Beauty Emergency: Dry and Flaky Lips Under Your Lipstick

It happens to the best of us, especially in winter time.  We apply our lipstick normally and through the course of the day, we realize that it has started to look terrible because our lips underneath are dry and flaky, ruining the finish of our color product.  Long-wearing lipsticks are one of the worst offenders, but sometimes we need that durability.

• Correction: Gently remove whatever color is sitting on your poor lips and apply a nice thick lip balm to soothe, nourish, and moisturize your lips. Once it has fully absorbed, apply a fresh coat of your lip color and you should be good to go.
• Prevention: Dry lips are literally a pain! Make sure that you are taking care of them with the same diligence that you care for your face.  Once or twice a week, make sure to exfoliate gently with a lip scrub such as Fresh Sugar Lip Polish to remove the flaky bits and always moisturize with a balm as often as you remember.  If chapped lips are a recurring issue for you, try a deeper treatment in the evenings such as Philosophy Kiss Me Tonight or Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask.

If you get caught at the office with flaky lips and no lip scrub, lightly press a piece of Scotch tape to your lips and remove it swiftly.  This should take off the worst of the dry bits.  But make sure to soothe them afterwards with your lip balm, otherwise you have netted nothing!  Personally, I like to keep a multi-purpose balm nearby at the office so that I can use it on my lips, cuticles, or even little flyaway hairs.  One of my favorites is the little tin of L’Occitane 100% Pure Shea Butter.