My backstory…

For years, I was insecure about my lips—especially my bottom lip.

I still remember a classmate commenting in high school, “I can tell you smoke. Your lip is turning black.” I awkwardly smiled and nodded, even though I had never smoked. I just wanted the embarrassing moment to pass.

As I got older, I searched everywhere for a solution. I spent countless hours on YouTube trying to find someone I could relate to who had experienced the same issue and found a way to fix it. I even watched numerous dermatologist channels, but I never found anyone whose condition seemed to match mine.

One of the most common recommendations I came across was applying apple cider vinegar topically. I tried it. While it wasn’t particularly painful, I’m pretty sure I irritated my lips, and despite multiple attempts, I saw no improvement.

Looking back, the best course of action probably would have been to see a dermatologist. There were several reasons why that wasn’t my first choice, which I won’t get into here. However, I want to make it clear that I am not a licensed physician. Nothing in this post should be taken as medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment recommendations. Any advice you choose to follow is at your own discretion.

With that disclaimer out of the way, if you take away only one thing from this post, let it be this:

Stop licking your lips.

Of course, this won’t apply to everyone. Later in life, I did experience some lip discoloration from smoking and repeatedly burning my lips. I addressed that issue by quitting tobacco products altogether.

However, no matter what products I applied or how diligent I thought I was being with lip care, I wasn’t seeing the results I wanted. The reality was that I had a lip-licking habit, and it was undoing all of my efforts.

Once I finally broke that habit, everything changed.

I also adopted a consistent lip care routine to help maintain my results, but the biggest factor was simply stopping the constant licking.

To this day, when I notice someone with lips that resemble how mine used to look, I often observe them licking their lips repeatedly. While this is purely my personal observation and not scientific evidence, it has made me strongly believe that chronic lip licking is a common contributor to the problem.

As for my overall lip care routine, I believe in three key principles:

Exfoliate. Moisturize. Protect.

While I’m very loyal to the products that work for me, I think the specific brand matters less than making sure you’re consistently doing those three things.

For exfoliation, I use Carmex, which contains salicylic acid and helps gently remove dead skin. For moisture, I use Burt’s Bees Ultra Conditioning Lip Balm. For protection, I use CeraVe Healing Ointment. I also recommend using a lip product with SPF whenever you’ll be spending time in the sun.

It’s now been over a year since my lips healed, and I no longer feel the need to hide them or feel self-conscious about their appearance.

I wanted to share my experience in the hope that it may help someone else who is struggling with a similar issue. If you’ve had a similar experience, I’d love to hear your story in the comments.