Dry, chapped lips – we have all experienced them before. They’re sore, uncomfortable, and it’s almost impossible not to pick, lick, or bite them. Do you feel like you’re constantly reaching into your pocket for your lip balm? But reapplying it every 10 minutes doesn’t really seem to be doing any good? We’ve all been there. Luckily, that’s where CBD lip balm benefits us.
Let’s take a look at how it works and how it stacks up against conventional lip balms. Just be ready to ditch that tub of drugstore own brand balm when you’ve heard what we have to say on the matter!
What Causes Dry Lips?
One of the main reasons why our lips suffer at the hands of cold (or hot, dry) weather is that they’re not like the rest of our skin. As you may know, our skin has many protective layers. Our skin is made up of approximately 16 different layers.
In contrast, our lips only have 3 or 4. It’s no wonder environmental factors, like the weather, affects them more!
In addition, our lips do not have the same glands that the rest of our skin does. To keep our skin hydrated, we have sebaceous glands that produce oils to provide protection and moisture. Our lips don’t have these glands, so they solely rely on us to provide hydration.
Another massive contributor to dry lips is dehydration. When we’re not getting enough water, our skin suffers. Our skin needs hydration to keep its elasticity – without that, it becomes dry and cracked. Hence why your lips will feel extra dry after a night out or if you’ve over-indulged in sugary foods!
As we mentioned, the weather can also dry out your lips, and not just during the colder months. High temperatures can cause us to dehydrate faster. Equally, UV rays can damage our lips, just like they can with the rest of our skin. This can happen year-round so it’s important to stock up on SPF lip balms if you’re going to be out and about.
It’s also worth noting that some medications and medical conditions can cause dry, chapped lips. For example, chemotherapy medications, antihistamines and some supplements are known to dry out the lips.
Why Should You Avoid Dry Lips?
Before we delve into CBD lip balm benefits, we should take a look at why it’s important to care for your lips. Apart from chapped lips being super annoying, that is.
When the lips become dry and chapped, we tend to subconsciously lick them more. This provides temporary relief but can actually do more harm than good. As the saliva evaporates from your lips, it can actually leave them feeling drier than before.
This goes for low-quality lip balms too. Whilst they provide a thin layer of protection, this is swiftly undone as the moisture evaporates and dries out the lips further. Have you ever noticed that you’re constantly reaching for lip balm? Even though you swear you’ve just topped it up a few minutes ago? Case and point.
Dry lips aren’t just a minor inconvenience though, they can get worse if you don’t look after them. For example, the lips and the surrounding skin can become sore, flaky, and inflamed. This makes you more likely to pick or chew them subconsciously. This in itself can cause more problems as the skin becomes torn and cracked, it can bleed or become infected as it is exposed to bacteria.
CBD Lip Balm Benefits – What Can They Offer Over Traditional Balms?
Now that we know why our lips become dry, and why we need to look after them, let’s take a look at the CBD lip balm benefits. How can CBD help? Or is it just another CBD-infused fad?
Intense Hydration
Luckily for us (and our lips), it’s not a fad. One of the biggest CBD lip balm benefits is the intense hydration that it offers. CBD is very similar to other skin-loving plant extracts, like aloe vera. It provides hydration but it also helps to lock it into the skin – hydrating even the deepest layers of the skin
Hemp oil is also packed with fatty acids like Omega 3, 6, and 9. As we mentioned, our lips don’t have oil glands, therefore they need a helping hand. One of the big CBD lip balm benefits is that they deliver these much-needed oils directly to the area of concern. Helping to balance moisture levels for our lips, keeping them nourished and soft.
Antioxidants
When it comes to skincare, antioxidants are absolutely essential. One of the biggest CBD lip balm benefits is that the compound is packed with them.
Antioxidants like vitamins A, C, and E help boost cell turnover and collagen production. This means they encourage your skin to produce new, healthy skin cells. Therefore, when you gently exfoliate your lips, dead and damaged skin cells will be removed, revealing new cells underneath.
By encouraging collagen production, antioxidants help to improve skin elasticity. This means the skin is less likely to crack and break. This can help improve the appearance of dry lips, as well as easing discomfort. It can also help to prevent the lips from drying out in the future!
Antioxidants also help to neutralise free radicals. Free radicals are simply particles that can damage our skin cells. The most common free radicals are found in pollution and UV rays. Therefore, one of the major CBD lip balm benefits isn’t just that antioxidants don’t just help rejuvenate the lips, but they can help protect them in the future.
Gentle on the Skin
Dry, chapped, and cracked lips can be the result of an allergic reaction or an inflammatory skin condition. If you suffer from sensitive skin, eczema or psoriasis, finding a lip balm that soothes the skin without irritating it further can be a pain (pun intended).
This is where CBD lip balm benefits could help you. CBD is known to have soothing properties, with some studies even suggesting that it may have anti-inflammatory qualities. This means that it is extremely gentle on the skin. It is highly unlikely to cause further irritation to your skin.
In addition, this soothing effect can help ease discomfort associated with severely dry or chapped lips. CBD not only restores moisture, which can help prevent further flare-ups, but it can help to calm redness and swelling.
Antibacterial Properties
Experts believe that CBD, like other plant extracts like tree tea oil, may have antibacterial properties. Therefore, CBD lip balm benefits us by helping reduce bacteria on our skin.
This is particularly important if you suffer from chapped lips that tend to crack, or you tend to pick them (no judgement here). When this happens, the skin becomes open and vulnerable to infection. Therefore, using a lip balm with anti-bacterial qualities may help reduce the likelihood of infection.
Pain Relief
One of the most common uses for CBD is as a natural form of pain relief. Although we need more studies to fully understand how this works, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence to support this claim. It’s no surprise that CBD-infused topical creams and muscle balms are popping up all over the market. But, could CBD lip balm benefits include pain relief too?
It’s likely that CBD lip balms would work in a similar way to other topical treatments and therefore, it could offer some pain relief. Experts believe that CBD molecules are absorbed into the skin, where they interact with receptors. There, they influence our pain perception, essentially helping to relieve discomfort in the area where the topical has been applied.
Therefore, if you find yourself suffering from sore, uncomfortably chapped lips, CBD lip balm could be for you!
Now That We Know the CBD Lip Balm Benefits, Where Can We Buy It?
Some of the main reasons why our lips become dry are due to dehydration, extreme temperatures, allergic reactions, medications, and inflammatory skin conditions. Luckily, that’s where CBD lip balm benefits us.
CBD lip balm offers intense hydration without clogging the pores or irritating the skin. Its soothing properties make it perfect for those of us with sensitive skin or who suffer from particularly sore chapped lips.
CBD oil is also packed with antioxidants and anti-bacterial properties, helping rejuvenate the skin, whilst protecting it against future damage or infection.
To make sure you’re getting the best quality CBD lip balms, you should always source them from a trustworthy supplier. You can browse our ever-growing collection right here, on CBD Village.
The post CBD Lip Balm Benefits That You Definitely Didn’t Know first appeared on CBD Village UK.