We all have our favourite skincare routine, haircare routine, and maybe even a body care routine, but how much time have you been putting into a good lip care routine?
Proper lip care can ensure soft, plump lips all year round, avoiding months of frustrating dryness and chapped lips. If you know anything about a good winter skincare routine, you know how important hydration is, and that applies to lips too.
We’ve broken down the key steps to a good year-round lip care regime to show you the best lip care products for healthy happy lips.
The Importance of a Lip Care Routine
When it comes to skincare we all have different concerns and we choose specific products accordingly – whether it’s skincare for acne-prone skin or skincare for redness. But when it comes to lip care, there is really only one concern – hydration. Dry lips can happen any time of year, even to those who have the most hydrating skincare routine.
A good hydrating lip care routine is important because lip skin is so delicate and thin. Our lips are also without oil glands, meaning their moisture retention abilities are nowhere near as good as the rest of our skin.
This means our lips are far more prone to becoming dry, chapped, and damaged, which is why giving them a helping hand, with a routine full of hydrating, nourishing, and smoothing lip care products, is key to happy lips, whatever the weather.
The Best Lip Care Routine
There are just four simple steps to follow for a good lip care routine all year long…
1. Exfoliate Your Lips – Use a lip scrub to gently exfoliate your lips. Exfoliation is an essential first step in any good lip care routine. Exfoliating helps buff away any dead and flaky skin, leaving lips soft and supple. Once done using the scrub, gently remove residue with a damp flannel. Repeat once or twice a week.
2. Use a Lip Serum or Oil – Lip oils and serums penetrate the lip, leading to long-lasting hydration and leaving your lips looking plumper and smoother. Lip oils can be used on their own or with a balm on top.
3. Apply Lip Balm Daily – Lip balms are always essential, but as they sit on top of the lip, applying an oil beforehand is key to achieving deeply hydrated lips. Think of a balm as a way to seal in the moisture. Reapply throughout the day to keep lips protected too.
4. Use Overnight Lip Masks – Give your lips some extra TLC by applying a lip mask overnight. Apply generously and let it work its magic, recovering, repairing, and hydrating your lips whilst you sleep.
Our Favourite Lip Care Products
The key is to choose products with hydrating ingredients. Hyaluronic acid is the best for this as it helps draw moisture into lips, hydrating and plumping them. Antioxidants like vitamin E are also great lip care ingredients, they help protect your lips from free radical damage, keeping them looking youthful. You’ll find plenty of moisturising natural oils in lip care products too, like sunflower oils – they all work to soothe and protect your sensitive lips.
Lip Scrubs
Florence By Mills Coffee Lip Scrub
When looking for a good scrub to exfoliate lips, we recommend choosing one specially formulated for lips, due to the delicate nature of the skin there. The Florence by Mills Coffee Lip Scrub is a great choice, it’s a balm-scrub hybrid that hydrates whilst exfoliating, keeping lips soft. The combo of coffee and sugar as an exfoliant is nice and gentle on the lips too.
E.l.f. Cosmetics Lip Exfoliator
An equally hydrating alternative that comes in a stick rather than a pot is the E.L.F. Cosmetics Lip Exfoliator. Using sugar to gently exfoliate and remove dead skin, whilst packing a hydrating punch with jojoba oil and shea butter – this lip scrub will leave you with such smooth, soft lips.
Lip Serums & Oils
Revolution Rehab Lip Serum
If you’re committing to a lip routine, you’re going to need to treat yourself to a good lip serum or oil. These products will deeply hydrate your lips. For a lip oil for when you want some glam, you can’t go wrong with the Revolution Rehab Lip Serum. Packed with vitamin E, your lips will look extra plump thanks to the nourishing hydration.
ESHO Drench Lip Serum
For an everyday lip treatment serum the ESHO. Drench Lip Serum is a must-have. Packed full of hydrating ingredients like jojoba oil, this serum will deeply hydrate dry lips. Apply this in the morning and then lock in hydration by layering a balm on top.
Lip Balms
Laneige Lip Glowy Balm
If you don’t already have a trusty lip balm always by your side (or at the bottom of your bag), we have a couple of recommendations for you. You probably already know Laneige for their lip masks, but they also do a hydrating daily lip balm that even doubles as a lip gloss. The Laneige Lip Glowy Balm can be applied throughout the day, to keep your lips topped up with hydration and a lovely glossy finish.
Tocobo Nourishing Lip Balm
For a more classic lip balm approach, you can’t go wrong with the Tocobo Nourishing Lip Balm. This balm does what it says on the tin and nourishes lips thanks to all the lovely vitamins and oils it’s packed with (hello avocado and jojoba oil).
Bondi Sands SPF50+ Lip Balm
If you’re SPF-conscious and know all about wearing face sunscreen every day (no matter the weather) then we are sure you will also want lip balm with added SPF too. And for that, we recommend the Bondi Sands SPF 50+ Lip Balm. Combining lip hydration and sun protection is a win-win for sure.
Lip Masks
By BEAUTY BAY Hydrating Lip Mask
Finally, the lip sleep masks, if you aren’t already using one of these, change that ASAP. They are such a lovely final self-care touch just before you go to sleep. Go back to basics with the plain but very effective By BEAUTY BAY Hydrating Lip Mask. Utilising the moisture-locking benefits of castor oil, combined with oh-so-hydrating, nourishing, and calming borage seed oil benefits, this lip mask really is a dry-lip saviour in a tube.
Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask
If you like a little more flavour, these masks have been all over TikTok and sell out so quickly for a reason, we can’t not recommend you the Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask. We love to apply this generously before sleep – knowing we will wake up with baby-soft lips ensures very sweet dreams.
