Many of you know how passionate I am about exfoliation for many reasons but especially for smoother more lustrous and radiant skin, which sounds exactly how we want our lips to be. But never exfoliate your lips! Why not? Stay tuned!
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When you think of lips, the first thing that usually comes to mind is smooth, with soft, pink, kissable and sensitive not far behind. And smooth is the ultimate goal of exfoliation. But never exfoliate your lips!
The reason we need to exfoliate to get smooth skin is because on most of our skin, as we get older, some of the dead cells don’t fall off and instead accumulate into tiny mounds… that causes your skin to be dull, matt, and tired looking… or just flaky. Exfoliation removes those dead cells restoring a smooth, lustrous skin surface.
But here’s the catch. I said “most of our skin”. Your lips aren’t like most of your skin. They are part of a special skin called a mucous membrane, which has a different top layer that doesn’t accumulate dead cells!
Let’s take a look….
So mucous membranes are naturally smooth and don’t need exfoliation. But even more important: If you do exfoliate your lips, there’s a good chance you’ll first damage them, then cause irritation, and THEN get chapped lips! And that’ll happen whether you use a chemical exfoliant… even my favorite, glycolic, or a physical exfoliant… which even includes your toothbrush.
So, routine lip care to keep your lips smooth and kissable should instead consist of lip sunscreen and moisturizers, both of which are to protect your already smooth lips and prevent them from becoming chapped or irritated. Since combination products can be so great, try a lip balm that has sunscreen in it… a 2 for 1 deal which makes routine lip care easier.
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