Lip care for skiing: how to protect and repair cold-chapped lips
A single morning on the slopes is enough to feel it: well before your cheeks or fingertips, it’s your lips that feel tight, tingle, and then crack. At high altitudes, they are the first area to suffer. Here is why, and how to protect and repair them throughout the ski season.
One morning on the slopes is all it takes to feel it: long before your cheeks or fingertips, it is your lips that start to feel tight, tingle and then crack. At altitude, they are the very first area to show signs of distress. Understanding why helps you adopt the right habits before chapping sets in.
Why lips suffer first on the slopes
The skin on the lips is among the thinnest on the body. It has no sebaceous glands and no real hydrolipidic film to protect it. The result: nothing holds water in, and moisture evaporates very quickly.
In the mountains, three aggressors combine. The cold slows microcirculation and dries the skin. The wind sweeps away what little protective film remains. And altitude intensifies UV rays, reflected by the snow, which weaken this defenceless skin even further.
On top of that come our own reflexes: we lick our lips to soothe them, which speeds up dehydration and paves the way for chapping and cracks.
Protect your lips before you click into your skis
The best chapped lip is the one you prevent. Before heading out, apply a generous layer of nourishing balm to replace the missing protective film and create a barrier against cold and wind.
The Bons Baisers de Megève Lip Balm was designed for exactly this. Its natural formula combines Alpine beeswax (Cera alba), which protects, honey (Mel), which helps the skin heal, and edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum), the emblematic mountain flower.
Its melting, non-sticky texture leaves a light glossy veil with no waxy feel. Slip it into your ski jacket pocket and reapply on every chairlift ride: repetition is what protects.
The SPF reflex: remember to protect your lips from the sun
We coat our faces in sunscreen but almost always forget our lips. Yet in the mountains, snow glare doubles UV exposure, and this thin skin, with no melanin, is marked very quickly.
On bright sunny days, apply a lip treatment with sun protection before heading out and reapply at lunchtime. A touch of nourishing balm on top extends the comfort all day long.
The Ferme de Beauté's tip
In the evening before bed, apply a thick layer of balm to clean lips and leave it on overnight, like a repairing mask. In the morning, gently remove any flakes with a soft, damp cloth, never pulling at them: your lips will be supple again and ready for another day of skiing.
Repairing chapped lips in the evening, after skiing
Despite every precaution, a day of bitter cold can leave lips feeling tight or even cracked at the corners. Come the evening, it's time for targeted repair.
On very damaged lips, the Bons Baisers de Megève Lip Balm can be used as a mask, applied in a thick layer at bedtime. Around the lips and on irritated corners, Cold Cream, with beeswax and Mont-Blanc glacier water, acts as an emergency dressing and comforts the skin of the whole family.
And for other areas tested by the day, from wind-burnt cheeks to tired muscles, Baume des Montagnes SOS Arnica, with its concentrated arnica formula, soothes and comforts both face and body.
Building your lip care routine for the whole season
Protecting your lips while skiing comes down to a few simple steps: a nourishing balm before heading out, SPF on sunny days, and attentive repair every evening.
The rest is a matter of consistency. Reapply often, avoid licking your lips, and don't wait for chapping to set in before taking action. That way, they stay soft from the first to the last day of your holiday, keeping the memories of the mountains without bearing their marks.
Slip into your pocket
