How to get rid of pigmented lips and get naturally pink lips - A simple lip care routine to follow

Are you someone who struggles to have a proper lip care routine? Are you constantly in search of good lip care products to try? Are you someone who wishes to have smooth healthy looking lips? If you answer yes to any of the above questions, then you should definitely check this blog post.

Lips are delicate part of our face which most of us ignore to take care off. Unlike facial skin, lips don’t require much committed routine and doesn’t consume much of your time too. Still they are neglected more and more.

I will list down the necessary steps you have to take one by one along with the products you can try.

My story

I remember I used to have very dark hyper pigmented lips during my high school days. I thought it’s my original lip color until I started taking proper care. In general I have dry lips throughout the year and it worsens during winter. It used to chap badly and sometimes crack and bleed too. After facing so many issues, I finally decided to take proper care for my lips. I started with applying lip balms. That’s the most basic care lips require.

I was in my mid teens when I started using lip balms. I tried a lot of brands available in the market to find the best one for my lips. Years later, I started to exfoliate my lips. I tried a couple of DIY lip scrubs and also tried a few from brands. It then made a whole lot of difference to my lips. Then I realized how essential exfoliation is. If you haven’t started to exfoliate your lips, it’s high time to start. Keep reading to know about the DIY lip scrubs I tried which worked.

In the later years, I got to it’s important to use SPF for lips too. There are a lot of lip balms available with sun protection. If you don’t own one of them, then you could apply the sunscreen you use on your face. I have applied sunscreen to my lips many times and I like how my lips feel. Just dab some good amount and let it sit for few minutes. Then you can go ahead with your lip balm. Just make sure it’s safe.

Fancy lip care

If you are always extra and would like to add more steps to your lip care routine, then you can add lip mask, lip patch and lip oil/lip serum. But these are totally optional.

I will list down a few products from the above categories for you. You can check them and try one according to your preference.

Lip mask

Lip mask are more like a nourishing lip balm which are mostly included in night time routine. In general, they will be more hydrating and nourish your lips overnight. If you don’t have much problem with your lips, then a normal lip balm would do. Or if you find a more creamy good textured lip balm, you can easily skip lip masks. They are optional and not necessary to have one. In most of the cases, it’s just a marketing gimmick to get your attention and they are overpriced when compared with lip balms.

Here are a few options if you want to try.

1.       Innisfree lip sleeping mask with canola oil / green tea.

2.       Laneige lip sleeping mask berry / grapefruit / apple lime.

3.       ENN pucker hydrating lip mask with hyaluronic acid.

4.       Clinique pep-start pout restoring night lip mask.

5.       Kiehl’s buttermask for lips.

6.       Dearpacker plum seed sleeping lip mask.

7.       Flower beauty petal pout lip mask.

Lip oil

If you are someone who love oils and find them very nourishing, then you can check lip oils. I’m personally not much into oils. I rarely use them. Even if I want to use oil for my lips, I can get facial oil from my stash and dab a bit for nourishment. If you are keen in trying lip oils but don’t want to spend a lot, just make use of your facial oils. You can even transfer some into a roller bottle to use on lips conveniently.

Here are few options.

1.       Kiehl’s love oil for lips.

2.       Kiko Milano Tuscan sunshine nourishing lip oil.

3.       Innisfree vivid oil tint.

4.       Nicka K pure lip oil.

5.       Indulgeo essentials pout it lip oil.

6.       NYX this is everything lip oil.  

   

Lip serum

It’s another very optional and not required part of lip care routine in my opinion. But if you feel oils are too much for lips and would like to use something lighter, then serums come in.

1.       Namyaa natural lip serum advanced brightening therapy.

2.       Bare body essentials lip serum roll on.

Lip patch

If you ask me to choose between lip and eye patches, I would choose eye patches because it somewhere looks as a part of essentials since taking care of under eyes can be tricky for some. Lip patches on the other hand are definitely a part of fancy lip care only. I don’t mind using lip patches if someone gifts me a few of them but will I buy them? No. I’m good to go with my lip balm. May be I might use one before I kiss the love of my life.

1.       Tonymoly kiss kiss lovely lip patch.

2.       Etude house cherry / honey jelly lips patch.

3.       Mond’sub gold collagen lip mask (It’s a patch).

Now let’s go to the most essential and simple steps in lip care routine.

Lip balm

It doesn’t matter how your lips are but you will always require using a lip balm. Some people use lip balms as base only when they wear lipsticks. I can’t stress enough on the importance of using lip balms. You will be required to use lip balm after lipstick removal to give back your lips all the nourishment it deserves. I use lip balm twice or thrice in a day. They come in various forms like chapstick, in tube, tub, etc. Get the one which you are most comfortable with. I always carry a stick lip balm in my bag to college/office even if I don’t carry lipstick. That’s one essential part in my bag. When you are outside, you might not be able to use a lip balm which comes in tub form. You won’t like to dip in your not so clean fingers so in such cases, stick or tubes come handy.

Over the last few years, I have used a lot of lip balms from various brands and discovered a lot of amazing products.

1.       Vilvah chocolate & mint / grapefruit / lemon & honey lip balm.

2.       Juicy chemistry blood orange & rosehip / Tuscany lemon & green tea organic lip balm.

3.       Innisfree my lip balm.

4.       Biotique bio berry plumping / fruit whitening / morning nectar lightening lip balm.

5.       Nivea original care / fruity shine lip balm.

6.       The body shop born lippy pot lip balm.

7.       Vaseline cocoa butter / rosy lips lip care.

8.       Blue heaven lip bomb.

9.       Kama Ayurveda rose / vanilla / mint / almond & coconut lip balm.

10.   Lotus strawberry / raspberry / fruity fusion lip balm.

11.   Lip smacker coca cola / Fanta / sprite lip balm.

12.   O3+ plunge love lippy hydra lip moisturiser lip balm.

13.   Fiducia botanicals seabuck & rosehip lip butter.

14.   Vaadi herbals lychee / blueberry / orange / strawberry / mint lip balm.

15.   Just herbs liqorice shea lip butter balm.

16.   Skinssentials chocolate lip balm.

17.   Ilana organics healing lip balm – Rose + lavender / orange + vanilla.

18.   Superdrug Vitamin E lip balm.

19.   Inatur coconut / strawberry / lemon / argan / shea butter lip balm.

20.   Soultree lotus / viola & kokum butter lip balm.

21.   Himalaya herbals peach / litchi / cocoa butter / strawberry lip care.

22.   Glitterberry or tyciie rose lip balm.

23.   Eva raspberry lip balm.

24.   Lakshmi Krishna naturals lip balm.

Lip balm with SPF

Lips require sun protection too. Sun expose is one of the major reasons for hyper pigmentation on lips so if you are concerned about hyper pigmented, dark lips, then you should definitely start using lip balms with SPF.

1.       Sebamed lip defense with SPF 30 triple protection.

2.       Avene high protection lip balm SPF 30.

3.       Jovees hydra lip care SPF 10 – strawberry / honey / passion fruit and SPF 15 rose / cherry lip care.

4.       TS lip lock original / watermelon & argan oil / strawberry & honey lip balm SPF 22.

5.       Palmer’s coconut oil / cocoa butter SPF 15 lip balm.

6.       Maybelline new york baby lips color balm SPF 20.

7.       Himalaya herbals sun protect orange lip care SPF 30 PA+++.

8.       Lotus herbals velvety rose / cherry lip tinted therapy SPF 15.

9.       Khadi gold lip balm orange / raspberry / strawberry with shea butter & SPF.

10.   Oshea herbals strawberry / orange / cherry lip therapy with SPF.

11.   Neutrogena Norwegian formula lip moisturizer SPF 15.

Lip scrub

As I have already said, exfoliation is a key step to attain healthy lips. It gets rid of all those dead cells, flakiness and make lips look healthy, soft and what not. You can very well DIY your lip scrub. If not, do check these recommendations and get one for yourself.

1.       Vilvah lip scrub.

2.       Skinssentials beetroot lip scrub.

3.       Glitterberry or tyciie rose plumping lip scrub.

4.       Lakshmi Krishna naturals lip scrub.

5.       Juicy chemistry blood orange & rosehip / damask rose & fig / Tuscany lemon & green tea organic lip scrub.

6.       The basic organics cinnamon & coffee lip scrub.

7.       Roots & herbs cocoa manjistha lip scrub.

8.       Sonaturals natural lip scrub rose & mint / lime.

9.        Neemli green tea lip scrub.

Before going into my lip care routine, let me clarify one important point. Some brands do name their products like lip juicer, lip butter, lip salve, lip gel, etc. You really don’t have to own everything. If you see closely, they all have similar claims and end up working in the similar way. Check and get only the essentials. You can very well apply a thick layer of lip balm as an overnight lip mask. It’s all about multi-tasking products and you can use them in the way you like.

My lip care routine

I follow a very simple routine for my lips. The two steps I religiously follow are lip exfoliation and using a lip balm.

I exfoliate my lips with a lip scrub once or twice in a week. I scrub them very gently for 30 to 40 seconds and wash off with water. I apply lip balm as soon as I exfoliate. You can check my above mentioned list of lip scrubs and lip balms for recommendations.

One simple step I have been following for a year or two is using a tooth brush for exfoliation. After I brush my teeth, I use my wet tooth brush and gently scrub my lips for 10 to 20 seconds. I do this step daily. If you want to be really gentle, then use tooth brushes made for sensitive teeth because they will be having very soft bristles. You can even apply a good layer of lip balm and then exfoliate with tooth brush. If it looks too much for daily routine, just use a wet brush. Don’t forget to use a lip balm after this step.

I tend to use more creamy buttery lip balms at night and light weight ones during day time. Years back, I didn’t wear lipstick on daily basis so I used to prefer tinted lip balms to wear to college. If you don’t find a good tinted one, just dab a bit of lipstick over your lips after applying lip balm.

DIY Lip scrub

I have tried a few DIY lip scrubs and they worked really well for me. You can check these if you aren’t interested in buying one.

Honey + sugar scrub – mix a pinch of sugar with a few drops of honey. Mix it well and let it sit for a minute or two until the sugar melts and reduces in size. Now gently scrub your lips with this mixture. You need to wait until sugar melts since using it directly can be harsh on the lips.

Cinnamon + honey scrub – This scrub helps you to achieve more plump looking lips. You have to be very gentle no matter what scrub you use.

Strawberry scrub – You can take a small slice of strawberry and gently scrub your lips with it.

Cocoa powder + honey scrub – You can also use coffee powder. Scrub for just few seconds and don’t overdo.

These aren’t the only lip scrubs to try. There are more but I have shared my favorites with easily available ingredients.

DIY lip mask

As I said before, I had hyper pigmented lips so I tried a few home remedies as lip masks and a few worked really well for my lips. Here are the ones I tried.

Beetroot juice – Whenever my mom slices beetroot, I take a small piece and rub it over my lips. When you grate beetroot , you can get the juice. I apply this as a lip mask and have it on as long as I could. It works and helps to reduce pigmentation.

Honey – I love applying honey as a lip mask. I apply a thick layer of honey as this keep lips soft and hydrated.

Aloe vera gel – I use the aloe gel taken from the plant and apply over my lips. Be careful and don’t let it go inside mouth. It make lips feel very hydrated and also keeps them healthy.

Ghee – A good layer of ghee over my lips makes me feel good. It really adds a good amount of shine and helps to heal cracked chapped lips. You can also leave it overnight.

The even most simple lip mask is to use a good layer of Vaseline petroleum jelly or boroline. They provide the required nourishment for the lips.

Points to keep in mind

Do not forget to remove your lipstick end of the day even when they have faded. Take some micellar water/ cleansing balm or anything you use to remove makeup over a piece of cotton or even fingers and gently wipe your lips. You could see the faded lipstick coming off beautifully from your lips. After washing, apply lip balm to nourish them.

Do not lick your lips when they feel dry. In such cases, apply a lip balm but don’t lick them. It will make them drier.

Do not peel off those dry layers of skin on lips or bite your lips. It definitely won’t make them healthy.

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