more rough which is exactly what happens with chapped lips.
3. Consistently licking the lips: Yet another unconscious mistake that most of us do that contributes to chapped lips is licking the lips consistently. The saliva strips of the available moisture off the lips, thus making them look even drier and rougher.

How to Get Rid of Chapped Lips

1. Coconut Oil
2. Castor Oil
3. Argan Oil
4. Aloe Vera
5. Apple Cider Vinegar
6. Cocoa Butter
7. Almond Oil
8. Sugar Scrub
9. Honey
10. Rose Petals
11. Milk Cream
12. Petroleum Jelly
13. Cucumber
14. Green Tea Bags

14 Home Remedies for Chapped Lips

As chapped lips are nothing life threatening, this is a condition that can be easily mitigated with a few home remedies that can heal the dryness and reward you with soft and smoother lips in return.

Check Out the Most Popular Self Care Tips for Chapped Lips

1. Coconut Oil for Chapped Lips

It has been seen often times that there are instances when the lip balm either doesn’t suit your skin type or is just not good enough. Switch up your normal lip balm with coconut oil as an effective chapped lips treatment. The moisturizing property (R) of the coconut oil helps to replenish the lost moisture and also gets rid of the dry and flaky skin on the lips.

What to do?

1. Rub some coconut oil on your lips and let it stay overnight
2. Repeat this process every night to witness promising results in having soft and rosy lips

[Also Read: How Coconut Oil Treat Wrinkles]

2. Castor Oil for Chapped Lips

Castor Oil is yet amazing moisturizing oil that helps get rid of chapped lips fast. The surplus presence of Vitamin E, omega 6 and 9 along with other essential nutrients make this an ideal dry lips remedy which is why the effects are momentous as well. It helps get rid of the dryness fast (R) and replaces the same with effectively moistened lips, for a change.

What to do?

1. Take some castor oil in your fingers and apply it on the lips
2. As the castor oil doesn’t have a pleasant taste, many people don’t like to keep it on for long. If that’s the case with you, apply the oil and let it stay on for an hour or two and then wipe your lips with a wet cloth with gentle hands

3. Argan Oil for Chapped Lips

Argan Oil is an amazing remedy to restore and replenish the lost moisture in the lips. The presence of essential nutrients (R) in this essential oil is effective in getting rid of the scaly and dry lips. It is an amazing natural substitute for your synthetic lip balms that effectively helps in the treatment for chapped lips.

What to do?

1. Take some argan oil in your fingers and apply it on your lips
2. Do this before bed so you can leave the oil on your lips overnight
3. Repeat this process every night before bed

4. Aloe Vera for Chapped Lips

The usage of aloe vera in the salient treatment of skin issues is not a new concept. It has hydrating and moisturizing properties which are very beneficial to treat severely chapped lips. The application of aloe vera helps replenish the lost moisture (R) and makes the lips more hydrated instead of making them appear dry and rough.

What to do?

1. Cut an aloe vera leaf and scoop the pulp out and apply it on your lips and let it seep into the skin
2. If you don’t have direct access to aloe vera plant, you can even apply the over the counter aloe vera gels on your lips and that should do the work just as proficiently.

5. Apple Cider Vinegar for Chapped Lips

Chapped Lips often time leads to unbalanced pH and sometimes even irritation and infections because of the same. The apple cider vinegar acts as an amazing toner (R) which beneficially helps balance the pH levels and also rids any possibility of infection that could arise because of the chapped lips.

What to do?

1. Mix one parts apple cider vinegar to four parts water and store it in the spraying bottle
2. Soak a cotton pad and apply this on the chapped lips as a toner to bring back a bit of hydration and also balance the pH

6. Cocoa Butter for Chapped Lips

All of us are well aware of what cocoa butter (R) is and how it positively influences skin healing because of its effective moisturizing properties (R) and effective nutrients present in it. It helps curb the dryness on the lips and moistens them on multiple applications.

What To Do?

1. Melt some cocoa butter in a double boiler and add some lavender essential oil into it
2. Store this in a container and leave it in the fridge

7. Almond Oil for Chapped Lips

Almond Oil has essential skin healing properties (R) which help in getting rid of the dry and dead skin on the lips. Not just that, it also helps rejuvenate the dead skin cells and helps the production of healthy skin cells. It moisturizes the lips (R) and keeps them hydrated. You can also mix this with a bit of honey to turn it into a lip balm for nourishing the skin.

What To Do?

1. For regular use, apply a bit of almond oil on the lips and let it seep into the skin
2. Alternatively, you can mix equal parts of almond oil and honey and mix it together. Apply this as a lip balm to soften your chapped lips and use this as the dry lips remedy

8. Sugar Scrub for Chapped Lips

The use of sugar scrub has lately gotten heightened prominence. The application and gentle massage with this scrub helps get rid of chapped lips fast because it removes the dead and dry skin from the lips so as to cleanse the area so that the generation of new healthy skin isn’t prohibited.

What To Do?

1. Take two tablespoon of coarse sugar in a bowl
2. Add some honey and a teaspoon of lemon to make a pliable paste
3. Apply this on the lips and gently rub it over the lips with your fingers
4. Do this for 2-3 minutes and rub off the excess sugar with a wet cloth or makeup wipe
5. Repeat this process every 2-3 alternate days

9. Honey for Chapped Lips

Honey is vividly known for its beneficial antimicrobial (R) as well as moisturizing properties (R) which play a key role in the treatment for dry lips. The sticky and rejuvenating property of the honey helps soften the skin on the lips and gets rid of the dead and scaly skin surrounding the area. It rejuvenates the skin from deep within, thus treating the problem from the roots.

What To Do?

1. Apply a layer of raw honey on your lips and leave it on for 15-20 minutes
2. Following that, once the skin on the lips have softened, wipe off the honey with a wet wipe
3. Repeat this process every day twice till your lips are completely healed

10. Rose Petals for Chapped Lips

Rose petals and rose water benefits for skin is very effective and result driven. The essential skin healing and beautifying properties present in the rose helps in getting rid of the chapped lips and also healing the problem from within. The rose petals help in gentle scrubbing and also add a natural rosy tint to the lips which is an added bonus.

What To Do?

1. Mix 1 tablespoon of rose water and half a teaspoon of honey and apply it on the lips.
2. Leave it for 15-20 minutes and wipe the excess off.
3. Repeat this every day for effective results.

Alternatively,

1. You can crush some rose petals,
2. Add some cocoa butter and honey to it and make a natural scrub.
3. Apply this on the lips and scrub the lips with the mixture.
4. Repeat this 3-4 times a week to cure chapped lips.

11. Milk Cream for Chapped Lips

Milk cream is rich in fats which make it ideal as a moisturizer for dead and dry skin. The application of this on the lips helps get rid of the dead and dry skin and smoothens the roughness that is caused by the chapped lips.

What To Do?

1. Apply some milk cream directly on the lips and leave it on for 10 minutes
2. Wash off the remnants with some lukewarm water
3. Repeat this process once every day for effective results

12. Petroleum Jelly for Chapped Lips

Petroleum jelly for a healing of the chapped lips doesn’t necessarily need any separate introduction, now, does it? It has been used for decades now for rejuvenating the dryness of the lips along with healing the dead and dry skin that is often witnessed in people who suffer from chapped lips.

What To Do?

Keep a bottle of petroleum jelly handy with you and apply it on your lips whenever the lips tend to feel dry and rough.

13. Cucumber for Chapped Lips

Cucumber has beneficial effects in healing the chapped and dry lips because of its combined hydrating and moisturizing properties. The application of cucumber helps restore the lost moisture from the lips and makes them look plump and hydrated instead of dry and rough. Cucumber is 90% water which more or less describes why this is one of the best remedies to get rid of chapped lips fast.

What To Do?

1. Freeze a cucumber in the fridge overnight
2. Cut 3-4 mm thick slices of that cucumber and apply that on your lips
3. Let it stay for 10-15 minutes
4. Repeat this 2-3 times throughout the day for noticeable results

14. Green Tea Bags for Chapped Lips

Green tea is an amazing remedy for not just restoring the lost moisture in the lips but to also get rid of any dark colouration left on the lips. The antioxidants in the tea are beneficial in making the lips look healthier and much more rejuvenated and moist, rather than the opposite of it.

What To Do?

1. Boil some water and steep a green tea bag in the water and leave it for 10 minutes or so
2. Set the tea bag aside and keep it in the refrigerator for half an hour or so
3. Place this on your lips once it’s cold and let it stay for 10-15 minutes
4. Repeat this once or twice every day for noticeable results

Symptoms of Chapped Lips

While just the title of it gives away the common symptoms associated with chapped lips, let us walk ourselves through the common symptoms that are often witnessed in this scenario.

The symptoms of chapped lips include:

1. Dryness and roughness around the lips
2. Scaling and flaking of the skin on the lips
3. Swelling and redness
4. Cracks on the lips
5. Sores
6. Bleeding

How to Prevent Chapped Lips?

Chapped lips can easily be prevented with the administration of a few common steps and these are nothing hard but a little tweak in the lifestyle which is what reflects in providing you with healthy and smooth lips.

Some common preventive measures to treat severely chapped lips include:

1. Don’t lick your lips: While you may think that licking your lips will momentarily help hydrate them and make them look less dry and chapped, you are completely mistaken. For the majority of the time, the saliva tends to dry faster in comparison which tends to leave the lips even drier in comparison.
2. Flavoured lip balms are a NO: Tasty things on the lips end up going into our stomach. The same is the case with the flavoured lip balms because while you normally won’t lick petroleum jelly or a non-flavoured lip balm, the same is not always the case with the flavoured ones which is what ends up making your lips dry and chapped.
3. Sun protection is a must: If you are planning on going out in the sun, try and ensure that just like you are protecting your skin with the sunscreen, even your lips need similar kind of protection. So, tend to use lip balms which come with sun protection in them to prevent your lips from tanning and also further drying out.
4. Cover Your Mouth: When the lips are exposed to harsh weather climate, especially cold in winter, they tend to dry out and become chapped a lot quicker than you would normally anticipate. Try and cover your mouth to avoid direct contact of the air to your lips to shield them the best you can.
5. Allergens Need to be kept away: Allergies are yet another common cause behind chapped and dry lips. If you are trying to administer any good chapped lips treatment, it is necessary for you to stay clear off of the allergens, be it because of perfumes or any other form of cosmetics. Keep these away from your mouth; the ingredients that could possibly worsen the condition.
6. Stay Hydrated: Hydration is a must if you are on the lookout for DIY lips treatment because of the fact that it heftily affects how your lips look, both from the inside and out. It is necessary to keep yourself hydrated from inside and out to ensure that the chapped lips are treated effectively.

Chapped lips can often be a gruesome and painful experience because of the fact that they form cracks and roughness on the lips. These above mentioned remedies are just what one needs to steer clear off of the possibility of having the scaly and dried lips that can often subject people to moments of embarrassment.