Winter can be a brutal time of the year for your lips.

The cold air, the chilling wind and dry, heated air inside all conspire to make your lips dry and rough.

In addition, when we go out in the cold, the mouth is usually among the last things we cover up, says dermatologist Dr. Niteen Dhepe (MD, Skin City). Lips have a special type of skin that is thin and delicate – and so requires a little extra pampering. Our lips dry out ten times faster than the rest of the skin on your face so it’s really important to use extra protection.

Also Read: 14 Best Winter Beauty Tips for Men’s Hair

Here Are 10 Best Winter Lip Care Tips For Men:

1. Don’t Lick Your Lips

When your lips are dry, it’s natural to want to lick them to make them moist. But licking your lips actually has the opposite effect. Once you put saliva on the lips, it dries out and makes our lips even drier. Plus the enzymes that are in saliva that are meant to digest food are irritating to the lips.

2. Use A Lip Balm That Is Ointment-Based

This will lock in the moisture and help to heal cracks and splits in the skin. Look for a healing ointment that contains petrolatum, essential oils or glycerin.

3. Avoid Lip Balms Containing Camphor, Eucalyptus &Menthol

These substances actually dry out your lips and make the problem worse. In response, you apply more of this kind of lip balm, and the cycle continues.

4. Avoid Brushing or Rubbing Your Lips When They Are Flaky or Peeling

“It’s better not to scrub your lips or pick the peeling skin off with your teeth or your fingers. That just creates cracks and sores on your lips and can make things worse,” Dr. Dhepe says. “Instead, apply a very heavy ointment-based balm that will be soothing and help to heal your lips.”

5. Treat Cracks Right Away

If you let them go, they can become worse and possibly get infected or lead to a cold sore.

6. At Night, Apply Lip Balm Before You Go To Bed

Many people sleep with their mouths open. Eight hours of breathing in and out through your mouth can dry your lips. Also consider using a humidifier at night if the air in your house is dry.

7. Keep Hydrated

Drink plenty of water throughout the day to help keep your skin, body, and lips hydrated. Keep a bottle of water with you at all times and you’ll never go thirsty.

8. Sun Protection

SPF is not just for your face, it’s for your lips too. UV rays can damage your lips, just as much as it can to your skin. Buy lip products that contain SPF for those days you’re out lapping up the sunshine.

9. Caffeine Check

Drinking caffeinated beverages will dehydrate you – those extra winter-warming coffee hits will be damaging your lips. Consider herbal tea, or switching to decaf.

10. Massage it

Increase the blood supply to your mouth by massaging your lips every day. Using your fingertip, rub in a circular motion over your lips.

Also Read: 14 Amazing Winter Beauty Tips for Men’s Skin

If you’re suffering from relentless chapped lips, we turned to the pros to sort you out with the above winter lip care tips for men. If you find that your lips simply won’t heal, there may be an underlying condition to blame and you should see a dermatologist.

We all suffer from dry, chapped lips at some point. And in most cases, careful attention and prevention are the keys to getting your lips looking and feeling better.