Here at Henné we care a LOT about lips (no surprise there). Besides looking awfully strange without any, lips play an important role in so many daily activities such as eating, drinking, kissing, and talking. You obviously already know that though, so let’s move on to some lesser-known facts about the human lips + a few fun kissing facts (because who doesn’t think about lips without thinking about kissing, right?).
Let's get scientific
Ready for some scientific terminology (aka words that are difficult to pronounce)? The scientific name for the upper lip is “labium superius oris” and “labium inferius oris” for the lower lip. The reddish part of the lips is called the
vermilion and the area just outside of the vermilion is called the
vermilion border.
1 MILLION+ nerve endings
Hands are the outlet with which we experience the world, as they're more sensitive than the rest of our bodies. Think that’s impressive? Well, lips are actually
100x more sensitive than our fingertips. Lips have over 1 million nerve endings, making them one of the most sensitive parts of the body. This is why babies put everything in their mouths. We adults may not put everything in our mouths like babies do (nor should we because that would garner way too many awkward stares), but we still get to experience so many aspects of the world with our lips.
Leave your unique mark
You know how the saying goes…don’t kiss and tell. Be careful where you leave your lip mark though because that can actually tell a lot about you! Your lip mark is unique to you as an individual, just like your fingerprint.
No sweat glands
How many of you out there lick your lips often without thinking about it? While it’s very common to do this, it’s best to aim to lick your lips less throughout the day if possible in order to keep them more moisturized. Lips lack natural protective oil because they have no sweat glands and don't secrete oil, which cause them to dry out much quicker than other skin on the body. This is why consistent
lip care is so important for lip health.
Very few layers
Most of us wince at the thought of taking a bite of something delicious and chomping on your lip instead. Besides having more nerve endings than the rest of your body, your lips also have less layers of skin to protect them. Your skin is composed of 16 different layers, but your lips have only 3-6, which is why lips are easily affected by our environment and the elements.
Cupid's bow
The double curve on our upper lip is called a Cupid’s bow. Why is it called this, you might ask? Because it resembles an adorable Cupid’s bow, the god of love. They come in all types of beautiful forms, some more pronounced and some less.
A decrease in size
As we get older, our lip size will gradually appear smaller. This is a completely normal occurrence because as the body ages, it produces less collagen, which will decrease the volume and plumpness of lips. This also will make the vermilion border appear less pronounced. Some of this can be prevented naturally by taking collagen-boosting supplements combined with adding an anti-aging serum to your skincare regimen (hint hint: the Henné
Lip Serum).
A fun calorie burner
You may have never thought about kissing as a form on exercise, but technically it is! Kissing for one full minute can burn up to twenty six calories. So the next time you want to get in a quick little work out, consider kissing as your exercise of choice.
How much kissing in a lifetime?
Although kissing is everybody’s favorite activity, I don’t know how fun it’d be to kiss someone for 2 weeks straight. Strangely enough, that is how long, on average, the typical human being spends kissing throughout their entire lifetime.
That instant connection
Have you ever kissed someone for the first time and felt those instant fireworks? There's actually a scientific explanation for this. Scientific research has shown that kissing causes the exchange of biological information in the back of our brains that lets you take in the pheromones of the other person. Pheromones play a significant role in how we choose a partner. Think about that the next time you give someone a smooch.
