Salva Mubarak Senior Features Writer

Despite their occupation of prominent real estate on our faces, we rarely pay that much attention to our lips. Sure, we slap on some balm when they’re feeling dry or coat them with a generous amount of pigment if we want to look more put together, but what about proper lip care in our daily beauty routine?

One of the biggest issues this causes is the darkening of lips or lip pigmentation. While the skin of the lips is meant to be darker than the rest of your body, hyperpigmentation in this area is a common issue, especially among Indian women.

It usually presents as darkening around the margins or on the inside of the lips where they meet near the mouth.

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Everything to know about the darkening of lips or Lip Pigmentation

What Causes Lip Pigmentation?

There are many reasons why your lips might be suffering from hyperpigmentation. Some of the most common causes are:

1. Excessive exposure to the sun
2. Lack of proper hydration
3. Excessive cigarette smoking
4. Reaction to lip products or toothpaste
5. Excessive caffeine intake
6. Licking your lips to tackle dryness

Is Lip Pigmentation a Serious Problem?

On the list of skincare and beauty problems that deserve your attention, lip pigmentation doesn’t occupy a very high spot. However, if the cause of darkening is because of a reaction to a product, then it’s best to seek a dermatologist’s help before it gets worse. Dark or discoloured lips also prevent the proper colours of lipsticks or glosses to come through and if you’re someone who is particular about that, then you can either use a concealer to even out the tone of your lips or treat the hyperpigmentation of the area.

Can Lip Pigmentation be Prevented?

Yes, it’s possible to maintain even-toned lips without much effort, once you get into a habit of treating your lips to the same amount of care as the rest of your face. Make sure to avoid using products with artificial fragrances on your lips and use lip balms with sun protection to avoid pigmentation.

DIY Beauty Remedies to Treat Lip Pigmentation

While you can go for scrubs and treatments available in the market to treat lip pigmentation, there are many natural and easy DIY treatments that you can drum up from your kitchen to get soft and even-toned lips. Here are five of our favourites…

DISCLAIMER: Consult your dermatologist before trying out any product, natural or chemical, on your skin. Also, remember that natural remedies only work if used consistently and results might take time to show up.