Dark lips part 1: figuring out the cause! Smoking, sun exposure, and inflammation caused by conditions ☝🏻can lead to excessive pigment deposition. Also keep in mind for some individuals their natural lip color can be slightly more pigmented and that’s normal! Contact dermatitis: irritation or allergies to ingredients commonly found in lip cosmetics such as fragrances, preservatives, lanolin, metal, dental hygiene products Lip-lickers dermatitis: Saliva has digestive enzymes that can irritate lip skin. The act of wetting and drying leads to further water loss, breakdown of skin barrier Angular Cheilitis: painful, cracked corners of lips due to of saliva (anatomical variation, poorly fitted dentures, etc) leads to irritation +/- yeast overgrowth Acanthosis nigricians: rarely can affect corners of mouth Melasma: “mustache sign” affects the upper cutaneous lip Stay tuned for part 2 on treatment! Comment below with questions! . . . . . #darklip #liphyperpigmentation #hyperpigmentation #derm #dermatologist #skineducation #skintips