Another Reason To Ban Straws: The Dreaded Lip Lines

Where did these come from? I swear they weren't there yesterday. I'm not a smoker, so why am I getting "smoker's lines?" It turns out there are a startling number of innocuous activities that can lead to these little suckers...one of which is using a straw! You heard me. Every time you pucker your lips to pull a swig of water or soda out of that straw, you are pursing your lips in a repetitive fashion. That movement alone over time causes those little lines to form. We know that raising our eyebrows causes little lines on our forehead. Smiling and laughing causes the little lines around our eyes. But we never (or I'll say I never) looked at the straw as an evil aging-inducing instrument.I specifically bought one of those Starbucks cups with the straw so that I would drink more water. I made myself fill it every day and drink from it all day! The Shoe Hive to the rescue...S'well Bottle needed, stat!In addition to straws, what else are we doing? We are getting chapped lips. It seems that all those dry, chapped lips are also to blame. Sun exposure, as well. I know, I love the sun, too. If it weren't bad for me, I would be out in the sun from morning until night. I love the way the sun feels on my skin, but I don't love the way it ages me.So what can we do? We can make sure to keep our lips moist, we can use a retinol to induce skin cell turnover, we can use a nightly lip treatment around our lips, and we can stop using straws!