My Mother Introduced Me To This Magic Ointment For Dry Lips And Skin

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Now I don’t leave the house without it.

Dry lips are the mean-spirited gift that keeps on giving. Once you’re dealing with them, there seems to be no amount of moisturizer to satiate the cracks, no lipstick that will sit well on the flakes, and no balm that can fight the pesky pout dryness. For me, dry lips would wake me in the night in parched irritation and require me to leave the house with a different chapstick for my purse, car, and jacket pocket. Just in case.

Naturally, I’ve groaned and griped to my mother about the seasonal dryness that terrorizes my lips and face each year. As a fellow dry-skinned woman, but with decades more experience on the matter, she let me in on an ointment that she swears by for dry lips. It comes in the form of a little red tube, and it’s called Lucas’ Pawpaw Ointment.

BUY IT: $9; amazon.com, walmart.com

Lucas’ Papaw Ointment is a multipurpose emollient product that’s designed to relieve dry, flaky lips and skin. Fermented papaya is meant to be the game-changing ingredient, which is said to have antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Suspended in petroleum jelly amongst other ingredients, it helps to prevent moisture from escaping and can assist with the wound-healing process for cuts, bug bites, cuticles, and minor burns. The Australian brand has been used for more than 100 years for those dealing with dryness, which makes it quite the time-tested product that I’m sure other mothers have passed on to their daughters like mine did. More recently, it’s become quite the cult-favorite lip balm with rave reviews online.

My favorite way to use this ointment is to apply it on my lips whenever they’re dry, particularly at night or before I’m planning to put on lipstick as a primer. I make sure to always travel with it, as my skin and lips seem to act up while out of my normal routine. Additionally, I have applied it to particularly dry areas on my face or body when needed, such as around my nostrils when they’re dry from sniffles or on my cuticles between manicures. Since this product is petroleum-based like Vaseline, it’s even more helpful to apply it to the skin after you put on other moisturizing items, allowing the petroleum to act as a seal and lock in all of the hydration. During fall and winter, I simply won't leave the house without it.

For those who all suffer from extremely dry, cracked lips, my mother won’t lead you astray.

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