Our lips have a lot of work to do. Talking, eating, laughing, smiling, kissing, showing how we feel… they’re rarely still for long.
But how much do you actually know about them?
From the reason your lips have their distinctive colour to what happens to them as you get older, here are 11 fascinating lip facts you may not know.
1. Your lips are unique
Look closely at your lips and you’ll see a pattern of grooves and wrinkles across their surface. These patterns, known as lip prints, vary from person to person and have even been studied as a potential method of forensic identification.
So, while you probably spend far more time thinking about your fingerprints, your lips have their own distinctive pattern too.
2. Your lips are incredibly sensitive
Your lips contain a rich supply of sensory nerves, which makes them particularly sensitive to touch, temperature and pressure.
This sensitivity has an important role in everyday activities such as eating and drinking. It’s also one of the reasons babies explore so many new objects with their mouths.
And, of course, it contributes to the sensations we experience when we kiss.
3. The surface of your lips is different from the rest of your skin
The coloured part of your lips, known as the vermilion, has a much thinner outer layer than typical skin elsewhere on the body.
It is also less heavily keratinised, which helps make the underlying blood vessels more visible. This contributes to the pink, red or reddish-brown appearance of the lips, depending on your natural skin tone and pigmentation.
It’s one of the features that makes the structure and appearance of our lips so distinctive.
4. Your lips don’t have their own sweat or oil glands
Unlike most of your skin, the vermilion of your lips doesn’t contain sweat glands or sebaceous glands, which produce the natural oils that help to protect the skin.
This helps explain why lips can become dry and chapped relatively easily, particularly in cold, windy or dry conditions.
Using a moisturising lip balm can help to protect them, while a lip product with SPF provides additional protection when they’re exposed to the sun.
5. Our lips tend to lose volume and definition as we get older
Just like the rest of our face, our lips change as we age.
Changes in collagen and elastin, along with changes to the tissues around the mouth, can gradually affect the volume, shape and definition of the lips. Fine lines may also become more noticeable around the mouth.
The changes are different for everyone. Some people retain naturally fuller lips as they get older, while others notice that their lips gradually look thinner or less defined.
If these changes bother you, carefully placed hyaluronic acid lip fillers can be used to restore some lost volume or definition while respecting your natural lip shape.
6. The outline of your lips is called the vermilion border
The line where the coloured part of your lips meets the surrounding skin is known as the vermilion border.
A number of things can affect how defined this border appears, including your natural anatomy and the changes that take place in the lips and surrounding skin as you age.
If you look at your upper lip, you might notice that the border also creates another well-known feature…
7. Your Cupid’s bow takes its name from mythology
The two curves at the centre of your upper lip form what’s known as your Cupid’s bow.
The name comes from its resemblance to the distinctive double-curved bow traditionally carried by Cupid, the Roman god associated with love, desire and attraction.
Cupid’s bows come in all sorts of shapes. Some are sharply defined, some are softly curved and some are naturally quite subtle. They’re simply one of the many features that make our lips individual.
8. Your lips depend on a complex arrangement of muscles
Pucker up for a kiss or whistle your favourite tune and you’re making use of the orbicularis oris, a complex arrangement of muscle fibres surrounding the mouth.
It was once described as a simple sphincter muscle, but we now know its anatomy is more complicated than that. It works alongside other facial muscles to help us move and shape our lips for speaking, eating and facial expression.
Even something as apparently simple as pursing your lips involves some impressive coordination.
9. Kissing engages several of your senses at once
A kiss might seem simple, but there’s quite a lot going on.
Your brain is receiving information from touch, taste, smell and temperature, while the sensitivity and movement of your lips contribute to the experience.
Researchers have proposed various theories about why romantic kissing is so widespread, including its possible roles in bonding and assessing potential partners. Human kissing behaviour is complex, however, and there isn’t a single proven evolutionary explanation for why we do it.
10. Your lips can say a lot without making a sound
You don’t need to speak for your mouth to communicate.
Our lips and the muscles surrounding them contribute to a huge range of facial expressions. A smile, a pursed mouth or a trembling lower lip can help communicate happiness, amusement, disapproval, uncertainty, sadness and many other emotions.
The way our faces move and express emotion is also highly individual. It’s part of what makes a face recognisably ours.
11. Your lips need sun protection too
It’s easy to remember sunscreen for your face and forget about your lips.
But your lips are exposed to ultraviolet radiation too, and their delicate surface means it’s sensible to include them when you’re thinking about sun protection.
A lip balm or other lip product with an appropriate SPF can make this easy, particularly when you’re spending significant time outside. Remember to reapply it regularly, just as you would other sun protection.
How do you feel about your lips?
Our lips are surprisingly complex, and no two pairs look quite the same. Their shape, proportions and definition are all part of what makes your face individual.
They also change naturally over time.
If you’ve noticed that your lips have lost some of the volume or definition they once had, or there’s something about their proportions you’d like to change, you can find out more about lip fillers at Medikaur.
Our approach isn’t about giving everyone the same lips. We’ll talk to you about what you’d like to change and whether subtle treatment could help you achieve a result that still feels like you.
