Just like your skin, lips can also suffer from pigmentation. Pigmentation of lips can lead to the dark color of lips or discoloration.
Causes :
1. Sun exposure
2. Smoking and chewing tobacco ( as it contains nicotine )
3. Drinking excessive coffee ( as it contains caffeine )
4. Excessive dryness of lips
5. Smoking
6. Repetitive licking of lips
7. Cosmetic products: use of expired products on lips, using matt lipsticks or repetitive application of dark colored lip shades in a day ( as they contain lead which leads to darkening )
8. Genetic
9. Allergy to toothpaste or lip cosmetics
Tips to prevent dark lips :
1. Keep your lips hydrated and moisturize it daily as dry, damaged lips can have a dark appearance.
2. Use sunblock daily. Protect your lips from the sun as you protect the rest of your skin and therefore use a lip balm containing SPF.
3 Lifestyle modification is necessary. Quit smoking and chewing tobacco, decrease caffeine intake, avoid licking of lips, don’t use expired cosmetics on lips.
4 If you use lipstick on a regular basis, then use lipsticks containing Vitamin E to keep lips soft.
5 Never sleep with your lipstick on. Take some olive oil or almond oil on a cotton ball and take off your lipstick.
6 Exfoliate your lips regularly to remove dry skin and make your lips healthy and soft.
7 Always carry lip balm or lip gloss and use as and when needed to prevent dryness of lips.
Treatments :
1. Topical creams: Topical medication for lip pigmentation is a viable option. Always use topical creams prescribed by a dermatologist.
2. Chemical Peels: Various chemical peels can be applied on lips for lip pigmentation. Chemical peels are perfect to help stimulate collagen deep within the skin. A chemical peel will help to erase lines on the upper and lower lip. Combination of peels can be used depending on the skin condition which helps in maintaining skin pH and also useful in adjusting the pH of formulations. It aids in the removal of dead cells, causes cell renewal, stimulates collagen synthesis & increases natural moisturizing factors of the skin. Successive subsequent sessions are required at an interval of 2 weeks to achieve long lasting and effective results.
3. Laser Treatment: Laser treatment is an advanced option for lip lightening. Now with ablative laser technology, it is possible to get soft, pink lips with ease. This method uses light to deeply penetrate into the skin and stimulate new cells at the same time to get rid of damaged older skin cells. It exfoliates the skin deeply and removes pigment through fractional technology. It is a noninvasive, safe and painless procedure. Successive sessions are recommended at an interval of 3-4 weeks.
4. MARTINI: This is a new tailor-made treatment option at Dr. Nivedita dadu’s Dermatology Clinic. It helps in hydration, rejuvenation, and lightening of lips through micro-channeling technology. Very fine needles create micro-channels for the infusion of serum cocktails. This means that there is optimal absorption of the serum, as well as it leads to stimulation of the skin’s healing response, which may improve collagen production and fibroblast activity to renew the skin cells. This advanced technology customizes & combines microdermabrasion, micro-channeling with simultaneous infusion of customized high-grade serums and LED therapy for optimum results in just one single session. Successive sessions are recommended to achieve optimum results at the interval of 2-3 weeks.
5. Permanent Makeup: Lip tattooing is the latest quick solution to the dark lips problem. Permanent makeup is regarded as micro pigmentation, similar to tattoos. The procedure involves using a needle to inject pigmented granules beneath the upper layers of the skin. Tattooing corrects the pigmentation problems on the lips. Treatment is done after the application of an anesthetic. Although the pigment molecules stay in the skin indefinitely, the color remains visible for one to two years and touch up sessions may be required.
We all love pink and beautiful lips. Pink lips enhance the beauty of our face and make our smile even more attractive. So, get rid of those dark lips and say hello to the soft and naturally rosy lips.
Keep glowing! Keep Healthy!