About Your Lips

Lip Skin is Different

Lips do not have the same protective outer layer (or stratum corneum) found in other skin; nor do lips have the same amount of oil and sweat glands. Sweat glands add moisture to skin, but the lips’ only source of moisture is saliva inside the mouth. Thus, harsh winter wind, cold, sun and dryness – indoors and outdoors – leads to what we commonly call dry, cracked lips or chapped lips. That’s why lip care is important.

Your lip skin is also unprotected by clothing, making lips often fully exposed to the elements. Lips have almost no melanin (the natural pigment in skin) that helps screen out the sun’s harmful rays. That’s why lip balm with SPF is often recommended by doctors and dermatologists. Blistex provides a variety of lip balms that contain sunscreen, such as Five Star Lip Protectant and which provides broad spectrum SPF 30 plus helps defend against dry air and wind. Blistex DCT (Daily Conditioning Treatment) has SPF 20 to keep your lips in great condition every day of the year. There are also many Blistex products with SPF 15. Complete Moisture, Deep Moisture Renewal, Ultra-Rich Hydration, Blistex Regular Lip Balm, Blistex Berry Lip Balm and Blistex Mint Lip Balm.

Blistex offers a range of moisturizing lip balms to help keep lips looking and feeling healthy.

A Good Lip Care Routine

Many dermatologists are likely to recommend including lip care into your daily skin care routine. After all, lips are skin too. Outdoor factors such as sun, wind and cold can speed up the rate of lip moisture loss. Indoors, lips can be affected from a lack of moisture in centrally heated or air-conditioned rooms with low humidity. Using a lip balm daily can help keep lips at their healthiest.

What to use for your daily lip routine? A lip protectant, such as Blistex Five Star Lip Protectant, provides daily defense against nature’s harshest conditions and provides Broad Spectrum SPF 30 sun protection.

If dryness, cracking or soreness of the lip has already developed, a medicated lip product can help provide relief. Blistex Medicated Lip Ointment delivers penetrating medication and moisturizers to soften lips and alleviate severely dry, cracking lips. For dry, painful lips, Blistex Lip Medex provides ultra-cooling relief. Blistex Lip Medex is available in a jar, stick, or cherry flavored tube!

Year-Round Lip Care

Summer or winter, indoors or outdoors, lips can benefit from daily care. Different environmental conditions may change the type of lip care or lip treatment you need, but a good lip care routine can help lead to lips that feel and look healthier. And that’s true for both women and men.

We typically think of “summer sun,” but the sun’s harmful rays are present whether it’s July or January, sunny or cloudy. Lips have little or no melanin, the natural skin pigment that screens out the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays. And sun damage can alter collagen and can even lead to melanoma. That’s why dermatologists often recommend using products with sun protection for people who spend any time outdoors. So, before you head outside, look for a lip balm with a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of 15 or more.

Blistex provides a variety of lip balms that contain sunscreen, such as Five Star Lip Protectant or Blistex Ultra-Protection which provide SPF 30, Blistex DCT (Daily Conditioning Treatment with SPF 20, or many other Blistex products with an SPF of 15. Complete Moisture, Deep Moisture Renewal, Ultra-Rich Hydration, Blistex Regular Lip Balm, Blistex Berry Lip Balm and Blistex Mint Lip Balm. Lips need year-round protection from different dry conditions too. Dry conditions can happen any time of the year too. Whether due to harsh outdoor elements or a dry indoor environment, use a lip balm or lip ointment to moisturize lips. Recommended products, like Blistex Medicated Lip Ointment which combines a number of ingredients to moisturize and help protect lips and Five Star Lip Protectant with Glycerin to hydrate and wheat germ oil to moisturize heat-stressed lips.

Lips can also become dry when the common winter cold or flu strikes. This lip dryness happens because of people’s tendency to breathe through their mouths when they get sick, inadvertently drying out their lips. Lip irritation can even be caused by certain types of food, cosmetics and cigarette smoke. If your lips are extremely dry, cracked or sore you might want to try a lip product that helps soothe the pain associated with minor lip irritation. Blistex Lip Medex provides ingredients that deliver immediate cooling relief and provides a special barrier that helps lip cells return to their natural moisture balance. Blistex Lip Medex comes in a stick, jar, or cherry flavored tube.

Caring for Lips as You Age

Over time, the cumulative effects of aging and exposure to sun and weather can result in the development of fine lines and wrinkles on the lips. While no one can turn back the clock, there are options to combat the effects of time. One option for younger looking lips is Blistex Deep Moisture Renewal. Deep Moisture Renewal combines Coenzyme Q-10, hyaluronic filling spheres and a vitamin & antioxidant complex to help combat the cumulative effects of aging and reduce the appearance of visible signs of aging. In addition, Deep Moisture Renewal provides Broad Spectrum SPF 15 that help to protect lips from new sun damage.

Cold Sores and Fever Blisters

Cold sores and fever blisters are caused by a viral infection that results in recurrent groups of irritating, even painful blisters on the lips. Once a person contracts the virus, it may exist in a latent or dormant state throughout his or her lifetime. After a cold sore first appears, it has a tendency to recur frequently in the same spot.

Because cold sores and fever blisters tend to recur in the same spot, alert sufferers can sometimes detect warning signs. Itching, tingling and a heat sensation can be a sign. As soon as these signs are detected, you might want to massage a medicated lip care product, such as Blistex Medicated Lip Ointment, gently into the affected area up to four times daily. The penetrating analgesic provides quick, effective relief and the Ointment’s moisturizing properties soften the area to help prevent cracking. Blistex Lip Medex is another option for those who prefer an ultra-cooling effect.

Cold sores and fever blisters tend to develop when an individual has a cold or fever, but they also can be triggered by sun exposure, emotional distress, intestinal illness and menstruation. Eliminating all of the sources that can contribute to the onset of cold sores and fever blisters is impossible, but sufferers can condition their lips with products such as Five Star Lip Protectant or Blistex Ultra Protection with SPF 30 to reduce the sun’s impact and limit cracking that can lead to making lips more vulnerable.