Dry and flaky lips are a common problem. The skin on the lips is extremely thin and therefore susceptible to damage easily. If the flakes are uncared for they will begin to peel.

If you have a habit of picking on your lips, you will be aggravating your dry lips further. Sometimes picking on dry lips will injure them further making them prone to infections. In such cases the lips can also cause pain or begin to bleed.

Thus keep your lips adequately moisturized at all times. Firstly, the moisturizers that use should not have any harsh chemicals.  Use only moisturizers of superior quality. Try to use lip balms with natural moisturizing ingredients such as; cocoa butter, beeswax, almond oil, and sunflower oil.

Vaseline is one of the safest moisturizer for your lips; you can use it too.  Furthermore, moisturizing just once or twice is not enough.  Make sure that your lips remain thoroughly hydrated throughout the day.

Exfoliation is as important as moisturizing for dry chapped lips. Exfoliation helps to remove damaged dead cells that have accumulated on top of the lips. You can use an old toothbrush for this purpose. Rub your lips in light circular motion with the toothbrush.

A margosa leaf extract can also do the same for your lips. Aloe vera can heal as well as soothe chapped lips. Rubbing cool cucumber slices helps tremendously. Apply a mixture of glycerin and honey to treat cracked lips. Castor oil, olive oil and milk cream are good moisturizers as well as mild exfoliants for lips.

If you have a problem of dark and discolored lips; you can easily treat it at home using various natural remedies. A paste of rose petals soaked in raw milk could turn them lighter. You could also use a paste of rose petals crushed in glycerin.

Try applying a paste of cucumber juice, rose water, and sandal powder to lighten your lips. There are many natural bleaching agents to lighten their colour. These are lime juice, apple cider vinegar, cucumber juice, glycerin.  Try coating your lips with a thick layer of yogurt overnight. They will look lighter and smoother the next morning.