I put up some question boxes in my Instagram stories a couple of weeks back asking my audience what they would like to hear about. I always love it when you guys fill those boxes out so that I know what exactly you guys would like to hear about. To my pleasant surprise, someone had asked for lip treatments for dry, flaky lips, and that’s something I deal with myself so here we are with my latest discoveries for you (and me).
Exfoliate The Lips
In order to have softer, hydrated lips you need to remove those excess flaky pieces to reveal smooth lips underneath. You can slap on as much aquaphor as you want 24/7 but if you don’t remove the dry skin first your efforts will come up fruitless. Time to exfoliate!
While many would reach for a lip scrub, I find they end up being too harsh for my skin and create more problems for me most of the time. I may test one here or there, but I know there are other options that work better for me, like Fresh Beauty Sugar Lip Wonder Drops. Why I never bothered to purchase this before, I’m not sure. But this truly has been a game-changer in terms of smoothing out dry, flaky lips.
AHA’s, in this case, sugar and fruit acids are the powerhouse workers in this clear liquid formula. The Sugar Lip Wonder Drops come in a dropper-style container where you can dispense a drop or two of this thicker-than-water formula onto a fingertip and apply it to the lips. Best of all, no sting or burn. I worry about that because my lips have been very sensitive in the past and I don’t even like to use anything with mint on the lips because it burns. Fortunately, this product was developed with hyaluronic acid to help hydrate and smooth out the lips.
The drops have a mildly sweet taste to them which makes it an enjoyable product to use and has smoothed out recurring flaky spots like nothing else I’ve tried. Lipsticks and glosses can be used immediately after applying since it is also considered a lip primer. I consider this a spectacular purchase because it’s gentle enough to not irritate my lips but has completely smoothed them out better than any other product I’ve tried.
Purchase at: Sephora, Fresh Beauty
Daytime Lip Hydration and Moisturization
We probably all have about 50 lip balm tubes rolling around in our cars, purses, and junk drawers at home – but I knew none of those would cut it. They may be fine for days when your lips feel good already, but they just don’t seem to do enough when your lips feel dry, don’t they? They coat the lip but don’t truly moisturize.
If you’re looking for a lip balm that offer TRUE moisturization, then buy yourself a tube of Biossance Squalane + Rose Vegan Lip Balm.
I wanted a lip balm that fully coats the lips without feeling heavy. And without feeling sticky. And most of all, actually hydrated and moisturized the lips. This fragrance-free, vegan lip balm uses squalane, hyaluronic acid and ceramides to offer triple the moisture, anti-inflammatory wakeme algae plumps the lips while rose wax seals all the good stuff in.
This product is completely petroleum-free, and the tubing is made from 100% renewable sugarcane. I can tell you this squeezable balm is a step ahead of many out there. Very impressed. And very interested in exploring more from this brand after a simple lip balm wowed me. Best of all? It’s not a ridiculous price. I can handle the $14 price tag for the results I get using this daily.
It has a little shine to it, looks good wearing it on its own, and seems to stay long as long as I’m not eating and drinking a bunch while wearing it. The shine helps make the lips look a little plumper than they actually are which helps because I can see my lips are thinner now than they were in my twenties. I’ll be ordering a second tube for my purse since I keep this one near my computer to reapply throughout the day.
Purchase at: Sephora, Biossance, Amazon
Nighttime Lip Mask
I’m sure I could just wear my Biossance lip balm to bed, but I really want to try more things and see what’s out there. For years, I used Laneige lip sleeping mask, and with great results! Most likely, I would have purchased and bought it again for this post but something told me to keep looking and I’m glad I did. I love when I come across a drugstore brand that fits the bill and that is exactly what Milani Rose Butter Lip Mask has done.
The texture of this lip mask is fairly similar to Laneige, but without the same price tag. More like half the price tag actually which appeals to me since I already spent money on the exfoliator and lip balm. The lip mask has a very delicate rose scent to it and comes housed in a little pot. I do wish they included the baby lip spatulas like Laneige and other brands do, but I’ll deal with it at only $10 a jar.
The formula is vegan, and cruelty-free, and uses cupaucu butter and hyaluronic acid to hydrate the lips. The mask feels so smooth on the lips and stays in place well and so little is needed to fully envelop the lips for a soothing treatment.
I purchased and have been using all three of these products for a week straight and can say that each one did its job and has made my lips look better than ever before.
Purchase at: ULTA beauty, Target, Amazon
There are other products that deserve honorable mentions and almost made it to this post, so maybe you’ll see them down the road. But if you want to have a go yourself, I’d say look into these and you may find something else you really like:
Stacked Skincare Hydrating Lip Peel: $28
Uses gentle glycolics to resurface the lips
Daily Concepts Daily Lip Scrubber $6
Manual silicone fingertip exfoliator
overnight lip mask that stays put and hydrates
Beautycounter Balm For All $24
Good enough for the whole body, but I use this all over my face
Those Wonder Drops look and sound amazing! I need to try this!
I can’t use a physical exfoliant on my lips either, but I never knew there was a product like the Fresh Lip Wonder Drops. I will be checking out those and the Milani Rose Lip Butter for sure!
[…] The drops are sweet to the taste and while the bottle looks small, you only need one drop per day so it should last you quite a while! If you want to read my longer review you can find it here. […]