The Best Ways To Get Rid Of Lip Lines and Smooth Lip Wrinkles
Are you starting to notice small wrinkles around your mouth when you look in the mirror? If so, you’re not alone! The upper lip has thin, delicate skin that’s subject to constant movement throughout the day, making lip lines an ultra-common cosmetic concern.
Lip lines are pesky creases that surround the mouth as we age and are exacerbated by lifestyle factors. While these lines typically show up after age fifty, they can become visible as early as your mid-twenties.
The mouth is one of the first spots to start showing signs of aging, but we so often neglect it. Luckily, you can change your ways to counteract lip lines at any age!
In this article, the beauty experts at SiO will explain what lip lines are and what causes them to form. Then, we’ll reveal the best ways to eliminate those troublesome wrinkles around your mouth and reveal a younger-looking grin.
What Are Lip Lines?
We’ve all heard of crow’s feet and frown lines, but what exactly are lip lines? Lip lines, (AKA lipstick lines or smokers’ lines) are small wrinkles that form just above your upper lip.
These lines often touch your top lip and extend vertically toward your nose. They come in all shapes and sizes, but one thing remains the same—everyone wants to get rid of them!
Lip lines aren't to be confused with laugh lines or smile lines, which are the creases that run from the sides of your nose to the edges of your lips. Officially called nasolabial folds, these wrinkles are another common sign of aging skin. But, they're completely different from lip lines.
What Causes Lip Lines?
Several factors make the list of lip lines causes, including:
- Pursing and puckering the lips: The drinking straw ban that’s been popping up all over the U.S. isn’t just great for the environment; it may also help prevent lip lines! Repeatedly pouting, whistling, smoking, drinking from a straw, and even taking duck-faced selfies all contribute to the facial movements that create lip lines over time. While facial expressions won’t form lip lines overnight, they contribute to wrinkle formation in the long run.
- Compression: If you’re a side- or tummy-sleeper, you might be squishing your face in a way that creases the lips and surrounding areas. Sleeping on your back and/or using SiO silicone patches to keep the skin smooth while you doze can prevent this cause of lip lines.
- Cigarettes: Vertical upper lip wrinkles are called smoker’s lines for a reason. In fact, a study on identical twins showed a clear correlation between smoking and lines on the lower half of the face. There are several reasons for this:
- Nicotine constricts blood vessels and reduces circulation, which deprives your skin of much-needed oxygen and beneficial nutrients.
- Smoking exposes the surface layers of your skin to harmful chemicals and toxins.
- Smoking accelerates the breakdown of collagen and elastin, two proteins that give your skin strength and resilience.
- The sun: Sun exposure is the number one cause of premature skin aging, and the lips are no exception. Harsh UV rays, along with other forms of radiation from the sun, cause damage that contributes to lip line formation.
- Sleep deprivation: Your sleep habits impact the overall health of your skin – not just the formation of lip lines. Over an extended period, poor sleep quality has been shown to increase signs of aging and compromise the skin barrier. So, if you regularly skip out on beauty sleep, you may start to see lip lines when you look in the mirror.
- Aging: Aging is a major cause of lip lines. As we get older, our lips (just like the rest of our skin) naturally lose volume, moisture, and elasticity. This is because two of your skin’s most crucial proteins, collagen and elastin, break down with age. Additionally, the aging process diminishes your skin’s production of natural oils that are essential for hydration. This results in skin that’s more susceptible to wrinkles, dryness, and dullness.
Now, you’re probably wondering how to go back in time to slather on more sunscreen and undo the cigarettes of your youth. But, we’ve got good news: You don’t need a time machine to start repairing your skin and diminish the appearance of prominent lip wrinkles. Lip lines are completely treatable, and there are a number of simple steps you can take to eliminate them.
How To Get Rid of Lip Lines
If your current lip care routine includes a swipe of lip balm a few times per day, there’s plenty more that you can do to revive your pout. Here are the best treatments around to help you smooth those lip lines and wrinkles:
At-Home Skincare Solutions
There are several effective anti-aging solutions that you can use at home for a noticeable improvement to lip lines and wrinkles.
Hydrate and Moisturize For Complete Skin Protection
While the terms "hydrate" and "moisturize" are often used interchangeably in skin care, they're not the same thing. However, both are crucial for preventing and combatting lip lines.
Hydrating products, like glycerin, honey, and hyaluronic acid, absorb water from their surroundings and bind it within their molecular structure. Also known as humectants, these products absorb water that can then be used to keep the skin on your upper lip hydrated.
Hyaluronic acid is the most common hydrator, but others include propylene glycol, butylene glycol, sodium PCA, sorbitol, and allantoin.
Moisturizers, on the other hand, are designed to form a protective layer on the surface of your skin to keep water from evaporating into the air. This is great if you’ve already got plenty of moisture in your skin, but if you’ve got dry skin, you’re only fighting half of the battle.
You first need to put water back into your skin with a hydrating product. Then, you need to seal in the hydration by applying a moisturizer on top of it.
Individually, hydrating and moisturizing products can do a bit of good. But, combined, they make for a truly powerful skin treatment. Remember to always apply a hydrating product first and a moisturizer second!
Here’s a simple step-by-step method to hydrate and moisturize your skin with ease:
- Wash your face with lukewarm water and a gentle cleanser.
- While your skin is still damp, apply a hydrator.
- Seal the hydration into your skin with a moisturizing product.
Nighttime tip: Wait to apply your hydrator around your lips and smile lines after you've brushed your teeth.
Exfoliate To Retain Moisture
Exfoliation is one of the cornerstones of a healthy skincare routine. But, many people don't realize the benefits of exfoliation for the appearance of lip lines.
Done a few times per week, exfoliation works to remove dry, dead skin cells. This process reveals fresher, younger-looking skin and brings forth a youthful glow. Additionally, exfoliating allows your body to focus its energy on keeping your skin healthy rather than having to deal with old, excess skin cells.
When it comes to lip lines, exfoliating is beneficial for its ability to help your skin more efficiently retain moisture. It stimulates an increase in moisture that can help reduce existing wrinkles while preventing new wrinkles from forming.
Keep in mind that too much exfoliation, or the wrong exfoliant, can leave your skin feeling raw, tight, and sore. That’s why it’s important to restrict your exfoliation to no more than two to three times per week. (Unsure of exactly how often to exfoliate? Consult your dermatologist for a personalized recommendation.)
Baking soda is a gentle exfoliant that can help you tackle lip lines at home without causing skin irritation. Here's how to give it a try:
- Begin by washing your face, neck, and chest with warm water and an oil-free cleanser to remove makeup and open up your pores.
- Add 1 tablespoon of baking soda into a small bowl.
- Add 1 teaspoon of water and mix until you’ve created a loose paste.
- Using your fingers, gently massage the baking soda into your skin using small circular motions.
- Rinse your face with warm water to remove the baking soda, and then with cold water to close and tighten pores.
- Pat your skin dry with a soft towel.
You can also mix a small amount of baking soda into your existing face wash to make an exfoliating cleanser. Whichever method you choose, try to resist the urge to scrub. Too much pressure will damage the healthy skin underneath. Be gentle and remember that exfoliation should never hurt!
Use A Serum To Treat Stubborn Lip Lines
Applying a topical wrinkle-fighting serum every day is one of the most effective ways to treat and prevent stubborn lip lines. Specialized serums, like SiO Beauty’s Energy Serum, are designed to rejuvenate and protect your skin all day long.
These products also work to decrease and prevent lip lines without the need for invasive medical treatments like injections or laser treatments.
For an even more dramatic improvement to the appearance of lip lines, apply SiO Cryo Fill before your daily serum. This potent skincare product tackles wrinkles with plumping peptides and a powerful blend of antioxidants.
Harness The Power of Silicone Patches
Sometimes, you need more than your daily routine to stay on top of your lip lines. Silicone patches are excellent add-ons that work while you sleep. So, there’s no need to waste a half-hour of your day nursing a face mask.
Silicone is used widely in the medical industry to heal scars. It has the unique ability to draw moisture from the deep layers of the skin and hold it at the surface, resulting in smooth, hydrated skin.
SiO Super LipLift patches hug the perimeter of the lips as you sleep, holding them in place to keep the delicate skin from folding and creasing. Simultaneously, these patches smooth out the appearance of existing lines by creating a healing environment that refreshes tired skin. Although it's best to use silicone patches overnight, you can also pop the patches on for a couple of hours to diminish lip lines on the fly.
Naturally Increase Blood Flow With Cinnamon And Oils
Cinnamon is an age-old ingredient in the traditional medicines of China and India. It's long been used for its host of health benefits, including strengthened immune function, balanced blood sugar, and reduced cholesterol.
This popular spice also stimulates blood flow to the top layers of skin, where it serves to nourish, cleanse, and plump wrinkled skin from the inside.
To use cinnamon to treat lip lines and mouth wrinkles, mix a pinch of ground cinnamon with your natural oil of your choice. Jojoba oil, coconut oil, and vitamin E oil are all great options, given that they provide added wrinkle-fighting benefits.
Massage the mixture onto your skin and leave it on for 15 minutes. At the end of the 15 minutes, wash off the mixture with lukewarm water and pat dry with a soft towel.
In-Office Treatments
If you want heavier-hitting solutions for lip lines than beauty creams and potions, look no further than your dermatologist’s office. These in-office lip treatments often come with a high price tag, but can provide faster results than at-home solutions.
Peels, Resurfacing, And Lasers
Lip lines can be addressed with superficial procedures like chemical peels, microdermabrasion, microneedling, radiofrequency, and laser resurfacing, among others.
These in-office skin treatments are usually pretty painless, with just a little numbing cream needed to anesthetize the area. Peels and dermabrasion (which range widely in intensity) work well on fine lines because they essentially remove the skin’s outermost layer, allowing new skin cells to surface. However, they may result in a couple of days of redness.
That said, going in for regular peels and dermabrasion treatments is recommended for long-lasting results. For more deeply etched lines, laser therapy might be a better option, as it can reach the skin's deeper tissue. Although laser therapy requires a bit more downtime than peels, they don't require as many repeat treatments.
According to 2016 reports from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, the average cost of these in-office procedures ranges from $138 for microdermabrasion to $1665 for laser resurfacing—with dermabrasion and chemical peels falling in between at $1400 and $604, respectively.
PRP
This is a promising treatment that’s been getting some buzz lately. It’s an excellent solution for those who are willing to spend a little money, but not quite ready to go the filler route.
PRP, or platelet-rich plasma, is a component of our own blood that’s primarily used by the body for clotting and wound healing. It also happens to be rich in proteins that support cell growth. When injected around the lips, it stimulates healing to smooth out vertical lines on the upper and lower lip.
In the first step of PRP therapy, your provider will draw your blood and place it in a centrifuge to extract the plasma. Then, they'll inject your own plasma into your skin with tiny pricks all over the area in question.
Typically, patients need about three PRP treatments, spaced a month or two apart, for a visible improvement to the appearance of lip lines. Scientific testing has validated the benefits of PRP for rejuvenating the lip area, with research confirming thicker skin and tissue rejuvenation post-procedure. But, this treatment comes at a high price: expect to spend anywhere between $500 and $3000 per session.
Dermal Fillers
Dermal fillers are usually considered a last resort for tackling lip lines. But, know that you don’t have to go full Kylie Jenner to enjoy the smoothing effects of a few surface injections.
Fillers provide fast results for lip wrinkles. They’re generally made from hyaluronic acid (HA), which is naturally produced by our own cells. So, HA fillers are unlikely to cause an adverse reaction, and the body will absorb it over time.
Some HA fillers, like Juvederm and Restylane, are used to bulk up lip volume. Others, like Restylane and Volbella, have a thinner formula that fills our lines without increasing lip size. Dermal fillers average about $500-800 for a 1mL injection, but the cost varies depending on the type of filler and even the location of the medical practice.
Lifestyle Changes
By making a few lifestyle changes, you can minimize your chances of getting wrinkles, including bothersome lip lines. Not only will these lifestyle changes be beneficial to your skin, but also to your wellness as a whole.
Quit Smoking.
By significantly contributing to wrinkle formation, smoking tacks on years to the skin. Your skin can’t get the oxygen it needs for proper hydration when you smoke, leaving your skin susceptible to wrinkles. Smoking also exposes your body to damaging toxins.
Along with the negative health effects of smoking, the puckered shape your lips make each time you smoke increases your chances of getting lip lines.
Limit Alcohol Intake.
A lifetime of hard drinking takes a toll on your body by contributing to liver damage and accelerating the aging process. This leads to wrinkles, puffiness, dryness, red cheeks, and broken blood vessels.
You’ll need to drink more water to replenish your system and avoid dehydration while drinking alcohol. The sugar content in alcoholic beverages can also impact the health of your skin, given that sugar contributes to premature aging.
The best of us enjoy a drink every now and then, but choose your drink wisely. And, remember, always have a glass of water on hand to hydrate while you’re enjoying your favorite adult beverage.
Avoid Tanning Beds.
Sun-kissed skin may be desirable, but not at the expense of your smooth, youthful skin. Tanning beds emit UV radiation that leads to wrinkles, brown spots, and a host of other unwelcome side effects.
So, instead of heading to a tanning bed, focus on giving your skin a healthy glow, rather than a tanned exterior. Your body (including your lips) will thank you later!
Eat an Antioxidant-Rich Diet
When treating lip lines and other wrinkles, many women turn first to topical creams. A skincare routine is certainly important, but you can also boost your body's wrinkle-fighting power by improving your diet.
Eating lots of antioxidant-rich foods is a powerful way to treat existing lip lines and to prevent new lines from forming. Antioxidants neutralize free radicals absorbed from the environment, sun, and various foods to prevent skin damage.
Examples of antioxidant-rich foods include berries, broccoli, carrots, and spinach. To get the most wrinkle-fighting benefits from these antioxidant powerhouses, try including two to three servings of each in your daily diet.
Mix some berries with a cup of yogurt or whip up a berry smoothie for a delicious breakfast treat. For lunch, try combining spinach, carrot, and other salad fixings to reap the wrinkle-fighting rewards. Then, for dinner, include a side of steamed or raw broccoli with your regular fare to round out your antioxidant-packed day.
Shield Your Skin From The Sun
We all need a small amount of sunlight every day to support vitamin D production. However, in excess, sun exposure triggers free radical damage, which can lead to premature skin aging.
To protect your skin from the sun, you can cover up with a hat, a scarf, long sleeves, and long pants whenever you go outside. However, when summer rolls around, covering up from head to toe isn’t a good option. Plus, clothing isn’t going to protect the delicate lip area from the sun.
So, we recommend applying sunscreen every morning, no matter the weather. Even on cold, cloudy days, the sun’s harsh rays will reach any exposed skin. (For the best results, apply sunscreen after you’ve already hydrated and moisturized.)
Sunscreen with SPF 30 blocks 97% of the sun’s rays. While sunscreens with a higher SPF will offer slightly more protection, they mainly just cost more.
To prevent lip lines caused by sun damage, make sure to apply sunscreen above the lips. Make sure not to forget other easily forgotten areas, like the ears, eyebrows, and behind the neck, for complete sun protection. Reapply your sunscreen every two to three hours if you’re spending the day outside.
Additionally, wear lip balm with an SPF of at least 30, and reapply it throughout the day. The thin skin on your lips is particularly vulnerable to sun damage!
To Sum Up
The easiest lip line hack of all is to treat the skin around your mouth the way you treat the rest of your face (assuming that you have a solid skincare routine in place, of course). With the exception of ultra-strong retinoids, most serums and treatments can be safely applied around the lips. Replace your regular lip balm with one containing SPF, and you’re already ahead of the game. And, don’t forget to take advantage of SiO Beauty’s complete collection each night for the ultimate in wrinkle-fighting and rejuvenation!
With a lip-inclusive beauty routine and a lifestyle that supports your overall health, you’ll be working wonders towards smoothing out lip wrinkles in no time!