No worries, though: This beloved vitamin is easy to incorporate into your routine (you can find it in a host of lip balms, lip masks, and such). Below, find out exactly what makes vitamin E oil so stellar for chapped lips. Typically, manufacturers will extract vitamin E and dilute it with a carrier oil (jojoba, argan, and the like), but you can also find straight vitamin E oils on the market—pure options are quite thick in consistency, almost gel-like. Some people even cut open a vitamin E capsule and apply the goop directly to their skin, an age-old antidote for chapped lips and hyperpigmentation. And let’s not forget: The skin on your lips is especially delicate and is pretty susceptible to drying out. See, your lips do not contain oil glands, which means they do not have natural moisturizing capabilities. That’s where oils like vitamin E come in handy, as they coat the area and supply the fragile skin with the moisture it needs. As if that weren’t enough: These antioxidant properties can also provide soothing, anti-inflammatory effects. Specifically, vitamin E can calm irritated skin “by decreasing production of inflammatory mediators such as prostaglandins2 and interleukins,” says dual board-certified dermatologist Brendan Camp, M.D. That being said, if you do have acne-prone skin, you might want to keep the oil within the lip border, so you don’t clog any pores around the area. It’s very uncommon, but topical vitamin E can also cause contact dermatitis for those with sensitive skin, so make sure to patch-test vitamin E oil before applying it directly to your face. Of course, these warnings only apply if you’re using pure vitamin E oil on your lips. Lip balms that contain vitamin E likely include it at lower concentrations and add other soothing ingredients to the mix.
