How To Get Rid Of Black Lips From Smoking Weed?

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One common phenomenon that often happens to weed smokers is the darkening of the lips. Now, getting black or darker lips from smoking weed is normal, but still unsightly and unwelcome.

If you want to get rid of black lips from smoking weed, there are a number of things that you can do, including regularly using lip balm, exfoliating your lips, washing them regularly, using friction to clean them, using lightening creams, and hydrating yourself.

Smokers Lips Weed Explained

What you are probably wondering here is why exactly lips turn black when you smoke weed. Well, there are actually a number of explanations, with one being the most common.

What Does Smoking Weed Do To Your Lips?

Resin

First and foremost, when you smoke weed, particularly joints and blunts, the resin can get on your lips. Resin is a sticky and tar-like substance that is contained in weed.

Technically speaking, weed plants produce resin to protect themselves from pests, disease, and even from the sun’s UV rays.

When you smoke weed, that resin all builds up and accumulates on the end of the joint. This is that same brown and sticky substance that builds up in your bong.

That black and sticky goop on the end of your joint, where your mouth goes, is resin. This resin can stick to your lips, it can discolor your lips, and it can stain clothes too.

Due to its super sticky nature, once you get it on your lips, skin, or clothes, it is very hard to remove. Simply put, when you touch it, this stuff sticks to you like napalm.

Keep in mind that this is short term. Smoking a single joint can produce a lot of resin, and technically result in dark blotches on the lips after a single drag.

Smoke & Chemicals

There is also the fact that weed does contain many different chemicals and compounds. Moreover, smoke itself is also a staining agent.

Try hanging a white t-shirt over a smoky fire and see what happens. That white t-shirt won’t be white for long. Simply put, various chemicals contained in weed, along with the process of combustion itself, causes staining to occur.

Constantly exposing your lips to the results of combustion, smoke, will in itself cause your lips to darken. This is however a long term effect. A single joint here and there won’t cause this to happen.

Burns

Yet another thing that causes your lips to darken or become discolored when smoking weed is the heat itself. In other words, you might be burning your lips. If you smoke joints, that cherry is very close to your lips.

When you take a drag, you’re pulling all of that heat towards your lips. Although the burns may not be severe, not even bad enough to notice right away, over time, those small burns can cause lip darkening.

Unless you pull way too hard for too long and cause a severe burn to happen in one shot, this is usually also a long term effect. It’s that constant exposure to heat, high amounts of heat, that do the trick.

Dehydration

The other thing that causes lips to darken when smoking weed is due to dehydration. Smoking weed, especially regularly, restricts blood flow. If there is less blood and oxygen going to your lips, they will often turn a darker shade, often dark bluish.

Moreover, that heat from smoking, as well as the smoke itself, can also dehydrate your lips, thus causing this darkening to occur. This is also generally something that occurs more over the long run rather than the short run.

Related: Cough drops before weed, good or bad? 

Do Your Lips Turn Black If You Smoke Weed?

Yes and no. Smoking weed once or twice won’t cause your lips to turn darker over the long run. Of course, if your weed has plenty of resin and you smoke plenty of it, you might get some resin stains on your lips.

This can happen from a single drag on a really resin filled joint. That said, resin stains are not overly hard to remove. If we are talking about lips darkening due to dehydration and burns, this is usually only something that happens with prolonged and constant weed smoking.

Sure, you might burn your lip once from a hot joint, but this will result in a bit of discomfort and maybe a blister, not real darkening.

Lip darkening caused by constant exposure to heat, as well as the effects of dehydration, generally take longer to manifest.

So, generally speaking, your lips will only turn black from smoking weed if there is a bunch of resin that your lips touch, or if you smoke for a really long time and eventually get burn marks, or just get dehydrated.

What also needs to be made clear here is that lips will usually become a bit discolored or darker, not totally black. It’s not like someone took a black marker to your lips.

It’s not that extreme. All of that said, if you follow the tips we are about to list below, and you take care when smoking weed, this lip blackening really shouldn’t happen.

How To Get Rid Of Dark Lips From Smoking Cannabis

Let’s talk about the best ways to get rid of dark or blackened lips from smoking weed. Let’s first deal with the issue of resin stains, then move onto the other causes.

1. Wash Your Lips Thoroughly

If you just have some resin on your lips, especially if it has not dried yet, washing it off is always an option. Using some really hot water and some skin friendly soap might just do the trick.

If the resin is super sticky and plentiful too, you might not be able to wash all of it away. However, some soapy hot water should get rid of most of it.

2. Use Some Rubbing Alcohol

Ok, so this one is a bit out there, but it works, and yes, this is what many real stoners do. This one works well if you have plenty of resin on your lips from that sticky icky joint.

Take a paper towel or a cloth, apply a good amount of rubbing alcohol, and rub your lips with it. The rubbing alcohol loosens and more or less dissolves resin.

It will come right off on the cloth. For the record, seeing as everyone has sanitizer laying around because of Covid, this will work too.

3. Friction Works Too

Another pro tip from a long time stoner, if resin is the issue, friction is perhaps the best answer. Resin likes to stick to clothes and fabrics of all kinds.

However, just touching a rag to the resin on your lips won’t cause it to transfer, but friction will. Using an old rag, and while applying a good deal of pressure, rub your lips.

The resin will come right off your lips and stick to the fabric. Just don’t use a new piece of clothing, because you will ruin it. You do need to use fabric for this. Toilet paper and paper towel are not strong enough.

Too much friction and sticky resin, and those paper towels will shred into pieces and stick to your lips. Here, you are fixing your lips, but ruining whatever you use to remove the resin.

You can even rub your lips vigorously with your fingers, and the resin will transfer onto your fingers, although this obviously creates another problem.

4. Hydrate Yourself

Ok, so the above remedies were for black lips caused by resin. However, if the issue is that you and your lips are dehydrated, then the answer is of course very simple.

Start drinking more water. A human needs around two liters of water per day, give or take. Drinking ample amounts of water while smoking is more than enough to prevent dehydration from setting in.

5. Hydrate Your Lips

Of course, the bigger problem when compared to body wide dehydration is the dehydration of your lips specifically.

If your lips are all dark, shrivelled, and dry from smoking, the simplest remedy is to use some lip balm. Get some moisture back into those lips and they should be fine.

6. Exfoliate

Simple exfoliating your lips can bring them back to their original state as well. Exfoliation is the process of removing old and dead skin cells so those underneath are exposed.

A good natural way to do this is by mixing a couple tablespoons of sugar with a tablespoon of honey, and then rubbing it on your lips for about five minutes.

The honey will hydrate your lips and the sugar granules will do the exfoliating. There are of course lip exfoliating products that you can buy.

7. Various Natural (And Not So Natural) Remedies

A natural way to lighten dark lips is to regularly apply lemon or lime juice for 10 to 15 minutes per day. The acid can safely and quickly lighten skin.

There are of course also professional and medical lip lighteners out there too.

8. Stop Doing Whatever is Causing it

If you expect any of those above remedies to work, do keep in mind that if you keep smoking bundles of weed every day, it is going to be hard to get rid of already dark lips.

How Can I Prevent Black Lips from Smoking Marijuana?

Before we call it a day, let’s talk about some of the best ways to prevent lips from darkening due to smoking weed.

1. Use a Mouthpiece for Joints or Roll with a Filter;
   If you smoke joints or blunts, always use a filter. A filter will catch the majority of the resin before it gets to your lips. Moreover, using a mouthpiece for joints will do the same, plus both filters and mouthpieces can help prevent all of that heat from burning your lips.
2. Use a Water Bong or Vape;
   To prevent resin from getting on your lips, use a water bong. The vast majority of the resin will stay in the water and won’t make it to your mouth. Of course, vaping is much cleaner too, and you won’t ever have resin stains on your lips from smoking. Both of these methods also help prevent your lips from getting burned.
3. Wipe and Wash Your Lips After Smoking;
   If you do get some resin on your lips, it is essential to get it off before it dries. Use any of the resin removal techniques discussed in the above section.
4. Constantly Hydrate Your Lips and Yourself;
   Using lip balm to constantly hydrate your lips, and always drinking plenty of water, can prevent the body-wide dehydration and direct lip dehydration from occurring in the first place.
5. Take Measures to Increase Blood Flow;
   If a lack of blood flow and oxygen to your lips is the issue, there are things you can do to increase circulation. Exercise and B vitamins are the best ways to increase circulation. Moreover, a healthy diet in general can work towards this too.

What’s A Good Lip Balm For Weed Smokers?

One of the best lip balms for weed smoker lips is none other than Milk Makeup’s KUSH Lip Balm.

Yes, this lip balm is made out of hemp derived cannabis seed oil, and it is full of beneficial ingredients. It’s designed to provide your lips with a moisture barrier so that they don’t dry out, and of course, it also provides you with the moisture you need to take care of cracked, dry, and chapped lips.

Another good option to consider is L’Occitane Shea Ultra Rich Lip Balm, which comes complete with shea extract and much more.

This product isn’t necessarily designed for smokers, but it will get the job done no problem. It helps prevent lips from drying out and cracking, it can heal already damaged lips, and it can prevent your lips from getting black too.

Does Smoking Weed Make Your Lips Smaller?

No, smoking weed does not make lips smaller. Sure, they can look all dry and chapped, which isn’t nice, but certainly not smaller.

In fact, according to recent evidence, the exact opposite seems to be the case. When you suck on a joint, vape, bong, or anything else, you are creating a suction or pressure on your lips.

This actually results in increased blood flow to the lips, and if you smoke enough, this can even be permanent. Smoking weed regularly will in general make your lips fuller and poutier.

Related: Why you taste weed in your mouth when not smoking.

There you have it people, everything you need to know about why your lips may turn black from smoking, how to reverse lip darkening, and how to prevent it from happening in the first place.