I forgot to say when your lip exfoliates, there is a fresh new layer of skin underneath. So, it is not like it is making your skin raw.
When I first started, I just spit it out of my mouth without applying it on my lips. I know a little got on vermillion border when I spit it out. But my lips felt amazingly smooth all day when it did not get on my lips, and my vermillion border was getting shiny with texture. However, the raw area on upper lip did not look like it was healing. Well, when I spit out the acidophilus, it got on my bottom lip- not my upper lip. So, I started to apply the acidophilus directly on my lip all over. But my whole lips would still probably heal if I only directly applied it on raw area of upper lip. If you spit it out, you will get a little on vermillion border which is enough to heal that area. The rest of your lip (where you did not apply the acidophilus) will probably heal by just not getting that bad bacteria on your lips anymore.