Are you suffering from dry lips?
Are they chapped, flaky, and sore?
This is not what you want going into the holidays! Read on to find out how holiday stress may be contributing to the problem, and what you can do to fix it!
How Holiday Stress Brings About Dry Lips
We all tend to feel a little stress over the holidays. There’s so much to do, after all, and then if you’re traveling too, that can make you feel even more hurried.
All that stress pumps hormones into your body that can affect your skin—including the skin on and around your lips.
1. Stress Aggravates Skin Dryness
If it gets cold and windy in your area over the winter, you can bet that your lips will require more TLC than usual. The skin on the lips is thinner and more fragile than it is elsewhere on your face and body. So it dries out faster, which is why your lips get chapped so easily in the winter months.
Add stress to the cold and you have an even bigger challenge to overcome. Scientists have learned that there is an intricate relationship between psychological stress and skin problems like acne and dryness.
The stress hormone cortisol is also associated with impaired skin barrier function and premature aging.
2. Stress Leads to Poor Diet—Which Leads to Dry Lips
Many of us are guilty of neglecting our diet during the holidays. If you’re stressed out and running around a lot, you may be less likely to prepare and eat wholesome foods. And there is no lack of holiday treats around to tempt you into eating too much sugar and fat.
Iron, B vitamins, Zinc, and other healthy ingredients are critical to soft, supple lips. If your diet is short on these even for a few weeks, your lips could pay the price and start to look dry, chapped, and cracked.
3. Stress Disrupts Gut Bacteria—Which Leads to Dry Lips
When you’re stressed out, you release stress hormones which in turn, can alter the harmony of the friendly bacteria in your gut. In a 2019 study, scientists found that psychological stress and depression can “reshape the gut’s bacteria composition.” When that happens, the gut releases toxins and neurohormones “that can alter eating behavior and mood.” You are more likely to eat those cookies and brownies, further depriving your lips of the nutrients they need to look their best.
4. Stress Causes Lip Biting
Have you noticed yourself biting your lips more than usual over the holiday season? It’s common for stress to cause this sort of nervous reaction. Lip biting is a actually a common coping mechanism for many people when they’re feeling uncomfortable or anxious.
Unfortunately, lip biting can cause lip redness, inflammation or swollen lips, dryness and chapping, and even painful sores on the lips.
5. Stress Depresses the Immune System—Resulting in Canker and Cold Sores
If you’ve ever developed a cold sore before a party, it’s likely you were suffering the consequences of stress!
Stress depresses the immune system, making it less able to fight off bacteria and other germs that can cause infections. Cold sores are most often caused by the Herpes virus. Typically your immune system keeps the virus under control, but when you get stressed, the immune system weakens, and the virus can raise its ugly head in a sore.
Canker sores—the kind you get inside of the lips or mouth—are also more common in times of stress. Not only are they painful, but they can create a little swelled look under the lip as well.
How to Reverse Dry Lips to Enjoy Soft, Smooth Lips Over the Holiday
It’s nearly impossible to avoid all stress over the holiday season. So what can you do to cope while keeping your lips in good shape? Try these tips.
1. Practice a daily stress-relieving activity.
You may not think you can fit in one more thing, but it doesn’t have to take long. Go for a 20-minute walk, journal for 10 minutes, talk to a positive friend, or spend some time with a cherished pet. Meditation, yoga, and any sort of exercise also work to help you shed the stress and keep it from showing up on your lips.
2. Exfoliate Your Lips
Exfoliating can be key to keeping lips looking their best in the wintertime. If your lips are dry and chapped, use a gentle exfoliating product on them a couple of times a week. These can help get rid of dead, dry skin cells while allowing the younger, softer cells to come forward.
Choose something gentle that won’t be too harsh. You can make your own with some sugar and coconut oil, or even use a soft-bristled toothbrush in a pinch.
3. Apply a Quality Lip Balm—Regularly
Lip balm is a must during the holidays, but make sure you choose the right one. Some will actually make your dry, chapped lips worse. You may even be allergic to the ingredients. (Read our post to find out more.)
Instead, try our award-winning Restorative Skin Balm. It’s a one-hundred percent natural, non-petrolatum, healing balm that instantly softens dry, rough, and chapped lips. It contains a powerful trio of plant-based antioxidants, fat-soluble vitamins, and moisturizing ingredients that safeguard the skin’s barrier, while relieving inflammation and encouraging repair.
Take a small tube with you and apply as often as you need. Unlike other balms, this one will not cause dependency, but will help your lips look better and better with each use.
4. Break the biting habit.
If you tend to bite, rub, lick, or otherwise disrupt your lips during the day, apply lip balm after each time. This will help counteract the stripping action your bad habit while reminding you to change your ways!
You can also try putting a sticky note where you’re likely to see it often reminding you to leave your lips alone. Try substituting another action when you’re feeling anxious—such as humming a tune or breathing deeply in and out.
5. Avoid matte or long-wear lipstick.
These tend to dry out your lips. If you love them, use them sparingly and with lots of moisture underneath. Otherwise, choose hydrating lip colors with nourishing ingredients most of the time.
How do you avoid dry lips over the holiday season?
Featured image courtesy of Sergey Chetvertnykh via Pexels.
