What can cause hyperpigmentation of the lips?

You must have often heard people say that those who smoke, their lips eventually turn black. But, what about people who do not smoke and who still have dark lips? What can be the cause? Let us have a look at what our expert has to say on this.

As people are becoming more and more conscious about their hair and skin, one thing that they often ignore to take care of is their lips. Soft, supple and pink lips is what everyone desires, but at times, some common mistakes can leave the lips chapped and dark. When lips turn darker, the condition is known as Lip Hyperpigmentation. An Indore-based beauty expert, Alka Kapoor mentions some of the common causes of lip hyperpigmentation, which are:

• Many women love to wear lipsticks, tints and scented lip balms on daily basis, but at the end of the day, they are too lazy to remove them. Therefore, when these products stay in contact with the lips for long, they begin to affect the delicate skin and gradually, a change in the natural colour of the lips begin to appear.
• Some women are allergic to lipsticks and other lip products. These products contain several chemicals and our skin may not be necessarily tolerant to all of these chemicals. Hence, this along with allergic reactions can cause hyperpigmentation.
• Many times, due to lack of lip care, dead skin begins to form. The lips become dry and chapped and further turn darker.
• When people have dry and chapped lips, they sometimes become habitual of chewing our biting them and this can ruin the skin of the lips.
• At the same time, lack of water in the body or dehydration can also be a reason for changing colour of the lips. Undoubtedly, this problem is more common in winters.
• Certain diseases and skin-related problems can also cause lip hyperpigmentation. It can also be a result of the side effect of a medicine.
• Smoking, of course, not just causes lip hyperpigmentation, but many other health and skin issues. Regular smokers are likely to face darkening of lips.

How to avoid lip hyperpigmentation?

Beauty expert Alka says that to keep the lips soft, pink and supple, it is very important to exfoliate them regularly. Along with this, here are a few more tips to avoid hyperpigmentation of the lips:

• Drink a lot of water throughout the day and keep your body hydrated.
• Keep your lips moisturised.
• Avoid smoking.
• Use lipsticks and other lip products of good quality only.
• Avoid using scented lip balms.
• Avoid biting or licking your lips.
• Massage ghee or almond oil on the lips to improve the colour of the lips.
• Eat a diet rich in vitamin C and B-12 as it is known to lighten the skin tone.