I Know Why You Have Dry Lips

Red Apple Lipstick sponsored this post about combatting dry lips. This article contains affiliate links.

OK, I admit it. I love lip balms, lip glosses and anything by Red Apple Lipstick.

On top of it all, I love Red Apple Lipstick for so many reasons. The main reason is that they exclusively make gluten-free lip products and make-up. When I use their products, I don’t have to worry about getting sick.

Beyond being gluten-free and safe for me to use, Red Apple lipsticks and lipglosses feel and look amazing on me. Bye dry lips – hello shiny and healthy smile!

Here I am in Red Apple Lipstick’s “Razberry” lipgloss:

So many lip product companies claim to heal chapped or dry lips, but the truth is that most lip products actually dry out your lips, making you want to apply – and reapply – more often!

Dry lips is a real issue for millions of people. I wanted to better understand why so many people suffered from chapped and dry lips – so I decided to do a little digging on the topic.

Possible Causes of Dry Lips

There are many reasons someone may suffer from dry lips. I’ve narrowed it down to the six most common reasons below:

(1) Diet and Disease: When you eat right and take care of your body, you will naturally have vibrant lips, shiny hair, strong nails and glowing skin. Healthy insides typically equate to healthy outsides.

That’s why so many experts agree that poor lip health is often the the sign of a poor diet, nutritional deficiency or a serious health condition.

For example, you may have an undiagnosed food sensitivity or food allergy, or worse, an undiagnosed autoimmune disease that is preventing you from fully getting the nutrients you need to make your skin – and lips – glow.  People with unmanaged celiac disease, for example, have trouble absorbing nutrients and are therefore nutrient deprived. Once someone with celiac disease removes gluten from their diet, only then can their body begin to heal enough to properly absorb nutrients.

Other experts say that dry lips can be the sign of a fatty acid deficiency. Very few people are getting sufficient fatty acids in their diet (especially if you’re on a low fat diet). Fatty acids are essential nutrients, which means you must consume them in your diet because your body cannot make them.

Add plenty of healthy fats into your diet such as avocados, nuts and seeds, olives and olive oil, as well as fatty fish like salmon. I also recommend (and personally take) a high quality fish oil supplement.

(2) Dehydration:  Dehydration is an issue for so many people, in fact, 75 percent of Americans don’t drink enough water! Dry lips can be a sign of dehydration, no doubt.

There is a simple remedy to this, too. Simply drink more water every day. I carry a water bottle with me wherever I go. Water hydrates your lips (and skin) from the inside out.

(3) Dead Cells:  Your lips retain dead cells (yuk!) so consider exfoliating your lips just as you exfoliate your skin each night before bed. Red Apple Lipstick makes an amazing Exfoliant Stick that you can use to get rid of those dead cells. I use the Exfoliant Stick every night to “dust off” the dead cells at the end of each day.

Red Apple Lipstick says on its website that dead cells can also inhibit the staying power of your lipstick. If you want your lip color to last, then exfoliate those lips of yours!

(4) Dry Climate:  If you live in a dry climate (like me in Denver), chances are you find yourself reaching for the lipbalm more often than you’d like. Your lips are sensitive to climate, and dry climates naturally dry out your lips. Put a humidifier inside your bedroom and/or office to add moisture to the air (and therefore to your dry lips too).

(5) Harsh Chemicals: If you take away one point from this article, it’s this:  If you want to ever have a fighting chance of having healthy lips, lose the harsh chemicals. Harsh chemicals dry out your lips and make them look and feel worse in the long run.

Here are some common chemicals to avoid in your lip care products:

• Petroleum:  Petroleum is a refined version of the gasoline you’re putting in your car – yuk!
• Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and Butylated Hydroxytoluene (BHT):  These are preservatives often found in lip products and are classified as “possibly carcinogenic.”
• Parabens:  Any chemical ending in the word “-paraben” is considered a paraben and may be an endocrine disruptor.
• Fragrances:  Fragrances are often code for phthalates, chemicals classified as hormone disruptors.
• Oxybenzone: This is a tough one, as oxybenzone protects your lips from the sun’s harsh rays; however, it is also a hormone disruptor.

When you choose Red Apple Lipstick, you have nothing to worry about. There are no harsh chemicals to dry out your lips or disrupt your hormones; rather, there are only safe, non-toxic ingredients that help to condition and restore your lips to their natural beauty.

In fact, many Red Apple Lipstick products contain Vitamin E, which is an antioxidant known to condition and moisturize the lips. This is good stuff!!

(Please note, if you’re gluten-free, you need to know that most Vitamin E is derived from wheat germ. Yep, gluten! The good news is that the wheat germ is refined so there is usually no gluten present in the final product. Still, come on, do you want to put that on your gluten-free lips? Red Apple Lipstick guarantees you won’t find gluten in any of its products and they say the Vitamin E they use is not derived from wheat germ.)

If you suffer from dry and chapped lips, and want to add some gluten-free Vitamin E in your lip care routine, take a closer look at these Red Apple Lipstick products that contain Vitamin E:

• Instant Color Formula Lipsticks
• Original Formula Lipsticks
• Summer Passion Formula Lipsticks
• X-series Formula Lipsticks
• Mint 2 Be lipgloss formula
• Rallye Balm

(6) Bad Habits:  Finally, things like lip licking, lip biting, mouth breathing and rubbing your lips with your hands are all bad habits that can affect your lip health. Rid yourself of these bad habits once and for all so you can restore your lips back to their original beauty.

You Get What You Pay For

You know exactly how Red Apple ingredients are sourced, and you know they’re safe too. (You won’t find things like gluten, petroleum, harsh chemicals and GMOs in any Red Apple products.) On top of it all, these products are moisturizing and conditioning – and they look fantastic on, too! I feel so pretty when I wear Red Apple products and always get a lot of compliments.

I personally think my lips are one of my best features. Thanks to Red Apple Lipstick for helping them stay healthy and shine!  Here I am in Red Apple Lipstick’s “Gemazing” lipgloss.

I hope you enjoyed learning about the six main causes of dry lips, and that you now have strategies for combating dry lips for good.

P.S.  I’m really proud to be working with Red Apple Lipstick – a company that deeply cares about the gluten-free community. I highly recommend these thoughtfully manufactured and curated cosmetics.

When you purchase Red Apple Lipstick products online at www.RedAppleLipstick.com, please tell ’em Jenny at Good For You Gluten Free sent ya!