Best Way to Prevent Smoker’s Lines Without Smoking

Despite the name, “smoker’s lines” — the vertical lines above the upper lip — aren’t exclusive to smokers. Dermatologists sometimes call them “lipstick lines” or perioral rhytids, and they show up in plenty of people who’ve never smoked, because the cause isn’t nicotine, it’s the repeated pursing motion. Smoking happens to be a common source of that motion, but so is sipping through a straw, drinking from a narrow water bottle, whistling, or playing certain wind instruments.

Three things drive these lines: repetitive muscle contraction (the pursing itself), sun exposure (which breaks down collagen faster in that already-thin skin), and age-related collagen loss (which is why the lines get more visible over time even if your habits haven’t changed).

That means prevention works on the same three fronts:

Reduce the pursing. If you don’t smoke but drink from straws or bottles daily, that’s likely your main repetitive input. Resting your upper lip against a wider surface instead of clamping tightly is the lowest-effort fix, and a silicone straw topper (like WRINX) is a simple way to widen that contact point without changing your habits.

Protect from sun. Daily SPF on the lips and surrounding skin — most people apply sunscreen everywhere except this area.

Support collagen. Topical retinoids (in a lip-safe formulation) and in-office options like microneedling, filler, or neuromodulators are worth a conversation with your dermatologist or injector if lines are already static and you want them softened rather than just prevented going forward.

If you’re already a Botox or filler patient managing lines elsewhere on your face, it’s worth asking your provider whether the same perioral pursing habit is a factor here — treating the muscle behavior alongside any injectable tends to hold up better than injectables alone.