6 Home Remedies for Lightening Your Dark Lips
[M.D.S. (Ortho), Fellow ICOI]
Naturally, our lips appear in a nice shade of red color. Such pale pink-colored, soft & full-looking lips are considered healthy ones. The fact is that the appearance and color of our lips change with various factors ranging from genetics to lifestyle changes.
Whatever the underlying cause is, sun exposure, nicotine stains (due to smoking), nutritional deficiencies, medical factors, or other, discolored lips look unattractive. Right?
If you feel embarrassed due to such dark patches or lines on your lips, this post is for you. Here, our cosmetic dentists have listed some natural, healthy ways to lighten the discoloration in your lips.
Natural Remedies for Lip Pigmentation
1) Ice cube massage
Keeping yourselves hydrated is the best solution to fix various dental illnesses as well as bodily disorders. It works well for lip discoloration also.
Besides drinking plenty of water, massaging your lips with ice also helps in lightening the dark spots on lip surfaces. All you want to do is, wrap an ice cube in a clean cloth and massage your lips with it. You will witness the difference soon.
It is because the ice supports in plumping up the skin cells so that the lips get rid of discoloration to a certain extent and appear healthy.
2) Honey Scrub
This is a wonderful remedy if gum discoloration occurs due to the accumulation of dead skin cells. This approach involves exfoliating the lips to remove the dead skin cells for lightening the lip skin.
Follow the method to prepare a homemade honey scrub:
- Mix t tsp of honey and 1 tsp of sugar.
- Apply this mixture over the lips and leave it for a few minutes.
- Wash it with a cup of warm water.
It is recommended to exfoliate the lips once per week. If you do this often, it will damage the lip’s skin and cause irritations.
3) Turmeric Paste
Turmeric is abundant in antioxidant curcumin that is well-known for skin lightening properties. As it is effective to lighten melanin pigmentation, we recommend this as a remedy for lip depigmentation.
Follow the steps below:
- Take 1 or 2 teaspoons of turmeric powder in a bowel
- Add a little amount of water or milk and mix it to form a paste.
- Rub your lips with the paste and leave it for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Rinse your mouth with cold water.
4) Lemon
The citric acid in lemon helps in exfoliating the dead skin cells.
Squeeze a fresh lemon to extract its juice and rub your lips with a few drops of lemon juice before going to sleep. Once you get up in the morning, rinse it with a cup of cold water.
Alternatively, dip the lemon wedge in sugar and rub your lips gently with it for exfoliation.
5) Almond Oil Lip Massage
Almond oil is a great source of Vitamin E which is also powerful in lightening the melanin pigment. Hence dentists recommend almond oil massage to remove discoloration in lips.
If you add a few drops of lemon juice to almond oil, it enhances the depigmentation effects.
All you need to do is, add a few drops of lemon juice to a cup of almond oil and rub it over the lips. Leave it for 3 to 5 minutes.
If you do this once per day, the oil moistens the lips’ skin and boosts blood circulation. The improved blood circulation in lips makes the lips appear in a natural color.
6) Cucumber Juice
Cucumber is a good source of silica-rich compounds, which are effective for skin depigmentation.
You have to simply cut the cucumber into slices and extract their juice. Then apply the juice on your lips with wet fingers. Leave it for a few minutes and rinse your mouth.
You can do this remedy 1 or 2 times a day.
Bottom Line
Lip discoloration is a common condition and it is commonly occurred due to smoking. Meanwhile, various external factors also tend to stain your lips.
Besides the natural remedies, you have various in-office treatments such as laser therapy, light therapy, chemical peels, and others for lightening the lips’ skin.
Need to know more about in-office or natural solutions to address lip pigmentation? contact our dental doctors today.
