Brushing Lips With a Toothbrush: Exfoliating?

Brushing your lips with a soft toothbrush can help exfoliate your lips and help prevent chapping. In addition, this action has the ability to stimulate blood flow and give the lips a smoother appearance. In this article, we will learn about the benefits of brushing our lips with a toothbrush and ways to avoid irritation.

After oral hygiene, we can completely brush our lips with a toothbrush to effectively exfoliate the lips. However, the most important thing to note is that this movement must be very gentle.
Our lip skin is relatively thin and sensitive than other places. Unlike most other parts of the body, lips do not have the function of secreting oil to retain moisture. Therefore, we often have the habit of licking our lips when we feel them starting to dry. Frequent licking of the lips is thought to stimulate the nerves in this area.
Excessive lip brushing or lip scrubs can lead to more dryness of the lips. Therefore, experts recommend that you limit brushing your lips, the most reasonable frequency is once a week.

To brush our lips, all we need is a toothbrush with soft bristles and an exfoliating agent. You can also apply moisturizers like coconut oil or olive oil after exfoliating your lips.
We can make our own natural exfoliators using readily available ingredients like baking soda, oatmeal, coffee grounds or even toothpaste. The purpose of using an exfoliator is to create gentle friction with the lips during lip brushing.
Steps to brush lips with a toothbrush:
Wet lips with warm water; Apply a thin layer of the exfoliant to the lips; Brush your lips gently with a toothbrush in small circles; Rinse off the exfoliator with warm water; Apply moisturizer to your lips. Note during the procedure, if you feel any signs of irritation, you must stop brushing your lips immediately.

If you have chapped lips, you should not use products containing the following ingredients as they will increase the degree of dryness of your lips:
Salicylic acid; Propyl gallate; Phenols; Octinoxate; Menthol ; Lanolin; Perfumes and flavors; Eucalyptus; Long brain.

Brushing lips with toothpaste can be gentler than using other exfoliants. However, we should wash off the toothpaste after brushing to avoid irritation and dryness of the lips.
Toothpaste additives and fragrances can cause allergic reactions in some people. Those symptoms can include peeling lips and sores at the corners of the mouth.

There is no evidence that brushing the lips will permanently increase the size of the lips. Brushing your lips can only increase blood flow temporarily. However, if you do this with the intention of trying to make the lips fuller, it can lead to lip irritation.
The following habits can help them maintain a healthy lip:
Stay hydrated; Supplement products containing vitamin E; Use a cream containing shea butter, cocoa butter and coconut oil; Apply aloe vera (aloe vera) to the lips to promote wound healing; Remove lipstick before sleeping; Use menthol to increase lip circulation; Use a primer before applying lipstick.

If you are still concerned that brushing your lips will cause irritation and cracking, instead of using a toothbrush, you can also apply a small amount of exfoliant, then use your fingertips to gently rub it on your lips. .
In addition, we do not need to use exfoliants at all, but use products capable of moisturizing and soothing chapped lips, such as:
Lemon juice ; Castor oil; glycerin; Coconut oil; Cocoa butter; Petroleum; Beeswax. Gently brushing your lips with a toothbrush can help remove dry skin and give lips a smooth look. However, exfoliating the lips too much can irritate this delicate skin. Therefore, a reasonable frequency of brushing your lips is no more than once a week to avoid irritation.
We can try to apply the following habits to avoid dry lips:
Limit lip licking; Avoid scented lip balms; Use lip balms with SPF before going out in the sun; Protect your lips from the cold air by covering them with a scarf. Brushing your lips with a soft toothbrush can help exfoliate your lips and help prevent chapping. However, if overused, it can lead to more dry lips. Therefore, experts recommend that you limit brushing your lips, the most reasonable frequency is once a week.

Reference source: healthline.com