5 Steps To Naturally Protect Your Lips

5 Steps To Naturally Protect Your Lips

Fall has finally arrived, and the warm days of summer are fading away. Chances are if you live somewhere that experiences cold weather, you're probably already swapping shorts for pants and tees for long sleeves.

Whether you're having fun in the sun or getting ready to bundle up for the winter, you know how important it is to protect your skin from the elements.

In a moment, we're going to share how goat milk can help protect one of the most important - and sensitive - parts of your body...

Your lips.

But before we dive into how to protect your lips, let's take a second to touch on why it's essential to protect your lips.

Why It's Important To Protect Your Lips

As you may know, your skin is the largest organ of your body. And your skin is the first line of defense against cold, heat, moisture, and injury from elements outside your body.

Here's what's incredible about your lips.

They not only do all that… they also play a significant role in how you communicate (try making the "p" sound without using your lips), how easily you eat and drink, and how you keep nasty germs from entering your body.

But the skin on your lips is very different from the skin on the rest of your body. Your lips' skin is much more susceptible to the outside elements, so they have lower barrier protection to unwanted irritants. And because your lips cannot naturally moisturize themselves, they can easily become dry and chapped. 

Unlike your lips, the majority of your skin can moisturize itself naturally and protect itself against friction due to the release of sebum. This moisturizing process takes place when sebum releases from the sebaceous glands. The sebaceous glands are present throughout the body and are also the leading cause of acne.

The bad news: your lips don't have the glands to release sebum.

The good news: you don't have to worry about having sweaty or oily lips.

So what can you do to protect your lips and avoid dry, cracking, chapped and dull lips?

Years ago, our middle son, Fletcher, struggled with painful lips and redness around his mouth. I tried many solutions to help ease these symptoms. Not only did chapped lips cause Fletcher pain, but it also caused him embarrassment and made him self-conscious. 

goat milk lip balm
"Best lip balm ever, home-made with quality ingredients, and the scents are awesome!" - Marcy S. from Chicago, IL

As we looked for solutions, Fletcher experienced a few instances where name brand lip balms only enhanced chafing, cracking, and stints of pain. We know first hand how painful and messy a lip problem can be. That's why we can't wait to share what we've learned and implemented. 

It's important to protect the health of your lips so you can be pain-free and confident when interacting with others.

Here are the 5 Steps to naturally protect your lips all year long

Fletcher no longer suffers from unhealthy lips. You too can follow these easy steps to help you enjoy healthy lips.

Step #1 - Get Rid of The Reaction

Have you or someone you know ever experienced a slight burn, uncomfortable tingling, or swelling after applying a swipe of flavored lip balm? Or, have you found yourself on the hamster wheel of applying and reapplying more lip balm because your lips can't seem to stay moist? If you said yes, then there's a pretty good chance you're battling an irritant or an allergy caused by your lip balm.

Many allergies and irritations tied to lip balms are often subtle and can fly under the radar. While others are very noticeable and can become quite severe and painful. Many people often experience an adverse reaction due to chemically enhanced flavors and artificial ingredients found in lip balms.

To protect your lips and keep them moist and smooth, we recommend using a naturally formulated lip balm. Beeswax, natural oils, and butters are something to look for in your lip balm ingredients. Plus, they're great for locking in moisture while allowing your lips' skin to "breathe."

At Goat Milk Stuff, we have six Goat Milk Lip Balms so that you can find the one that works best for your lips. We don't want allergies to stop you from experiencing how Goat Milk Lip Balm can support your lip health.

Step #2 - Stop Licking Your Lips

Let's face it, chapped lips can be annoying, unattractive, and painful. At times it seems like the natural thing to do when your lips are dry and sore is to lick and lick to get some relief. But you need to stop.

I know that is easier said than done - especially for children, right?

Here's why.

When you lick your chapped lips, you're prolonging the time it takes for your lips to heal and you are actually creating more dryness.

Goat Milk Lip Balm
"Love that it leaves my lips hydrated, and it's not overly greasy or shiny. Plus, it smells good too." - Ryan F. from Stone Mountain, GA

Remember, your lips do not contain oil glands and so they don't naturally moisturize well. So when you lick your lips, you're lathering them up in saliva. Saliva from your mouth evaporates fast and has loads of enzymes and bacteria used to break down the food you eat. Combine the fast drying with the enzymes from saliva, and your lips are drying out double time.

So what do you do when your lips are already chapped and need relief and healing?

Apply a high-quality lip balm (like ours) that does not contain any sugar.

Many lip balms are actually flavored with sugar. This can create an urge to lick your lips - especially for children. While licking a sugar-flavored lip balm may taste good, it isn't doing your lips any favors.

If licking your lips is a problem during the day, it may also be a problem at night. We suggest applying a healthy swipe or two of natural Goat Milk Lip Balm to your lips before bedtime to promote healing and prevent additional cracking and peeling while you sleep.

Step #3 - Stay Clear of Scary Toxins

We can't stress enough how important it is to read the labels on your skincare products. Whether it's lotions, soaps, or lip balm, there are many reasons to use natural skincare products. That might seem obvious, but you'd be surprised how many harsh chemicals can slip into a tube of lotion or lip balm when you're not paying attention.

It's common for many name brand lip moisturizers to use fragrances packed full of harmful preservatives. Two of the most researched are BHA and BHT (butylated hydroxyanisole and hydroxytoluene). BHA and BHT are chemicals that can lead to long term health concerns and short term inflammation for certain skin types.

One might think it's easy to be on the lookout for BHA and BHT, but skin products are not required to list "all" ingredients in reality.

We have a few recommendations to help you steer clear of scary toxins and protect your lips more healthily.

Reading credible blogs (like this one) can broaden your knowledge of what to dodge and what's safe to dab on your lips.

Another quick tip is to take close notice of how your lips react to your current lip moisturizer and research the core ingredients of any skincare product. The same goes for any natural skincare products. Keep in mind that not all "all-natural" lip balms are created equal.

At Goat Milk Stuff we never hide ingredients used in our lip balms or any of our natural goat milk soap products. 

Step #4 - Drink Lots of Water

We're not health professionals by any means, but we do know first hand that making excellent goat milk soap takes some sweat equity. Between working and caring for our goats, and creating thousands of bars of soap, staying hydrated all day long is hard...especially during this time of year.

The cooler weather makes it more challenging to stay hydrated for everyone. Your body doesn't thirst for water when the chilly weather hits like it does when it's blazing hot outside.

So what does hydration have to do with lip protection? Well, your lips can serve as an indicator of proper hydration. One telltale sign of dehydration is dry, chalky lips. Remember, your lips are already prone to dryness. Staying on top of your water intake can eliminate excessive licking and flaking.

Our recommendation to protect your lips from dryness due to dehydration is simple... drink as much water as you can. Limit caffeine, sugars, and try to drink up to eight glasses of water each and every day. Your body will feel so much better, and your lips will love you.

Last but not least…

Step #5 - Use Goat Milk Stuff Goat Milk Lip Balm

We saved our favorite step for last.

As we tried to find a solution for Fletcher's chapped lips and the red skin around his lips, we quickly exhausted the available commercial options. And so we decided to make our own lip balm.

And of course we added goat milk to it. But it's important to be aware that we add dehydrated goat milk to our Goat Milk Lip Balm. Adding raw goat milk in liquid form is not safe because the goat milk could grow bacteria. And that would not be good nor helpful in keeping your lips healthy. 

goat milk lip balm
"I love using products that are all-natural, but sometimes it doesn't do the job. However, this lip balm is not that way! I love this lip balm, and they didn't hold back on the peppermint! If I purchase something that is scented, I want to be able to smell it! Of course, it also makes my lips feel soft and emollient. I am a year-round lip balm user, and I'm so glad I tried this one!!" - Diane E. from City of Saint Peters, MO

But the dehydrated goat milk retains the Vitamin A, selenium, and alpha-hydroxy acids present in goat milk. And these natural ingredients do a tremendous job supporting the health of your lips.

If you're struggling with chapped, sore, or cracking lips, we recommend starting with the Unscented Goat Milk Lip Balm. As your lips heal, you can expand into the different flavors to see if they work for you as well. 

If you want to protect your lips and put Goat Milk Stuff Lip Balms to the test, you can hop on over and grab a stick or two from our online store. Just click any link below and choose...

Shop Goat Milk Stuff's Amazing Handcrafted Moisturizing Lip Balm Collection

Protecting your lips is important and should be a high priority for anyone throughout the summer and winter months. So always have your Goat Milk Lip Balm handy!

If you have any questions or comments about Goat Milk Stuff skincare products, or you'd like to let us know what you think of our Goat Milk Lip Balm, leave a comment below.

 

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