Home Blog

Lips with a nice healthy pink hue to them are considered healthy and attractive. But they can turn dark due to many reasons. Lips are sensory organs; they have only a thin layer that protects them and no sweat glands. These factors make them vulnerable to getting dark in color, and chapping. There are many causes for dark lips; it could be due to dehydration, an allergy or irritant, sun exposure, vitamin deficiency, smoking, intake of too much tea and coffee, or wrong lip products.

There are home remedies for dark lips that are simple and affordable, these are:

• Hydration: Drinking sufficient fluids can help to improve the color of your lips. Drinking lots of water and fresh fruit juices not only help to hydrate your body but also, vitamins from the fruits can reduce the darkness in the lips.
• Avoiding Smoking: Nicotine can stain your lips and over time, become very dark in color. Quitting smoking will not only help to reduce the darkness but also help to improve other health conditions. If stopping smoking is not an option, then use a cigarette holder when smoking.
• Reduce Intake of Coffee and Tea: Like tobacco, caffeine too stains the lips giving them a darkish hue. Reduce your intake of tea and coffee. Herbal teas are a great substitute for tea and coffee.
• Use of Lip Products: Constant use of lipstick can eventually lead to discoloring of the lips. It is alright to use them from time to time but make sure your lip products are from reliable companies. Ensure you discard them after the expiry date and avoid sleeping with lipstick on.
• Use Sunscreen: Overexposure to the sun can cause pigmentation, and your lips are no exception to it. Make sure you make it a regime to always apply sunscreen with minimum 15 SPF, when you step out during the day.
• Moisturize your Lips: Your lips can be very prone to dryness and excess dryness can lead to darkening of the lips. Apply a generous coat of Vaseline or petroleum jelly to your lips before going to bed.
• Exfoliation: Lips need to get rid of dry skin cells just like the other parts of your body. Normal face scrubs are not advised on the lips mainly because the skin on your lips is much more tender and delicate as compared to the face. Instead, you can exfoliate by using a soft toothbrush with some Vaseline on it. Or, you can also make your own homemade scrub by using a teaspoon of honey, half a teaspoon of almond oil and a teaspoon of course sugar. Mix these ingredients and gently massage the lip areas. Honey has antioxidants that will protect your lips from damage by free radicals, almond oil is a great moisturizer, and sugar gives it that gentle roughage that makes the mix a scrub.
• Lemons are a natural remedy for skin lightening. You can make a mix of lime juice, glycerin and honey, and apply it to your lips regularly. Another alternative is to make a paste of equal parts of lime juice, honey, gram flour and yoghurt. Apply this paste to the lips regularly for thirty minutes, after which wash it off.
• Fruits and Vegetables: Some fruits and vegetables have certain skin-lightening and moisturizing properties. A teaspoon of strawberry juice mixed with 2 teaspoons of petroleum jelly works well for dry lips as well to lighten them. Similarly, raspberries mashed with a spoon of honey and 2 spoons of aloe vera, when applied on the lips can help reduce lip darkening.

Consult your dermatologist if dark spots appear on lips as it could be a sign of Peutz-Jeghers syndrome.

Reference

1. http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/peutz-jeghers-syndrome