Essential Factors to Consider When Choosing a Lip Balm Treatment Product

The skin on our lips is delicate and highly responsive to environmental stressors, harsh weather, and any products we apply. When our lips are stressed, they become dry, chapped, and dull, prompting us to cover them with layers of lipstick. The cosmetic industry has long recognized the significance of having flawless lips, achievable only by restoring and maintaining skin health. Therefore, our preferred lip balm should offer more than just shine; it should provide comfort, repair, and radiance!

Understanding Lip Anatomy - why the lip treatment is important?

We started our discovery journey at the roots. Studying skin biology, we understood how important it is to address each layer and each aspect of our lips' anatomy according to their needs.

The epithelium: a very thin layer in lip anatomy, far thinner than the rest of our skin. There are no keratin cells, therefore less protection from outside factors.

Sub-epidermal matrix of proteoglycans, collagen & elastin: the important building blocks of skin architecture, creating the typical lip shape.

Absence of sweat or oil glands: lips do not excrete sebum, the "body oil," or other fluids for topical protection. They cannot rely on natural body oils for moisture, leading to susceptibility to dryness and chapping.

Most important Factors Influencing Lip Health

Reduced Hydration:

Proper internal hydration through adequate water intake is crucial for maintaining lip moisture.

Nutritional Deficiencies:

Deficiencies in omega-3 fatty acids, Vitamin D, B vitamins, and iron can manifest as dryness, chapping, and other changes on the lips.

Environmental Factors:

Exposure to UV radiation, harsh weather, and environmental pollutants can damage the fragile lip skin barrier.

Behavioral Factors:

Licking lips, consuming excessive caffeine or alcohol, and smoking can further compromise lip health.

Aging:

The natural aging process leads to a breakdown of collagen and elastin, making lips appear frail and more vulnerable.

What should we look for in a lip treatment product? 

Skin Barrier repair:

The integrity of the skin barrier is very important. Applying oils to our lips is a natural way of restoring the top epithelial cell layer and at the same time reducing epithelial water loss, which ultimately will prevent dry and chapped lips. However, not every oil serves the same purpose and is equally equipped to grant success. The only absolute "no-go," however, are mineral oils and their derivatives, like paraffins. We also advise against silicones, which cover the epidermis by creating an artificial film that prevents "good ingredients" from entering and builds up over time.

Hydration:

If you want to keep your lips soft and moist, you must keep them hydrated from within! Hyaluronic acid – a major compound of the subepidermal matrix – will bind water and keep this layer hydrated. Water will not penetrate the epidermis from the outside, but oil will prevent the water within from getting out, leading to improved cellular hydration.

Subepidermal matrix Booster:

Collagen and elastin are the major components of the extracellular skin matrix. Age, unfortunately, promotes the degradation of these compounds, leading to matrix thinning and wrinkles. The typical aged "thin lips" are the result. Supporting collagen and elastin production while inhibiting their degradation should be the target of any anti-aging lip treatment.

Protection against environmental polution, UV-light and other elements:

Antioxidants, like astaxanthin, protect against free radicals damaging our DNA and protein synthesis, interfering with and disturbing cellular mechanisms. Our lips are continuously exposed to UV light, which makes antioxidant use a "must" in lip care. When high UV light exposure is expected, we also recommend adding SPF for increased protection. We don't get sunburn on our lips because of the reduced skin layer structure, but it is possible to develop melanoma (malignant skin cancer).

The Ultimate Lip Care Formula: Nourishment, Hydration, and Anti-Aging Benefits -What are the special active ingredients that set the Li Lé Blue Natural Lip Balm with Astaxanthin apart?

Castor oil and Jojoba oil, both known for their lips healing properties, are rich in triglycerides and Vit E and allign perfectly with the fatty acids necessities of our skin.

Ceramides are important to further stabilize the top epidermis cellular layer and restore it's  integrity.

Hyaluronic acids and Aloe vera extract are keeping the lips hydrated. Hyaluronic acids are an important compound of the subepidermal matrix – they bind water and keep this layer hydrated. 

Licorice root and phospholipids. Collagen production and subepidermal Matrix boost is achieved by adding a special active ingredient from licorice root and phospholipids, suspended in a biomimetic soybean extract to ensure effective delivery deep into the matrix layer. Licorice root extract is known to stimulate collagen production. Further, upon skin contact, the phospholipids will migrate to the aquaeous environment of the skin, where they spontaneously assemble into multivesicular structure capable of binding water and increasing hydration, hence delivering a long lasting voluminizing effect.

Adding Vitamin C to the mix is key. It serves as indispensable Co-factor in Collagen production, improving the architecture of the deeper skin matrix, counteracting the natural aging process, where collagen and elastin are being actively degraded.

Astaxanthin extracted from the algae Haematococcus pluvialis, adds the beautiful deep red color to our oil, but mostly it acts as a potent anti-oxidant – in fact, the most potent anti-oxidant found in nature. Besides the power of scavanging damaging free radicals induced by several environmental factors, it has the ability to inhibit several pathways causing UV-light induced skin damage and many experimental research studies have found it to be effective against several aging processes of the skin.

Last but not least, for the aroma we chose blood orange essential oil. It is fresh and tasty, increasing skin capillary circulation. In aroma therapy it is mostly appreciated for it's ability to induce a happy spirit - and hopefully make you smile!