Aging of the Human Lip: Current Knowledge and Clinical Implications

Comprehensive exploration of lip aging remains limited due to anatomical complexity of the structure, with current investigations predominantly focusing on aspects such as dryness management, cheilitis prevention and treatment, and surgical lifts.

This article aims to review multiple aspects of lip aging and to explore anti-aging approaches for the lips, thereby providing actionable insights for the development of cosmetic lip care products.

We conducted a literature search in the PubMed database using keywords related to lip aging, and selected the most relevant articles for in-depth reading, summarization, and integration to form the content of this review.

Due to the significant differences between lip and facial skin in terms of barrier function, melanin content, transepidermal absorption capacity, physiological activity frequency, and fat distribution, the aging characteristics of lips also exhibit uniqueness. At the same time, there are gender differences in lip aging manifestations, with women typically showing more noticeable perioral wrinkles compared to men.

The clinical manifestations and pathogenic mechanisms of lip aging differ significantly from those of facial aging, requiring distinct priorities in anti-aging product development. For the vermilion, the focus should be on barrier restoration, mild anti-aging approaches, and photoaging prevention. In contrast, perioral anti-aging may be addressed by inhibiting ECM degradation and enhancing tissue volume. Addressing gender differences can guide the development of anti-aging lip products tailored to women, while managing associated pigmentary changes offers a unique avenue for this purpose.