Why Lips Get Chapped (and How to Fix It)
Lip science meets real skincare. Discover why lips are so vulnerable, why most balms fail, and how ABATURE—the only brand exclusively dedicated to professional lip care—is rewriting the rules.
Why do lips seem to dry out faster than the rest of your skin? The answer is hidden in your biology. Unlike the rest of your skin, lips lack the built-in defenses that keep moisture locked in and protect against damage. That’s why they crack, flake, and crave constant attention. The good news? With the right care (and a little science), you can keep them soft, healthy, and resilient year-round. Here’s why your pout is so vulnerable—and what you can do about it.
Lip Science 101: Born This Way
Your lips aren’t built like the rest of your skin. They’re made of a modified mucous membrane called the vermilion—a delicate structure with fewer protective layers, and blood vessels closer to the surface, which is why lips appear red and feel especially sensitive. While the skin on your face and body can have up to sixteen dermal layers, lips only have three to five. That means less protection and more exposure.
Additionally, lips don’t have hair follicles, and thus, no oil glands. They also contain very little melanin, which means minimal natural UV defense, and their non-keratinized barrier offers little toughness against environmental damage. With fewer dermal layers, low melanin, and no built-in hydration, you’re left with a network of blood vessels sitting just under the surface and a recipe for fragility. Lips are exquisitely sensitive, beautifully expressive, and biologically disadvantaged.
Why Lips Dry Out So Easily
When it comes to chapping, lips are fighting a losing battle against the elements. Without oil glands to supply moisture or melanin to shield against the sun, lips are left with little natural protection. Their thin barrier makes them quick to lose hydration in the sun and wind, while the constant motion of talking, eating, and (if we’re lucky) kissing all accelerate moisture loss, collagen breakdown, and the formation of lines.
Even something as instinctive as licking your lips makes matters worse—saliva evaporates quickly and actually pulls hydration away with it. All of this adds up to lips that are naturally prone to dryness and overexposure. They’re also one of the first spots on your face to show aging, due to declining collagen production over time.
The Problem With Most Lip Balms
The quick fix for most people is a swipe of drugstore balm, but many conventional formulas are packed with petroleum byproducts, synthetic waxes, and artificial flavors that simply coat the surface rather than nourish deeper layers. They provide temporary relief but don’t restore lip health, which is why the cycle of reapplying without true healing continues.
High-wax drugstore balms and petroleum-based products often create a non-breathable occlusive layer that traps water at the surface of the skin, which can actually dry lips out more and accelerate aging. Petroleum products may also contain traces of processing solvents such as hexane—an unsettling thought, considering we inevitably ingest a portion of what we put on our lips.
What lips need is not another coating, but intentional care that delivers lasting hydration, barrier repair, and protection against environmental stressors.
The Fix: Science-Backed Lip Care
The most effective approach to lip care mirrors what works for skin elsewhere on the body: replenishing hydration, restoring the barrier, and delivering antioxidants to protect against damage. An effective lip care routine is best thought of as a system rather than a single step.
Start with Exfoliation
Begin with a gentle exfoliation to buff away dull flakes and stimulate circulation, preparing lips to absorb hydration. Because lips have so few dermal layers, it’s especially important to choose gentle exfoliants—never harsh abrasives like walnut shells or salt. Lip scrubs made with fine sugar are ideal: under a microscope, sugar crystals reveal rounded, soft edges compared to salt’s sharp ones. Limit exfoliation to once daily.
Nourish Below the Surface
Next, consider a lip serum with barrier-strengthening ingredients that absorb below the surface for long-term hydration and resilience. Olive-derived squalane mimics the skin’s natural sebum, helping replenish lost moisture. Australian rosella—clinically proven to hydrate for up to seventy-two hours—alongside naturally derived polysaccharides are some of the most effective botanical actives for lips.
Hyaluronic acid is the best-known polysaccharide, binding water below the dermal surface to keep tissues hydrated, while mushroom-derived beta glucans have been shown in clinical studies to be up to five times more hydrating. Research-backed natural ingredients make all the difference.
Hydrate + Protect
Finally, protection is key: sealing everything in with a rich but breathable occlusive layer that hydrates while shielding against environmental stressors ensures softness, strength, and resilience. Balms with sea actives like algae help repair the barrier and prevent transepidermal water loss. Look for plant-derived vitamins such as liposoluble vitamin C (which supports collagen synthesis) and natural vitamin E (which provides antioxidant defense and gentle UV protection). For a nourishing base, emollient-rich butters such as mango and moringa, along with cold-pressed oils like avocado and jojoba, offer deep hydration and long-lasting comfort.
Why ABATURE Stands Out
Most skincare brands make a lip product as an afterthought. ABATURE is the only brand exclusively dedicated to professional-grade lip care. Founded by a mother-daughter duo, every formula created in ABATURE’s lab is designed solely for lips—scrubs, serums, and butters that combine clean chemistry, clinical research, and spa-level standards.
Reimagining lip care as a complete system is where ABATURE stands out—gentle exfoliation, nourishing serums, and protective butters—all formulated with clean, science-backed ingredients and packaged sustainably.
They’ve become experts in the field by focusing entirely on this overlooked category, and their products are trusted by top spas and beauty professionals nationwide. For those who want to treat lips with the same standards as professional skincare, ABATURE is leading the way.
Ditch the Drugstore, Discover Professional Lip Care
Drugstores are filled with petroleum byproducts, synthetic waxes, and artificial flavors in plastic tubes—processed, diluted, and mass-produced. They don’t heal, they just coat.
Your lips deserve better. Like the skin on your face, they deserve real skincare. Skip the aisle, see your esthetician, or find a clean beauty brand that puts science first, and fold those extra lip care steps into your routine—you’ll thank us later.
