Lipstick Lines
Lipstick lines are the lines above the top lip, that run between the lip and the nose.
They are sometimes named ‘smokers lines’, although this term is somewhat erroneous. Although smoking will make these lines worse – in the same way smoking makes all wrinkles worse – almost all women develop these lines over time anyway, regardless of whether or not they smoked. One of the biggest complaints I hear in the clinic is ‘I have lipstick lines, but never smoked’. That is because they are not caused by smoking. It is repetitive movement of the skin around the mouth that causes them. Curiously they rarely develop on men, perhaps due to the thicker skin on mens faces. Many women fixate on these lines, usually due to magnifying mirrors used for doing their eyebrows. In generally my advice is that they are only worth treating if they are visible at conversation distance to a casual observer.
