Beauty And The Blog

So you have been smart and either never smoked, or quit a long time ago. Yet, you still have developed or are starting to see little vertical  lines along your upper lip line. It’s frustrating, I know.

Guess what. It’s another one of those being female things. Yup, another little gender slap. They just keep coming, don’t they? Ah, life’s little challenges, right? Well, at least these particular challenges, the skin care and anti-aging ones, I can handle.

So, you want to know why those annoying little lip lines are there? The actual biological reason? I’ll tell. After that I’ll tell you what you need to look for in a treatment.

Research done at the University Medical Center in Utrecht, Netherlands has suggested that the skin tissues, the natural plumpness (is that a word?) of the upper lip on a female has fewer sweat and sebaceous (oil) glands than a male. So the skin can be drier there. Oh.Yay.

The circulation of oxygen and blood around the female mouth is less than a male because we have fewer blood vessels in the area. The more vessels, the more blood and oxygen which equals more natural nutrients in the area. And that means wrinkles are slower to appear, for males. How very nice for them. I have to say that I personally find that irritating….

And.. as if that weren’t enough, the closer attachment of muscle fibers of the mouth and lips to the middle layer of the skin appear to cause an inward pulling of tissue, causing deeper wrinkles for us women. Lovely. *Heavy sigh*

And of course there is that everyday movement of the lips, pursing, puckering, smiling and frowning. It all has an impact. Make you want to zip those lips and never move them again? No? Me either. Hell, no. I like to talk, smile and eat. And kiss, too.

So, how can we treat the upper lip area? I’ve said it before and I will say it again. Peptides. Pro collagen peptides. Cell communicating ingredients that help your skin to produce natural collagen of it’s own in spite of the ongoing process of aging. More collagen, more fullness (plumpness..).

There are many products (moisturizers, serums) available that contain these peptides and if used daily along with a good anti-aging skin care routine you should be able to slow down and reduce the appearance of those pesky little guys. Galvanic Facials are also incredibly useful in this area. Definitely helped me and a few of my friends waging battle on lip lines!

The other thing you can do is check out your options for injectable fillers. Such as Juvederm and Restylane, to name a couple. However, keep in mind that this is a very expensive option (and painful, especially on the upper lip!). And please, make sure you see a Cosmetic Dermatologist or Plastic Surgeon for that. See this for info on that!