Repairing is fine, but preventing is better. Having no hydro-lipid layer, our lips face big challenges when they have to regenerate themselves on their own - and they're all the more vulnerable to drying out.

Use a lip balm. It should be in cream form, in a tube for easy application, and not a stick. The latter, being denser, tends to stay on the surface and only partially protects you (plus the stick hardens in the cold).

For more delicate lips, choose balms in little containers that you spread on with your finger in order to smooth and soften the texture.

However, if simple moisturizing isn't enough to repair damaged lips, it's best to turn to products specifically designed to hydrate, protect and fight aging. Made from active ingredients that combat free radicals and nourish your skin with vitamins, they can be applied each night at bedtime or in the morning before your makeup. Distressed lips will welcome new wax-based textures that form an invisible layer that restores and plumps up your lips' epidermis. Your lips will be restored, looking and feeling smooth and sumptuous even in cold weather.

Good to know
In the winter, we sometimes tend to turn the heat up too high. Remember that excessive temperatures can contribute to skin dryness and dehydration. Keep your room temperature at 20° C (68° F) and remember to drink at least 1.5 liters (6 glasses) of water a day!

When your lips are dehydrated, licking them doesn't help a bit! In fact, the enzymes in your saliva aggravate the irritation and destroy your lips' protective barrier even more, with the result that your lips chap and become even more damaged. So when your lips feel uncomfortable, get out your lip balm instead!

Chapped lips can be a problem at any time of the year, whether it's sunny, windy or snowing. Weather aside, certain medications can also dry out your lips, as can the constant nose-blowing that accompanies colds. Fortunately, these days products for treating chapped lips are very effective because they're rich in nourishing ingredients. Made with vitamins A and E and full of cocoa butter, healing shea butter or soothing spring water, they work quickly to restore a smooth and silky feel to even the most damaged lips. Balm, stick or tube, they're an essential in every woman's handbag and every active person's gym bag.

 

We take special care of our complexion and our eyes… but too often we neglect our lips, which also need attention. They rebel by becoming rough, cracked, even crusty… How should you take care of them? exfoliate to remove skin flakes as you do for your face - monthly or weekly, depending on your needs tone with a moisturizing cream containing vitamin E every evening… after brushing your teeth.

Are you ready now for winter's assault?

If you don't have any lip balm handy, coat your lips with honey and let it penetrate. Its natural properties have an instant softening effect.

Naturally rich in essential oils and acids, Yves Rocher's Replenishing Lip Balm with Shea Butter restores moisture to dehydrated lips and gently heals chapping. The result? Soft, supple, kissable lips even in the depths of winter!

Clarins Moisture Replenishing Lip Balm (in a tube) leaves your lips soft, smooth and moisturized thanks to natural ingredients that repair and protect: shea butter, wild mango extract and perhydrosqualene. Vitamin A and E extracts intensify the healing action and fight free radicals. Clarins Moisture Replenishing Lip Balm is a concentrate of the best essential components to soothe and protect your lips, immediately leaving them feeling supple and comfortable.

You might think there's nothing more ordinary than lipstick, but beneath their luminous colour many now contain long-term lip protection.

Lip Perfection - Enriched with Silk Therapy Complex, this formula helps sustain levels of moisture and helps create soft, smoother, beautiful lips in just 7 days.

Your dry, chapped lips are calling out for help. Come to their rescue with Dr. Hauschka Lip Balm and reveal unbelievably soft, supple lips. This intensive daily lip treatment renews and protects rough, cracked lips without encouraging product dependency.

This rich balm promotes skin renewal, provides a translucent shine and helps visibly reduce fine lines around the mouth. It contains:

• Calendula and St. John'swort extracts encourage renewal
• Silk and anthyllis strengthen delicate lip tissue
• Jojoba and wheat germ oils moisturize and protect
• Natural botanical ingredients do not encourage dependency