It's safe to say we all want juicy, soft lips year-round, but rather annoyingly the winter season has other ideas. Cue chapped and flaky skin that despite the slew of products available – think scrubs, balms and masks – the struggle to find a cure is still very much real.

It’s the daily onslaught of cold wind outside, and dry air inside, lip licking, and not so optimal product choices that leave your skin irritated and feeling dry as a desert day after day! Thankfully ‘Lip Blasting’, the lipcare hack that’s trending on TikTok, could be the cure we’ve been looking for.

The brainchild of dermatologist Dr. Shereene Idriss, lip blasting tag teams deep exfoliation and intense moisture to undo the effects of the winter season.

How it works

Wave goodbye to mechanical lip scrubs of old and hello to chemical liquid exfoliants to rid your lips of flaky skin. Also known as exfoliating toners, liquid exfoliants are made up of skin cell chomping acids to rid the top layer of skin of dead skin cells and leave complexions or in this case lips, glowing and ultra-smooth.

They tend to be less abrasive and more impactful than traditional physical scrubs of old, as according to Amie Hibbert, Head Of Beauty at VieDerma, “liquid exfoliants not only remove the dead skin cells on the surface of the skin like physical scrubs, but they also reach far deeper into the skin to dislodge the dead skin cells further down too."

The most common acids used to exfoliate the skin are AHA’s and BHA’s–namely glycolic, salicylic, lactic, phytic, and mandelic acid. Salicylic acid works well at warding off acne, so is perfect if you’re prone to spots or congestion around the border of your lips. Lactic acid has moisture-retaining properties, making it great for dry skin.

Mandelic and phytic acid are ultra-gentle so for those with sensitive skin it’s a winner, while gold standard glycolic acid has the most powerful exfoliating ability as it’s the smallest size molecule of all the acids. This allows it to penetrate the skin and remove the top layer of dead skin more effectively than other acids.

Once you’ve chosen the acid best suited to you, simply swipe a drop of your acid-based toner across the upper and lower lip, leave it to dry before basting your lips and sealing in moisture with a rich emollient. Don’t be shy with this step, less is not more, but do be discerning when it comes to what you choose to coat your lips in.

“Try to avoid products with petroleum jelly, as this ingredient acts as a barrier and doesn’t actually hydrate lips,” shares Hibbert. You'll find the likes of petroleum, beeswax, carnauba wax, and lanolin, in traditional lip balms, but for lip blasting, “I like to use non-traditional lip balms that melt into your lips for longer lasting hydration. Panthenol is one of my favourite ingredients,” adds Idriss.

Once your lips have sucked in all the moisture, you’ll be left with a baby soft, plump pout that can last all season long by simply repeating the process weekly. But be sure to use an SPF – just because winter is gloomy doesn't mean that UV damage isn’t a reality.