Lip lines
- Skinfinity+
- Jun 18
- 7 min read
‘Barcode’ lines often known as 'lipstick lines' are the little vertical lines above the upper lip that run vertically downward into the lip. These lip lines are also called ‘smoker’s lines’ or medically ‘perioral’ lip lines, where ‘peri’ means ‘around’ and ‘oral’ means ‘relating to the mouth’.
Treatments
LED Light Therapy - Infrared
Radiofrequency
FAQ - LIP LINES
What causes lip lines?
You may start to notice lip lines as the skin ages, the collagen degrades and levels of elastin in the skin drop, so that the patch of skin above the upper lip (which is always being stretched when we open our mouths or smile) becomes less able to spring back into shape and starts to collapse into tiny wrinkles.
These lines tend to be much more obvious in smokers because smoking is extremely bad for directly ageing the skin. Smoking will affect the skin all over your body, but these lines are some of the first to show up on the face, which is why they’re often thought of as smoker’s lines. Another reason that these lines are more visible in smokers is that pursing the lips around a cigarette puts extra stress on the skin of the lips. So do other pursed-lip activities, such as drinking through a straw, whistling or taking duck-face selfies!
Lip lines also show up more as lip volume decreases, because the body of the lip is no longer holding the skin taut, so it sags a little. For that reason, lip enhancement of any sort in the upper lip usually softens the look of these tiny vertical lines.
What does it mean to have lines on my lips?
Lines on your lips indicate that time is catching up with your skin. As your body’s collagen production declines with age (particularly after 30) by the time you reach 40 your skin is getting much less collagen to keep it firm, smooth and elastic. The elasticity aspect matters because your lips are so often in motion - talking, eating, stretching and contracting all the time. Your skin also produces less oil as it ages, so it gets drier. The effects of less collagen and less oil are compounded by ‘photoageing’ caused by sun exposure if you don’t protect your lips with SPF all the time. So, sooner or later lines are likely to appear on your lips.
What ways can you treat lip lines?
This entirely depends on how bad the lip lines are and how you want your lips and face to look.
Usually, the best place to start is with a good skincare routine and see how much difference it makes for you. Skincare is especially important if your upper lip lines haven’t yet appeared and your goal is to delay their appearance as much as possible. Keep your skin hydrated - This will help to minimise upper lip lines once they’ve appeared and to keep them at bay if they haven’t yet appeared. Apply a moisturiser once or twice every day. If you decide to apply moisturiser only once per day, apply it in the morning so that it can give your skin the most protection against the rigours of the day. Protect your skin, including your lips, with high-factor SPF.
If skincare gets you the results you need with your lip lines – great and keep up the good work! If not, you can escalate results with a wide variety of treatments, including the following:
LED Light Therapy - Infrared
Radiofrequency
What is the best treatment for upper lip lines?
There is a variety of ways to treat the upper lip lines.
Anti-Wrinkle Injections commonly referred to as 'Botox' can help to reduce lip lines by temporarily weakening and relaxing the muscles responsible for forming the lines in the first place. This can also help prevent the lip lines from becoming deeper by restricting the movement causing them. Your practitioner will use only a minimal dose to relax the muscles that produce the lip lines. Too much Botox will result in restricted movement in the perioral area, leaving you unable to purse your lips. Depending on placement, this treatment can also create a ‘lip flip’ effect. By weakening the orbicularis oris (the muscle around the mouth), it encourages the border of the top lip to roll upwards a little, which makes it look larger without the need for dermal filler and help to disguise the barcode lip lines.
Chemical Skin Peels will help to refresh the skin on your whole face and neck by removing the outermost layer of skin with gentle acids and encouraging fresh skin to grow in its place. A superficial peel can help to address wrinkles and fine lines on the surface of your skin, while a deeper peel can help to firm the skin up as well by stimulating collagen production.
There are two main ways of treating lip lines with filler. The first way is to inject small amounts of a low viscosity filler very precisely in the lines and along the lip border, but not plump up the lips themselves. A lightweight dermal filler needs to be used so that it doesn’t make the area look lumpy but unfortunately this means the results won’t last as long as higher density fillers. The second way is to enhance the lips with dermal filler, which stretches the skin and reduces the lip lines. This approach uses more filler than injecting just the lines and the lip border so will last longer. Combining both approaches can be beneficial.
LED Light Therapy - Infrared
LED light will soften the appearance of all wrinkles, including lip lines, if you use it regularly enough. LED claims a substantial reduction in wrinkle depth if used regularly over the course of four weeks.
Microneedling is another treatment which inspires the skin to produce more collagen, thus strengthening it and making it firmer and less wrinkled. By creating thousands of tiny controlled wounds in the skin with very short and sterile needles. This induces a wound-healing response, flooding the skin with growth factors and new collagen, and the skin ends up stronger and tighter.
Radiofrequency
Skin tightening treatments, such as rf have a direct effect on the skin. The heat generated in the skin by these treatments makes the collagen contract — so you get a small shrink-wrapping effect — then, over time, the treated area produces more of its own collagen, which will strengthen the skin and makes those annoying barcode lip lines less apparent.
Profhilo and other injectable moisturer treatments, can hydrate the skin from within. They also encourage the skin to regenerate from within and produce more of its own collagen (which gives it firmness) and elastin (which gives it springiness) and even tighten the skin a little, all of is great news for reducing the appearance of lip lines.
What can I do at home to reduce or remove upper lip lines?
Ensure you are practising good skincare by washing, exfoliating, hydrating, moisturising and don't forget your sunscreen! Retinol can help to treat upper lip lines by stimulating cell renewal and collagen production.
You could also try some home devices to reduce your upper lip lines. These improve the circulation in the area and used with a hydrating serum, can soften the appearance of lip lines, though only temporarily. Use of a home-use LED light mask will soften the appearance of all wrinkles, including lip lines, if you use it regularly enough. LED claims a substantial reduction in wrinkle depth if used regularly over the course of four weeks.
Also consider about what you're putting in your body as diet has a direct impact on your skins health. Increase your intake of water and antioxidants. Eat plenty of vegetables and fruits, including as full a rainbow of colours as possible. These help your skin to work and repair itself to its best ability.
What is the best lipstick for lip lines?
One of the problems with having vertical lip lines is that your lipstick will look messy if it spreads into them. Try using a clear lip liner to draw a line around the outside edge of your lips. This won’t show under makeup, but will act as a barrier to keep the lipstick on the lips and prevent it creeping upwards into the lip lines.
Liquid lipstick is usually better at staying in place than regular, stick-type lipstick. Experiment with different types of liquid lipstick to find one that works for you and doesn’t melt or bleed. Make sure you give your lipstick time to dry fully. That means not eating or drinking anything for ten minutes after applying the lipstick!
Can I use Botox to treat lip lines?
Anti-Wrinkle Injections commonly referred to as 'Botox' can help to reduce lip lines by temporarily weakening and relaxing the muscles responsible for forming the lines in the first place. This can also help prevent the lip lines from becoming deeper by restricting the movement causing them.
Your practitioner will use only a minimal dose to relax the muscles that produce the lip lines. Too much Botox will result in restricted movement in the perioral area, leaving you unable to purse your lips.
Depending on placement, this treatment can also create a ‘lip flip’ effect. By weakening the orbicularis oris (the muscle around the mouth), it encourages the border of the top lip to roll upwards a little, which makes it look larger without the need for dermal filler and help to disguise the barcode lip lines.
Can I use Dermal Filler to treat lip lines?
There are two main ways of treating lip lines with filler. The first way is to inject small amounts of a low viscosity filler very precisely in the lines and along the lip border, but not plump up the lips themselves. A lightweight dermal filler needs to be used so that it doesn’t make the area look lumpy but unfortunately this means the results won’t last as long as higher density fillers.
The second way is to enhance the lips with dermal filler, which stretches the skin and reduces the lip lines. This approach uses more filler than injecting just the lines and the lip border so will last longer. Combining both approaches can be beneficial.
Does laser work with upper lip lines?
Yes, laser resurfacing can help reduce upper lip lines and wrinkles around the mouth. Fractional lasering fires the laser beam through a grid to create micro-channels of skin damage, which stimulate the growth of new skin.
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