You may sense a breeze against your suddenly noticeably dry lips. You impulsively give your lips a lick to given them some much needed moisture as you continue on with your day. Not too long after, you lick again. How many times have you licked your lips today? You may be stuck in a lip licking cycle.

Recognize Your Triggers

Lip licking is an unsavory (pun intended) habit that can lead to poor lip health. It is an issue that can affect people of all ages. There could be psychological, physical, or environmental reasons for lip licking, such as stress and anxiety, sensitivities to lip products, or a case of very dry lips. We will leave you to determine your own reasons for your lip licking habit. However, we can help you understand how to get this lip licker’s dilemma under control.

What feels good momentarily is only temporary 

While licking your lips may provide some moisture when you’re feeling dry or chapped, the relief is only temporary. In fact, saliva may be a big culprit for why your lips are chapping in the first place. Saliva contains digestive enzymes to help break down the foods you eat. When you lick your lips, the saliva starts to break down protective barriers and rids your lips of their natural oils which creates dryer, irritated lips. Extreme lip licking can even lead to a condition known as lip licker’s dermatitis. Stopping a lip licking habit will certainly be beneficial to getting healthier, moisturized lips.

Your lip balms ingredients may cause more harm then good

Consider what is currently in your lip balms, moisturizers, and even lipsticks. Ingredients such as lanolin, castor oil, vitamin E, and petroleum jelly will help you rehydrate and even heal dry, chapped lips. There are some ingredients, however, that may be causing your lip problem rather than solving it. Ingredients like peppermint and menthol can cause dryer lips. Artificial flavors can also incentivize your lip licking, because of the sweet tastes. How many of us loved the taste of our strawberry and watermelon lip smackers growing up? Choosing a lip balm with a flavor that doesn't taste like your favorite dessert will be helpful in getting a lip licking habit under control.

Lanolin is an ingredient that is in many skin care and beauty products like lip balms and creams. It is a very effective emollient and creates a protective barrier between your lips and the elements. In addition, it has a peculiar bitter, somewhat rubbery taste that will certainly deter the impulse to lick your lips. This is what we want, a bad tasting lip balm that will moisturize your lips and help you break out of your lip licking habit! Other ingredients like castor oil and petrolatum have similar characteristics.

Some bad tasting lip balms to consider to help you break the lip licking habit are Kitsune Beauty lanolin lip balms, Bag Balm, Aquaphor, and Carmex lip balm.