I showered as normal and with drinks I did the waterfall technique with water bottles. I drank coffee with a straw and let it cool down 15 min. prior to drinking. I had minimal contact with liquids to my lips during the process. The waterfall technique worked just fine for me, but most my drinks had to come from a bottle to do that. I wasn't worried about any skin coming off because there was minimal peeling while healing, I was more concerned about keeping the aloe vera on my lips so it wouldn't dry up and form the barrier that eventually peels. The aloe vera will act as the barrier opposed to a hardened skin barrier.