Lip Care Myths a Cosmetic Nurse Wants You to Stop Believing
There’s a lot of bad advice about lip care. Some of it is harmless. Some of it is actively making your lips worse. Here are the myths our co-founder Fiona, a cosmetic nurse with over a decade of experience, wants you to stop believing.
Myth: Licking your lips keeps them hydrated
The opposite is true. Saliva contains digestive enzymes designed to break down food. When you lick your lips, those enzymes break down the already-thin protective barrier on the lip surface. The saliva then evaporates, taking your natural moisture with it. You end up drier than before. If your lips feel dry, apply a hydrating lip serum rather than licking.
Myth: Lip balm is addictive
Lip balm isn’t chemically addictive. But it can create a dependency cycle. Balm coats the surface and tricks your lips into feeling moisturised. When it wears off, the underlying dryness is still there, so you reapply. You’re not addicted. You’re treating a symptom without addressing the cause. A lip serum with hyaluronic acid actually hydrates the tissue, reducing the need for constant reapplication.
Myth: You don’t need SPF on your lips
Your lips have almost no melanin, which means they have virtually no natural UV protection. They can burn, develop sun damage, and even develop skin cancers. If you’re wearing SPF on your face but not your lips, there’s a gap in your protection. Look for a lip product with SPF for daytime outdoor exposure, or layer an SPF lip product under your serum.
Myth: Exfoliating your lips daily makes them smoother
Gentle exfoliation once a week can help remove dead skin. Daily exfoliation on lip tissue, which is three to five times thinner than facial skin, causes micro-damage that leads to more peeling, not less. If your lips are chronically flaky, the issue is hydration and barrier health, not a build-up of dead skin. Focus on nourishing ingredients rather than scrubbing.
Myth: All lip plumpers work the same way
They don’t. Most lip plumpers use capsaicin or cinnamon oil to irritate the lips into temporary swelling. That’s an inflammatory response, not plumping. Peptide-based lip serums like League stimulate collagen production for genuine, cumulative fullness that builds over time. The mechanism matters as much as the result.
Myth: Expensive lip products are always better
Price doesn’t determine efficacy. What matters is the ingredient list and the concentration of active ingredients. A $60 lip product with no peptides, no hyaluronic acid, and no functional actives is just an expensive gloss. Check the ingredients, not the price tag.
The takeaway
Good lip care is simpler than most people think: hydrate with ingredients that actually penetrate (hyaluronic acid), protect the barrier (jojoba oil, vitamin E), and support long-term structure (peptides). Skip the myths, focus on what the science supports.
Written by Fiona McEwan, Cosmetic Nurse & Co-Founder of League Beauty
With more than 15 years' experience as a Registered Nurse and over a decade specialising in cosmetic nursing, Fiona founded League Beauty to bring skincare-first innovation to lip care. Drawing on her clinical expertise and years of treating skin, she shares educational content designed to help people make informed choices and embrace a skincare-first approach to lip care.