The importance of protecting your lips

Daily care will help you keep your lips safe from cracking and chapping all year long.

But while looking good is important, there is a serious side to lip care. We all know that the Australian sun is a major cause of skin cancers – and our lips are no exception. In fact, they need more protection than other parts of your body, and lips rarely get the help from sunscreens that your arms and legs do.

That’s why you need a Blistex SPF 15+ lip care product.

Licking lips can be more detrimental than helpful, since saliva acts like a lens to intensify sun exposure.

Lips need protection all year round. Ultraviolet (UV) rays are always present, whether it is December or July. Although the level of burning UVB rays declines substantially in cooler months, harmful UVA rays remain at relatively constant levels throughout the year. Lips can suffer even on cloudy days since clouds don’t filter UVB rays.

Most of us know that sun is reflected off sand and water, intensifying its burning effects, but the same is also true for snow. Snow reflects nearly 80% of the sun’s rays. Exposure at higher altitudes (such as when skiing) also creates an increased hazard, since the air is thinner and screens less of the sun's rays. If you are pool or beach bound, make sure the sunscreen you use is waterproof, providing protection even while in the water for over an hour.  Blistex Ultra and Blistex Clear Advance are both SPF 30+ so they offer very high protection sunscreen and are water resistant for 80 minutes.

When the sun causes lips to burn, long lasting damage can occur. When unprotected lips are exposed to too much sun, the collagen changes, causing lips to wrinkle and fine lines to form around the mouth. Even when lips show no physical signs of the sun’s effect, damage can occur. Just because you don’t see a surface burn doesn’t mean that the underlying layers haven’t been harmed.

Remember, most of the cancer-causing damage is done to your lips before the age of 18. Now is the time to start protecting your lips.