Lips have an annoying habit of getting dry, flaky, and chapped. This can be both painful and unattractive. However, it’s also easy to get rid of. Read on to discover five easy tips to take care of your lips and keep them looking and feeling smooth and soft.

1. Stay Hydrated

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Many people don’t connect hydration with beautiful lips, but there is an undeniable link between them. Drinking enough water keeps your lips looking and feeling plump and soft. If you don’t get the amount of water that you need every day, your lips won’t reap the benefits of proper hydration and will likely end up chapped, flaky, and dry.

A good rule of thumb you can use to determine how much water you should drink every day is to divide your body weight in pounds by two and drink that amount of water in ounces. For example, if you weight one hundred twenty pounds, you should be drinking at least sixty ounces of water per day.

To help remind yourself to drink enough water throughout the day, make it a habit to drink two cups of water when you first wake up and before you go to bed and drink at least one cup of water with every meal.

2. Get a Good Lip Balm

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It is a well known fact that frequently applying lip balm is an important way to take care of your lips and keep them looking soft and smooth. However, it is lesser known that not all lip balms are created equal and any old lip balm you pick up at the store is not guaranteed to condition and moisturize your lips like it should.

When you purchase a lip balm, make sure it includes an active ingredient that is actually effective at moisturizing your lips. Good moisturizing active ingredients include shea butter, beeswax, coconut oil, jojoba oil, and petroleum. If your lip balm does not include any of these hydrating ingredients, it probably won’t effectively hydrate your lips and might even dry them out.

If you’re in the market for a new and more effective lip balm, try out the Tarte Rainforest of the Sea Quench Lip Rescue. It’s a tinted lip balm that includes coconut oil to deeply moisturize your lips and keep them soft and smooth.

3. Use Hydrating Lipsticks

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When you want to wear pigmented lipstick rather than moisturizing lip balm, try to use hydrating lipsticks rather than those that are likely to dry out your lips.

Use liquid lipsticks and lipsticks with a matte finish sparingly. These products tend to dry out your lips and leave them flaky and chapped once you remove the lipstick. This doesn’t mean you have to stay away from your favorite matte liquid lipstick formulas forever. Just beware of the drying consequences they can have on your lips and add some more hydrating lipsticks into your routine as well.

Hydrating lipsticks are usually infused with moisturizing and conditioning ingredients, such as Vitamin E, glycerin, coconut oil, or jojoba oil. The new Urban Decay Vice Lipstick  is an excellent hydrating lipstick choice. It is infused with Vitamin E and jojoba oil and is available in one hundred different shades and six different finishes.

4. Don’t Forget the Sunscreen

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When you apply sunscreen to the rest of your face and body, don’t forget to swipe it on your lips as well. It’s easy to forget that your lips need protection from the sun like the rest of your skin, but lips are actually extremely susceptible to sun damage because their skin is so thin and delicate. Sunburned lips can be painful and exposure to the sun can cause your lips to dry out and get flaky and chapped.

Of course, you probably don’t want to smother your lips in regular face sunscreen. It’s more convenient and pleasant to invest in a lip balm that includes SPF sun protection. Don’t settle for a lip product that has a low SPF, like SPF 5. Instead, opt for a trusty lip balm that has SPF 15 or higher, like the Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment Sunscreen  that has SPF 15.

5. Exfoliate (Sometimes)

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Gently exfoliating your lips can help slough any dead skin off of them and help keep them looking smooth and beautiful alone or under any lip products. However, it’s important to exfoliate them correctly in order to avoid irritating them. Also, never exfoliate your lips more than twice a week in order to prevent irritating their delicate skin.

You can exfoliate your lips using a wet toothbrush or a damp washcloth. Simply scrub the toothbrush or washcloth in gentle circles on your lips to smooth your lips and remove dead skin. If you prefer to use a lip scrub, make sure the one you get is gentle and doesn’t include any unnecessary irritating “plumping agents” like peppermint oil. The Fresh Sugar Lip Polish  is a great, gentle lip scrub infused with shea butter and brown sugar.

Achieving soft, supple lips is easy! Use the tips described above to take care of your lips and keep them kissable all year long.