Sensitive Lips

irish life

First of all, I'm a male so its probably unusual that I give a crap about my lips. Anyway, my lips used to be tanned in colour but over the last year they have been getting darker/redder by the week and are now cherry colour. I have honestly gone from being an average looking person to ugly with a change in lip colour.

They are very dry and get chapped every now and again. The thing that has the biggest effect on them is alcohol, the morning after a night out they are raw red. Walking in cold weather also makes them worse and very uncomfortable (dry, etc.). I wash my face (with shower gell) and brush my teeth every night and this also makes my sensitive lips worse.

I don't know if my lips are going to be permanantly dark now, my bet would be yes, but what would be the best product to cure dry, sensitive lips? I've tried a few balms which has only made them worse (in fact, I have tried a load of stuff for acne which has only made that worse too. Nothing seems to work for me. )? And remember the fact that sensitivity is the main problem so its not a lotion for chapped lips that I need.

Thanks.

cecilwinthorpe

try softlips lip balm which is menthol or blistex is quite good too. if yr lips are split most things will sting but you're just gonna have to put up with it until they heal but just keep trying the blistex anyway

tinkerbell

irish life wrote:

in fact, I have tried a load of stuff for acne which has only made that worse too.

When I first read this, I thought you meant that you used the acne cream on your lips! :eek: But obviously you don't, I'm such a gombeen

Anyhoo, Vaseline is pretty good for lips on a daily basis - but you need to get the rawness sorted first. Go down to your friendly pharmacist and get him to recommend you something for it. Hopefully it'll heal up then with the right cream.

irish life

Thanks for the replies.

I should have said. If you didn't know me you'd think my lips were OK. They only get slightly chapped every now and again and that is the least of the problems tbh.

A couple of things that have come into my head. When I don't lick my lips for about a minute and I puff my lower lip out (in a sad puppy dog style), the inside of my lip (the bit you don't see) is fine but the outside looks like plastic. Its a different colour, dry and it looks like I could just peel it off.

Another thing is that my lips are sometimes swollen when I wake up in the morning.

cecilwinthorpe

how about you stop using stuff on yr face. just wash it with water and see if that helps. it could be just somethin yr using is agrivating it

irish life

cecilwinthorpe wrote:

how about you stop using stuff on yr face. just wash it with water and see if that helps. it could be just somethin yr using is agrivating it

The shower gel I use is the only thing that controls my acne unfortanetly so I have to use it. I have thought that my lips could be reacting to it so I've tried to keep it away from that area as much as possible with no change.

cecilwinthorpe

ok hmm you could try plastering on the vaseline before you wash yr face with it then wiping it off when yr finished that way it wont get on yr lips

Sleepy

Are you taking anything for your acne? I know Roaccutane was famous for destroying your lips while you took it.

MistressPandora

I have a friend who uses Roaccutane, and she gets dry lips a lot. I think she uses E45 to help somewhat, but I know the feeling, my lips are constantly splitting and getting chapped. I went into Penny's one day and bought Chap Ice at the counter. It makes your lips tingle a bit but it's great for whenever it's cold outside and softens lips too. It's about e1.50 or maybe it's two. Either way, it's not expensive.

NikNik

First of all, don't lick your lips, it'll make them much worse. Also, don't use Vaseline because it's petroleum based and only works for slightly chapped lips.

You should start from the outside-in by drinking loads of water and try using a milder toothpaste. Before putting on the Blisteze, dampen your lips (with water, not saliva), get a moisturizer & old tooth brush and gently brush your lips. This will take away the dry and dead skin to expose the healthy stuff while moisturizing. Then use the blisteze.

p.s. try using a moisturizer without too many added chemicals, like something from the "Simple" range which has no alcohol. Alcohol strips essential oils from your skin, making it dry.

Bri

As mentioned, if your taking roacutaine your gonna have serious dryness problems trust me. All you can do is put stuff on a crazy amount each day; even when you can't see damage. Having said that I could never stop the dryness but I could lessen it's affects. Ask your dermatologist.

Edit: Given the fact you drink maybe I'm jumping the gun (I thought you weren't supposed to mix the 2?) so if it's just other stuff I'd drop into the GP if it keeps getting worse.