Brushing your lips with toothpaste may be gentler than using other exfoliants. However, it's a good idea to rinse the toothpaste off after brushing your lips to avoid irritation and dryness. Toothpaste additives and flavors may cause allergic reactions in some people.
The benefits
It is largely believed that using toothpaste instead of other exfoliants may benefit your lips, since it is gentler. Brushing your lips increases the blood flow and removes the flakiness, making the skin appear smoother and healthier.
Half a spoon of Colgate toothpaste (and I'm pretty sure it has to be Colgate in particular because every tutorial I've seen on this involved Colgate + I can confirm that using Colgate gives that cute pink result). A teaspoon of white sugar.
Brushing lips with toothpaste
Brushing your lips with toothpaste may be gentler than using other exfoliants. However, it's a good idea to rinse the toothpaste off after brushing your lips to avoid irritation and dryness. Toothpaste additives and flavors may cause allergic reactions in some people.
Being in the sun for too long or an allergy to chemicals present in lipsticks or toothpaste (fluoride) can also cause dark lips.
Applying toothpaste on your lips can make your lips swell, but just for a few hours. So if you are looking for a quick hack to plump your lips for a couple of hours, go ahead and get some toothpaste. Use a brush to scrub your lips with the toothpaste and rinse with water. Top it up with lip balms.
The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) recommends using white petroleum jelly throughout the day and before bed to moisturize and sooth dry, cracked lips. Petroleum jelly seals in water longer than oils and waxes. It's also inexpensive and easy to find online and in drugstores.
Cold, wind, and lousy winter weather are all contributing factors. And during the summer months, frequent sun exposure is often to blame. This time of year, dry winter weather can damage sensitive, exposed mucous membranes. Cold air and little humidity can cause your lips to crack and peel.
Causes of dark lips
excessive exposure to the sun. lack of hydration. cigarette smoking. allergic reactions to toothpaste, lipstick, etc.
Apply a layer of petroleum Jelly to your lips before going to sleep every day. The jelly will dissolve any un-welcome pigmentation and over a few weeks' time you will notice soft, smooth and naturally pink lips. Wipe off jelly in the morning and go about your day.
No. They may get smaller with age, but not grow. As an adolescent reaches puberty, their lips may widen to match the growth of their jawbone, but the tissue will often soften and recede with age. Which is why rejuvenation of the lips is so popular with those in their middle ages.
"People do occasionally develop hypersensitivity to toothpaste that can lead to a chapped appearance," Dr. Sadick explained to Seventeen. "Sometimes there's an allergy to sodium laureate sulfate" — a foaming agent — "or to a component called cinnamaldehyde." A toothpaste's base formula also can worsen dryness.
Stop licking your lips: Many people suffer from a repetitive habit of licking their lips. This repetitive friction and irritation causes a darkening of the lips and even the surrounding skin.
Ice can soothe and soften your skin, and it has the same effect on chapped lips. It can control the inflammation and pain associated with chapped lips. Icing your lip, along with consuming adequate water, keeps your skin moisturized and soft.
Remember, though, that your lips don't tan. So if you're asking about the actual lips themselves, this won't work. But, if you're asking about the skin of your upper lip, yes, it is very possible that putting Vaseline petroleum jelly on it will make it get darker (after exposure to sun.)
Normal, healthy lip color varies, depending on skin color and other factors, but should fall in the reddish-pink-to-brown range.
Low oxygen content in the blood or poor circulation can cause blueish discoloration in the skin and lips. This is known as cyanosis. Cyanosis occurs when the oxygen saturation levels in a person's blood fall below 85% . A person may also develop cyanosis if they have abnormal hemoglobin.
White lips
This is usually caused by anemia, which is a low red blood cell count. Anemia that causes pale or white lips is severe and requires immediate medical attention.
Apply a non-irritating lip balm (or lip moisturizer) several times a day and before bed. If your lips are very dry and cracked, try a thick ointment, such as white petroleum jelly. Ointment seals in water longer than waxes or oils. Slather on a non-irritating lip balm with SPF 30 or higher before going outdoors.