coastaldefeat

I have really dry lips. I had eczema around my mouth as a teenager, and I am a proud mouth breather. Most normal lip balms just feel weird and ineffective to me, like washing my hands with water. I used to spend hours each week cracking my lips and then trying to peel off the dried up layer with my hands. 

I haven’t had a lip crack in at least a year now! Here are the three routines that changed my life:

Smear a heavy moisturizer on your lips in the morning, in the evening, and after every shower.

My holy grail is the big tub of Vaseline. The unscented and cocoa butter tubs work equally well for me.

The only other product that I’ve liked is the Burt’s Bees Overnight Lip Treatment. This is not to be confused with the Lip Sleeping Mask (which I don’t like as much) or the Lip Butter (which I don’t like at all).

Carry a high-quality lip treatment with you at all times.

Since the big tub of Vaseline is my holy grail for my at home routine, you may think that the little tubs of Vaseline would be my holy grail for outside the house.

WRONG. I hate these things. It’s a completely different formulation than the big tubs. These have a sticky, tacky feel. It’s hard to spread across my lips, it’s a weird shape to carry around, and it’s gross to stick my dirty fingers into it over and over again.

I only use the Vaseline Lip Therapy Sticks. I probably have 20 of these in my apartment right now. This is the best lip product to ever have been made. It goes on smoothly, it works, and it doesn’t feel waxy or weird. Depending on the season and my activities in a day, I apply this to my lips between two and twenty times a day.

Don’t use cosmetic lip products for extended periods.

You can’t effectively use a moisturizing lip treatment if a color or gloss is in the way. I’ve entirely given up trying to make a lip gloss or lipstick last all day or even all evening. I will only put on gloss or lipstick for photos and then remove it.

However, there are a couple lip products that I can use on the go that will come off nicely if I need to put on lip balm instead.

I use the Burt’s Bees Lip Shimmers for a frosted look or the Neutrogena Revitalizing Tinted Lip Balm to get color on the go.

I hope that someday my brain will realize that it’s okay to breathe through my nose at night. But until then, this routine will keep my lips happy and healthy.