Lip Care Routine: How To Hydrate Dry, Chapped Lips
Discover how to hydrate and care for dry, chapped lips with my magic lip care routine.
- 26th August 2025
- By Charlotte Tilbury
9 minute read
Darlings, for lips that feel healthy and hydrated, you need a lip care routine that moisturises and cushions lips to help them look smoother, fresher, and plumper. Lips easily become dry and dehydrated, so it’s important to use skincare-infused lip care to top up moisture, strengthen your lip barrier, and keep your lips feeling pillow-soft.
If you’re wondering what products are best for keeping lips feeling soft and moisturised, discover my magic lip care routine. Darlings, these easy steps are my secret to reviving the look of dry and chapped lips, making them look kissable and irresistible!
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What causes dry and chapped lips?
The skin on our lips is relatively thin which makes it prone to becoming dehydrated. Lips can become dry because of environmental, behavioural, and biological factors – discover the main causes of dry and chapped lips:
Cold Weather: One of the main contributing factors to lips becoming dry and chapped is cold weather; lips are most likely to become chapped during the winter due to exposure to cold air, low humidity, and harsh winds. These harsh weather conditions sap lips of their moisture and make them feel dry which can lead to flaking, cracking and chapping.
Air Conditioning: Lips can also become dry during the summer due to the drying effects of air conditioning. Air conditioning circulates cold air around an enclosed space which causes a lack of moisture in the air. This can have the same drying effects on lips as spending time out in the cold.
Sun Damage: Exposure to harsh sunlight can result in sun damage which causes skin to become rough and dehydrated. Your lips can get sunburnt when you spend time in the sun which results in moisture loss from your lips that causes them to become dry and damaged.
Dry Skin Type: If you naturally have a dry skin type, it’s likely that you could be prone to dry lips due to the lack of moisture within your skin. People with dry skin often retain less moisture which leads to the development of dry patches and flaky skin, especially in areas like the lips where skin is thinner and more susceptible to dryness.
Dehydration: Are you drinking enough water, darling? If you don’t regularly hydrate by drinking plenty of water, it’s likely you will experience regular dehydration. One of the first places dehydration manifests itself is the lips; when you are dehydrated your mouth may feel dry and scratchy and your lips may start to chap and crack.
Licking Lips: When lips feel dry it can seem like licking your lips is a helpful way to add moisture back, however, this is actually counter-productive. Licking your lips provides momentary relief by coating lips with moisture, but this quickly dries and can make your lips begin to feel even drier. Instead, the best way to rehydrate your lips is with hydrating lip care like my Life-Changing Lip Mask.
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Discover How To Hydrate Lips with Charlotte’s Lip Care Routine
1. Exfoliate lips
To create an ultra-smooth lip texture, exfoliate your lips before applying lip products. Exfoliating will help to remove dead skin cells and dry, flaky skin from the surface of your lips, revealing lips that look fresher and softer. When exfoliating your lips, apply a small amount of exfoliator directly onto your lips and leave for a few minutes to let the formula work its magic. I like to use my Super Radiance Resurfacing Facial acid exfoliator to gently exfoliate lips. Apply the formula to bare lips and leave for 3 minutes to let the blend of AHAs, BHAs and PHAs effectively exfoliate, then wash it away with warm water. This expert formula is designed to exfoliate and hydrate, resurfacing the look of lips while cocooning them with hydration.
2. Massage with gua sha
Darlings, the art of gua sha massage can help lips to look fuller, plumper, lifted and more youthful. I created Charlotte’s Magic Gua Sha Sculpting Tool as a unique, lip-shaped gua sha that can be used to sculpt the look of your lip shape and enhance your natural beauty. To define and lift the look of your lips with gua sha, take the curved edge at the gentle of your lips and glide outwards, repeating 5-10 times on each side. Then, lightly press on your Cupid’s bow for a lifting effect. To plump and boost lip volume, glide outwards from the centre of your lower lip for a lip lift effect and repeat 5-10 times either side. To make lips appear fuller, massage in circular motions around the edges of your lips to enhance and plump. To make lips appear smoother, lightly press the flat side of your gua sha onto your lips and hold for 15-30 seconds to help refine the appearance of lip lines and wrinkles.
3. Hydrate with lip mask
Hydrate and revive the look of your lips by applying a nourishing lip mask packed with superpowered, lip-enhancing ingredients. I created my Life-Changing Lip Mask as a 6-in-1 miracle lip fixer – it hydrates, it sculpts, it plumps, it primes, it reduces the look of lip lines, and it brings lip colour back to life! Enriched with botanical butters and ceramides, my lip mask is formulated to strengthen your natural lip barrier for long-lasting hydration and make lips feel softer. If you have dry lips, darlings, try applying my lip mask to immediately revive the look of your lips! For a clear, glassy glow choose Magic Sheer Glow and for a soft pink tint choose Pillow Talk Fresh Glow.
Tilbury Tip: Charlotte’s Life-Changing Lip Mask perfectly primes lips for makeup! Coat lips with lip mask then swipe away any excess after 10 minutes to reveal smoother-looking lips ready for flawless lipstick application.
4. Glow with lip oil
Lip oils like my Unreal Lips Healthy Glow Nectar Oils are a perfect addition to your lip care routine. If your lips begin to feel dry throughout the day, swiping on your favourite lip oil helps to bathe them in moisture and provide a fix of hydrating skincare ingredients that help to hydrate instantly and over time . I created my Unreal formula to have the cushioning comfort of a lip balm, the glow glide texture of a lip oil, and the lip glaze look of a lip gloss – they combine barrier-boosting skincare and healthy-looking lip glow to make dry lips look and feel UNREAL! Every shade of my Unreal lip oil is infused with hyaluronic acid and vitamin E to moisturise and condition lips, helping them to feel 40% more hydrated after 24 hours!*
Tilbury Tip: Wear your lip oil alone or on top of lip liner to make your lips glow!
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Lip Care Routine for Makeup
Darlings, my lip care routine not only hydrates lips, it makes them feel beautifully soft and primes them for lip makeup. Once you have exfoliated your lips, massaged them with your gua sha, and applied a hydrating lip mask, your lips are prepped and primed for your go-to lip combination. I have created lip liners, lipsticks and lip glosses that layer flawlessly and are infused with hydrating skincare ingredients, combining colour and care to provide a boost of hydration, long-lasting lip colour and definition.
Discover Charlotte’s Hydrating Lip Makeup Routine
1. Outline with lip liner
Once you have created a smooth canvas for lip products to glide onto, reach for a lip liner to line and define the look of your lip shape, accentuating its natural contours and creating a subtle overlining effect. My Lip Cheat lip liners are formulated with jojoba seed oil to help lock in moisture. The formula glides onto lips with skipping or bleeding, creating a smudge-proof base for your chosen lip gloss, lipstick or lip oil.
2. Beautify with lipstick
I always say that lipstick is instant beauty confidence and happiness in a tube! A slick of lipstick makes your pout pop, whether you choose a vibrant pop of colour like a bright red or hot coral or a more muted shade of pale pink or nude beige. When choosing your perfect lipstick, be sure to reach for a hydrating formula that’s kind to lips and feels comfortable to wear. Satin and glossy lipsticks like my K.I.S.S.I.N.G Lipstick are generally more hydrating lipstick options because of their dewy, emollient texture. Some matte lip colours can emphasise cracks and fine lines in your lips, however, some matte lipsticks like my AIRbrush Flawless Lip Blur or Matte Revolution Lipstick are infused with hydrating ingredients to make sure the matte finish doesn’t compromise on moisture.
3. Add shine with lip gloss or lip oil
To finish your lip care routine, swipe lip gloss on top of your lip colour to give lips a glazed, multi-dimensional lip glow. Lip gloss catches the light to give lips a dewy-looking glow that blurs the appearance of fine lines and can make lips appear bigger and plumper. For a twinkling, mirror-shine finish apply Collagen Lip Bath; For a super-plump pout apply Pillow Talk Big Lip Plumpgasm); and for juicylicious lips apply Unreal Lips Healthy Glow Nectar Oil.
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AS SEEN ON TVLIP CHEAT
Pillow Talk
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HOT LIPS
Liv It Up
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LIP CHEAT
Iconic Nude
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Icon Baby
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Kim K.W.
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LIP LUSTRE
Seduction
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SAVE 10%!HOLLYWOOD LIPS
Lip Kit
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LIP CHEAT
Supersize Me
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Lip Kit
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THE SUPER NUDES LIP KIT
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What is the best order to apply lip products in your lip care routine?
Darlings, the perfect pout is down to a science! The right combination of lip products can create beautiful, juicy-looking lip looks and can make your lips glow! Apply your lip products in this order and create a perfectly layered lip look.
- Lip scrub/exfoliator: resurfaces lips and creates a smooth lip texture.
- Lip mask/lip balm: hydrates lips to make them feel soft and supple.
- Lip liner: defines and reshapes the look of lips for perfect lip architecture.
- Lipstick: coats lips with colour to make them pop.
- Lip gloss/lip oil: glides onto lips giving them a high-shine finish.
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Author Details
Charlotte Tilbury
Founder, President, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of Charlotte Tilbury Beauty
With over 30 years experience, Charlotte Tilbury MBE is the world's number 1 makeup artist and British beauty entrepreneur. Charlotte established Charlotte Tilbury Beauty in 2013, which is now a record-breaking beauty brand that has won over 400 awards.
