Tens of thousands of men and women out there have dark lips that they would like to make lighter. Dark lips can be the result of many factors including genetics, smoking, the use of certain drugs and even intake of some illicit drugs. One of the challenges of treating any condition on the lips is the fact that the skin there is very thin. In fact, the skin on the lips is the thinnest on the body. This creates the potential for further damage if very aggressive lightening or treatment methods are used. Fortunately, it’s still possible to lighten one’s lips as long as they follow the right protocol. The best way to achieve the best results revolves around the following: Behavioural Change If one has dark lips as a result of behaviour such as smoking, the first step to getting lighter lips would be to quit smoking. The physiology of addiction usually makes this difficult to achieve, but the end results are usually well worth it since many other aspects of your health will also be positively affected by this step. Smoking cigarettes deposits tar on your lips, which darkens them. If you then use a bleaching agent to try and lighten them, it may not work as expected. Remember, most bleaching agents act to reduce melanin production in the skin. In the case of the smoker, dark lips would be primarily the result of tar rather than melanin. This means that the bleaching agent will do its job, but you will notice very little or even no results. Use A Mild Bleaching Agent The fact that the skin over the lips is very thin necessitates the use of a mild bleaching product. Anything strong is likely to strip the thin skin and could lead to further complications such as formation of scars depending on the nature of the chemicals in the bleaching agent. Some bleaching agents are even designed specifically for lips. Buy your bleaching agent from a trusted store. This way, you can ask about the possibility of using the product on your lips if you are not sure, and you will get honest answers. If not, you can be advised on which products to use instead. When you pick the ideal bleaching product, you will end up with pink, supple lips within a short time. Don’t Forget Lip Balm When Going Out When you start using the bleaching agent, the reduction of melanin on your lips exposes your skin to UV radiation from the sun. This increases the risk of darkening, which makes further lightening slower and more difficult. Combating this means using lip balm or similar products which hydrate your lips and also have an SPF factor of more than 30 to block UV radiation from reaching your lips. You can bleach your lips to make them look lighter and even more luscious, provided that issues such as smoking have been stopped. The only thing  to keep in mind is that this is a very sensitive part of the body, so you need to be selective about the products you use on it as described above.