Chapped Lips? the Ultimate Remedy

Allure Daily Beauty Reporter

Grace Clarke, Allure magazine

What is it about a great lip-balm discovery that leaves a girl feeling a little like a beauty Magellan, successfully circumnavigating Sephora in search of the emollient trifecta-consistency, taste, and results? With all the crazy New York weather flux (60-degree afternoons followed by snowy 20-degree nights and sauna-like office temperatures), I've spent this winter slathering on lip mixtures all sorts, so I was stoked, to say the least, when the best lip moisturizer turned out to be in my medicine cabinet all along-face oil. Trust me, your lips will feel smoother, look plumper, and be an all-around better canvas for whatever shade of fuschia-red you're rocking this month.

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Sure, coconut oil is this season's beauty MVP, but I'm head over heels for One Love Organics Supercritical Chia Oil. Here's why: The omega-3-packed formula does the magic trick of calming inflamed, chapped pouts (chia's a member of the mint family) while boosting elasticity. I dispense a few drops onto my finger, and glide it across my mouth, like I would with any other lip balm. And because all of One Love Organics' products are water-free, the oily sheen absorbs faster than I can dig my NARS Funny Face out of my purse, so I still get that satisfying feeling of rubbing my lips together, but it's never sticky and never smears. Basically, oil acts more like a long-term remedy than a simple topcoat.

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While on the subject of lip love for the colder months, I could also pen a little love note to Laura Geller's Lip Strip Cooling Sugar Scrub, which I use in the shower on the regular. I'll just say this: I find that gentle exfoliation a few times a week is key for sloughing away dead skin so a balm can get down to the business of moisturizing. And as Miss LG reminds us, her fine-grit formula is so natural and tasty, you can lick it off. Give your lips a good scrub and top things off with some oil before bed. In the morning? Boom: Angelina lips.


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