Keeping Your Lips Beautiful, Youthful and Kissably Soft….Naturally

In Western culture women (and increasingly men) are under great pressure to stay young looking.  We spend an enormous amount of time and effort, and millions of dollars, on products and treatments trying to prevent ourselves from showing our true age.  We hear a lot of talk about growing old gracefully, but more often than not, we fight it every step of the way. 

Our lips are often the most negelected skin on our bodies and the first to age.  Taking proper care of your lips can delay the signs of aging such as lines and loss of fullness.  Once lines develop around the lips it can be hard to reverse them, so prevention is your best bet.  Once deep lines are present there is little that can be done short of injections to plump the lips...and that's not something I would advocate.  Or, we could recognize what many other cultures recognize...that lines and wrinkles are the signs of wisdom, not a sign of the loss of beauty.  Admittedly, I'm not sure I'm there yet...but I'm trying!  I intend to age gracefully...doing what I can naturally to be the best me, but refusing un-natural treatments like injections and plastic surgery or even chemical-based anti-aging products.

When most of us think about our lips, we think about the skin we see inside the line that defines them.  But we often forget that our lips are actually a large muscle and the skin is only the outer level.  Both contribute to how your lips look.  Like many muscles, your lips have muscle memory and if you use your lips to do certain positions frequently, this action will be reflected in the skin covering your lips.  For instance, if you purse your lips frequently to smoke, the skin around your lips folds and puckers and over time you'll likely see lines around the lips.  The same is true if you frequently drink from straws.  Smoking also affects how your lips look by drying the skin and making it more prone to wrinkle.  Lip lines can also be cause by the thinning of lips as we age and lose collagen and elastin. 

So, what can we do to keep our lips looking their best as long as possible? Here are a few of my favorite tips for keeping your lips beautiful, youthful and kissably soft....naturally: 

• Help prevent loss of collagen & elastin - You can do this both internally and externally.  Antioxidants, in addition to preventing free radical damage can help prevent collagen from breaking down.  The best protection comes from taking antioxidants internally and applying topically.  Taking a high ORAC antioxidant powder every day will help from the inside.  You can also use products topically that contain vitamins C, E and some of the B vitamins.  Sophie Uliano, author of Gorgeously Green makes a Vitamin C serum to help with collagen production.  Her serum consists of ¼ tsp Vitamin C powder or camu camu 1tsp distilled water 1tsp glycerin mixed in a dropper bottle.  Apply morning and night.  Rub a dropper full between hands and apply all over face.  Make it weekly as the Vitamin C oxidizes quickly. 
• Drink plenty of water - Proper hydration is important to the health of our skin, and is particularly important to our lips which don't have sweat glands.
  
• Exfoliate - you can make a natural & safe exfoliator from kitchen oil (olive, coconut, almond, avocado, etc) and sugar.  You can also use a soft toothbrush to gently exfoliate when you brush your teeth.  Just be sure to do it softly so as not to irritate the delicate skin on your lips.
• Use moisturizing lip balm - And avoid petroleum based waxes which will only make the problem worse.  Lip balm is to lips what moisturizer is to the face.  Our lips don't have oil glands, so applying moisture topically is all the more important.  In our house lip balm isn't a luxury, it's a necessity.  Even my 4yo uses it regularly.  Be sure that the lip balm you are using is certified organic so ensure that any chemicals or pesticide residues aren't absorbed through the skin and eaten throughout the day.
• Don't lick your lips - While this might seem like a quick fix, it actually makes the problem worse, drying them out faster
• Protect your lips from the sun - You lips, especially your bottom lip, are exposed to the sun all day every day.  There is less melanin in your lips than the rest of your skin making them more vulnerable to the sun.  A lot of skin cancer starts on the lips, and this is not a fun place to have a melanoma removed from.  Choose lip products with an SPF factor to protect them.  Make sure the sun protection comes from zinc oxide, not titanium dioxide or chemicals such as oxybenzone.  Titanium dioxide is photosensitive and breaks down in the sun causing DNA damage which can lead to cancer.  Chemical sunscreens are linked to numerous illnesses, including cancer.  Zinc oxide has been used safely for hundreds of years.
• Avoid repetative pursing of the lips - avoid smoking and avoid using straws whenever possible
• Treat at night - at night apply moisturizer to your lips and the skin surrounding them.  I also put an anti-aging serum around my lips every day.  Depending on the day and how much moisture I need I either use one of these 3 organic serums, all made with oils and botanicals that are great at moisturizing, rejuvenating and repairing the skin

• Rose Water - Very soothing and can help regenerate the skin
• Shea Butter - Increases blood circulation, improves elasticity, provides light sun protection
• Beeswax - Softening, helps skin retain moisture
• Avocado Oil - Contains vitamins & antioxidants, regenerates & restructures the skin, improves elasticity
• Rosemary Oil - Excellent wound healer, regenerates skin and helps lessen wrinkles
• Jojoba Oil - Most similar to the skin's natural sebum, very moisturizing, protects skin
• Cocoa Butter - contains large number of antioxidants, very absorbant, prevents skin degredation from UV light, contains large proportion of minerals
• Olive Oil - high in vitamins, minerals & antioxidants, heals wounds
• Vitamin E - great antioxidant
• Coconut Oil - soothing, antioxidant, high in Vitamin E, K & iron, effective moisturizer, helps prevent wrinkles, healing
• Sunflower Oil - highly compatible to skin, increases moisture content of the skin
• Vitamin C - builds collagen & elastin (Best for homemade products as in commercial products it is often inactive or has oxidized)
• Zinc Oxide - The only safe, natural sun protector