Lips
Lips The vermilion border: What''''s that? A border of roses around a grand British estate? Or perhaps the border of the Red Sea?
Well, hats off to good guesses, but here''''s a hint: Everyone has her own vermilion border. It''''s what doctors call the line where your skin meets your lips. Inside that red border are the lips that keep food from falling out and help form the words you live by. Of course, lips also have expression beyond words--with romantic, respectful or maternal kisses.
"The lips aren''''t really skin," says Diana Bihova, M.D., clinical assistant professor of dermatology at New York University Medical Center in New York City. Instead, they''''re more like the mucous membranes inside the mouth.
"The skin of the lips has fewer layers than the skin on the rest of the body," says Ella Toombs, M.D., a dermatologic surgeon in private practice in Washington, D.C. The thinness of the skin of the lips allows the blood vessels to be more visible, and therefore makes the lips look red.
Unlike the rest of our skin, the lips aren''''t protected by a densely packed layer of tissues. Because they lack this protective layer--called cornified tissue--the lips are more vulnerable to problems, notes Dr. Bihova. "They''''re also more prone to drying, because they have no oil glands, and they have less pigment than the skin to protect them from the sun."
Tips for Lush Lips
You probably spend a lot more time contemplating and caring for the vast canvas of skin on your face than for your lips. Even if they aren''''t as tough as they look, lips are easy to maintain or restore to moist, rosy health. Here''''s how to keep your kisser in peak condition.
Soften and screen. Arm yourself with a lip balm that contains sunscreen as well as moisturizer. The lip balm component moisturizes your lips, and the sunscreen protects them from sun damage.
| Holding the Line on Young Lips It''''s spelled rhagades, but pronounced "raggedies." And that about describes them. Rhagades are the first lines that develop around the mouth as we get older. Where there used to be a nice, distinct vermilion border between the lips and skin, Mother Time begins to take her toll. Hairlike creases form--at first almost unnoticeable, but gradually mussing up the clean line of our kissers. Rhagades arrive even sooner--and show up more--if you purse your lips a lot when you frown, giggle, smoke or chew gum. Here, too, getting too much sun will cost you plenty. "Exposure to sunlight blunts the junction between the vermilion border and the skin," says Caroline Koblenzer, M.D., clinical professor of dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Once you start getting these lines, it''''s easy for lipstick to bleed into the rhagades. So what can you do? Moisten the dry mouth zone. When you rub in face cream, you probably avoid the area right around the vermilion border because you don''''t want to get cream in your mouth. Makes sense--but you really should moisten that area, according to Dr. Koblenzer. You''''ll help prevent or postpone the emergence of rhagades--spelling more years of smooth-looking lipstick for you. Use a finer liner. Lip liner can help restore definition to the vermilion border and prevent lip color from "feathering" into your skin. Apply lip liner around the edges of your lips. Then apply lipstick, blot it and apply another layer if you need to. |
"Get in the habit of wearing lip balm with sunscreen during the sunny months--from May to September--if you live in a temperate zone. During the cold months--from mid-November to mid-March," says John Romano, M.D., clinical assistant professor of dermatology at New York HospitalCornell University Medical Center in New York City. In winter, cold, dry air can parch your lips, and sunlight reflected off snow can burn them.
It''''s a good idea to apply the balm before you go outside and also to wear it overnight, Dr. Romano advises.
Don''''t lick. Winter is a bear on naked lips. "But most people get chapped lips mainly because they lick them. It''''s an unconscious habit. Every time you lick, that moisture will evaporate--and take with it some of the natural moisture in your lips. So your lips get more and more dry," says Caroline Koblenzer, M.D., clinical professor of dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
No nibbles! If licking is a hard habit to break, so is biting your lips. That''''s another habit that chaps them, says Dr. Bihova.
"Even if you don''''t do much more than just become aware of the habit, you can apply lip balm more frequently. Then it won''''t be so destructive," says Dr. Koblenzer.
Grease up at bedtime. One effective way to outwit chapped lips is with a nighttime coat of full-strength petroleum jelly. Petrolatum (petroleum jelly) is the main ingredient in most lip balms. It''''s too goopy to wear during the day. At night, though, appearance doesn''''t matter--and a shellac of petroleum jelly can salve rough spots. "The petroleum jelly interferes with water loss and seals in moisture," says Dr. Bihova.
High-IQ Lipsticks
Lipstick not only looks smart, it acts smart these days. Even when shades bear names like Plum Puff or Pink Fluff, many contain ingredients that make lips healthy as well as pretty. Here''''s what to look for.
Go for the AHAs. Alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) are acids made from fruit, cane sugar or milk. These acids loosen the surface layer of dry, dead skin, which then sloughs off, uncovering the soft, moist layer of skin underneath. A popular ingredient in skin creams, AHAs work on the lips as well, researchers have discovered. Look for this ingredient in lipsticks and lip balms.
"They''''re worth getting because they help the lips retain moisture and keep them from drying out," says Dr. Bihova.
Paint on some shine. If you like the glossy wet-lip look, you''''re in luck. Petrolatum is the ingredient that gives lipstick an extra-shiny finish, so you''''re moisturizing as well as flattering your lips with a sexy look. If you''''ve been using a matte-coat lipstick, at least audition a shiny lipstick and see how you like it.
One caveat: Shiny lipsticks tend to bleed upwards. If that''''s a problem, outline your lips first with an antifeathering lip liner.
Look for long-lasting. When you read the label on a "long-lasting" lipstick, look for the most common ingredient used to make lipstick last longer: acideosine, a natural orange salt that changes to red on contact with your lips.
Even if your favorite lipstick is not long-lasting, you can still lengthen its lip life, says Dr. Bihova. Apply the first layer of lipstick, powder it lightly with your face powder, then apply a second layer. If you want to finish with a sexy touch, blot it slightly and apply a shiny wet-look lipstick to the center of your lips.
Another Sore Point
Call them cold sores, fever blisters or outbreaks of the herpes simplex Type I virus. Same thing, same story: a tingling somewhere on your lip, then a group of tiny blisters in an inflamed blotch of red. After a few days the blisters burst; then they dry out, crust over, heal and disappear in a week to ten days.
The virus that does all this damage is normally inactive--hanging around our nerve endings until we get run-down or stressed out. When our guard is down, the dormant virus strikes.
About one-third of all Americans get cold sores from time to time. They are the most common problem that the lips have.
Here are a few things that you can do to settle the score with cold sores.
Block that ray. Sunlight is the most preventable of the triggers that can set off a cold sore. To disarm the light, just use a sunblock, suggest Dr. Bihova. "But make sure that it''''s a sunblock and not just a sunscreen. Sometimes companies use the words interchangeably. Look for zinc oxide or titanium dioxide in the ingredients."
Don''''t touch. Cold sores are infectious when they blister, and you can infect both others and yourself. Be especially careful not to touch a blister and then touch your eyes, since that could infect your eyes with herpes, which sometimes leads to an open sore on the cornea. As a policy, avoid touching a cold sore with your fingers. If you do touch it for some reason, says Dr. Bihova, you should wash your hands immediately afterward.
Stay with your stick. Because the herpes virus is so easily transferred, be sure that you never borrow someone else''''s lipstick, says Dr. Bihova. For the same reason, you should never lend your lipstick to anyone else.
Don''''t pooh-pooh a white patch. Cold sores look ugly, but they soon go away. If you do happen to notice a dry, white patch that never becomes a wet, white blister, though--and if it doesn''''t go away after two weeks--see your doctor immediately. There''''s a chance that this could be a sign of lip cancer.
"Lip cancer usually begins as a scaling patch anywhere on the lower lip," says Dr. Koblenzer. "In the early stages it''''s just slightly whiter. So if you do see some white amongst the nice rosy red of your lips, you should call your physician."
See also Mouth
