You can’t erase smile lines completely with natural methods, because they are a normal part of your face, not damage you caused. But you can soften how they look. Daily sunscreen, good hydration, and a few targeted skincare steps can slow down how deep they get over time.
Smile lines are the creases that run from the sides of your nose down to the corners of your mouth. Doctors call them nasolabial folds. You’ve probably noticed them more when you smile or laugh, which is exactly how they got their nickname.
Here’s the part most articles skip: these lines are not a flaw or a sign that something went wrong with your skin. They’re a normal facial feature that everyone has, even kids. They just tend to get more noticeable with age, sun damage, and smoking.
What Are Smile Lines (And Why Do I Have Them as a Teen?)
If you’re 14, 15, or 16 and just noticed these lines while scrolling through photos or using a phone camera up close, take a breath. This is one of the most common worries young people search for online, and the answer is simple: it’s normal.
There are two types of smile lines. Dynamic lines only show up when you smile or laugh, then disappear when your face relaxes. Static folds stay visible even when your face is resting. Most teens only have the dynamic kind, which is just your skin folding the way it’s built to fold.
Medical News Today confirms there is no way to prevent nasolabial folds, because even children show these lines when they smile. That means your lines aren’t a sign that your skin is aging early or that something is wrong. They’re simply part of how your face moves.
This isn’t just a medical textbook fact either. On Reddit’s r/Skincare_Addiction, a 15-year-old once asked how to get rid of these exact lines around her mouth, worried something was off with her skin. Other users quickly explained that these were just smile lines caused by normal facial movement and bone structure, and that everyone has them.
Here’s the one rule to remember, whether you’re 14, 16, or 20: no one under 18 should seek Botox, fillers, or any injectable treatment for smile lines. These procedures are designed for folds that have become deep and permanent after years of collagen loss, which isn’t what’s happening in a teenage face. At this age, the best approach is simply good sun protection, gentle skincare, and patience. Your face is still developing, and lines that show only when you smile are not something that needs correcting.
If you’re in your early 20s and starting to notice these lines even at rest, that’s still considered an early and normal stage. Genetics play a bigger role here than age does.
The Real Causes of Smile Lines (When It Actually Is Aging)
For most adults, smile lines start to deepen for a real, physical reason. Your skin relies on collagen and elastin to stay firm and bounce back into place. As you get older, your body makes less of both. This is what turns a line that only shows up when you smile into one that stays visible all the time.
Age also changes the shape of your face. Cheekbones can flatten slightly over the years, and gravity pulls looser skin downward. This adds extra fold around the mouth area, which is why smile lines around the mouth often look deeper than they did a decade earlier.
But here’s the fact that surprises most people. Sun exposure, not age itself, does most of the damage. A peer-reviewed study published in Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology found that UV exposure is responsible for about 80% of visible facial aging. That means sunscreen isn’t just a nice extra step. It’s one of the most powerful tools you have against deeper smile lines.
A few other habits speed things up too:
- Smoking breaks down collagen and elastin directly, and the repeated lip movement from smoking can deepen lines over time.
- Side sleeping presses your face into the pillow in the same spot night after night, which can wear down collagen in that area over the years.
- Weight changes can also play a role. Losing a lot of weight can leave extra loose skin, while gaining weight can stretch the cheeks and make the folds more obvious.
The good news is that most of these causes are things you can actually manage, starting with how you protect your skin every day.
How to Hide Smile Lines in Makeup: The Step-by-Step Fix
Need a quick fix before a photo or a video call? Makeup can soften the look of smile lines in minutes. But most people make one mistake that actually makes the lines look worse by afternoon.
The Mistake Almost Everyone Makes
Piling on thick, heavy foundation to cover the fold seems like it should work. It doesn’t. Extra product has nowhere to go but into the crease itself. As the day goes on, that foundation settles deeper into the line, making it look more obvious, not less. The fix isn’t more makeup. It’s less, applied the right way.
The Correct 3-Step Method
Step 1: Start with a hydrating primer.
Apply a thin layer of primer before anything else. This creates a smooth base so foundation has less texture to grab onto and settle into later.
Step 2: Use a tiny amount of concealer, pressed in with a damp sponge.
Skip the brush for this part. Dab a small amount of concealer along the fold, then press it in gently with a damp makeup sponge. Pressing, instead of rubbing or swiping, keeps the concealer thin and even so it blends into the skin instead of sitting on top of it.
Step 3: Set with a light dusting of powder.
Once your concealer is blended, dust a small amount of setting powder over the area. This locks everything in place and helps stop makeup from creasing later in the day. Avoid heavy powder layers, since too much can do the same thing as too much foundation and settle into the line.
That’s it. Three light layers, applied thin, will look more natural and last longer than one thick layer of foundation ever will. If you find your makeup still creases by midday, try blotting the area with a tissue instead of adding fresh product on top. Adding more foundation directly into the fold almost always makes it look deeper, not smoother.
At-Home Skincare and Natural Methods
Let’s clear up one myth first. Drinking more water will not erase your smile lines. Hydration does help your skin look plumper and more elastic, which can make fine lines less noticeable. But it won’t undo folds that are already there. Think of water as supportive, not corrective.
What actually helps more is a consistent routine that keeps your whole face hydrated at a deeper level. This is the idea behind the Korean “glass skin” approach. Instead of targeting one line or wrinkle, the goal is to improve the quality of your skin overall, so it looks smoother, clearer, and more hydrated everywhere, including around your mouth.
The method is simple: layer hydrating ingredients instead of relying on one heavy cream. Hyaluronic acid pulls water into your skin, while ceramides help lock that moisture in and support your skin’s natural barrier. Used together and consistently, this combination is known to make skin look more plump and resilient. One important thing to know: this isn’t an overnight fix. Dermatologists note that a glass skin style routine typically takes about 4 to 8 weeks of steady use before you see a real difference.
Once your skin barrier is in good shape, retinoids can be a useful next step. Retinoids are a form of vitamin A that help boost collagen production and speed up cell turnover, which can gradually improve the texture and firmness of skin over time. They’re one of the few over-the-counter ingredients with real evidence behind them for smoothing fine lines.
Here’s the safety warning you need before trying one. The skin around your nasolabial folds is thinner than skin on the rest of your face, which makes it more prone to irritation. Before using any retinoid or new active ingredient in this area, patch-test it first. Apply a small amount to a small patch of skin, such as behind your ear or on your inner arm, and wait 24 to 48 hours to check for redness, stinging, or irritation before using it near your mouth or nose.
A simple daily routine might look like this:
- Gentle cleanser
- Hydrating serum with hyaluronic acid
- Moisturizer with ceramides
- Retinoid at night, a few times a week to start, only after a successful patch test
- Sunscreen every morning, since skipping this step undoes most of the other work
Professional Treatments: Cost, Duration, and Downtime Compared
If skincare and makeup aren’t giving you the results you want, professional treatments are the next step. Here’s an important fact to understand first.
Over-the-counter creams and serums cannot physically fill a fold the way an injectable treatment can. Retinoids, vitamin C, and other active ingredients can improve your skin’s texture and support collagen over time, but they work on the surface. They don’t add volume underneath the skin. If a fold is deep enough that skincare isn’t making a visible difference, that’s a sign you may need an in-office option instead.
Here’s how the main professional treatments compare.
| Treatment | What It Actually Does | How Long Results Last | Downtime |
| Botox | Relaxes the muscles around the fold. It does not fill the fold itself. Works best on lines that deepen when you move your face. | A few months | Little to none |
| HA Filler (like Juvederm) | Adds volume directly under the skin to physically plump up the fold | 6 to 18 months, depending on the type used | Minimal, some mild swelling possible |
| RF or Laser Treatment (like TriLift) | Uses heat or light energy to tighten skin and encourage collagen production | Builds gradually, with benefits continuing for months after treatment | Little downtime, often none |
| Facelift (Surgery) | Physically repositions and lifts skin and tissue for the most dramatic, long-term change | 10 or more years | Longest recovery of all options, requires real healing time |
A few things worth knowing before you book anything:
- Botox is often combined with filler, not used alone, if your goal is specifically to soften a static fold. Used by itself, it mainly helps with lines that move when you talk or smile.
- HA filler is currently the most direct option for restoring lost volume, since it works by replacing what collagen loss took away.
- RF and laser treatments are a good middle step if you’re not ready for needles or surgery, but they work more on skin quality than on deep folds.
- Surgery is typically only recommended for moderate to severe sagging that hasn’t responded to anything else, since it’s the most invasive and expensive route.
Whatever you choose, talk to a board-certified dermatologist or plastic surgeon before starting. They can tell you which option actually matches the depth and cause of your specific folds, instead of guessing based on what worked for someone else.
What About Lines Around the Eyes? (Crow’s Feet vs. Smile Lines)
If you’ve been searching for smile lines around your eyes, you’re probably actually dealing with crow’s feet. True smile lines, or nasolabial folds, only form between your nose and mouth. The lines that crease near your eyes when you smile are a separate thing, even though they’re caused by the same basic habit: your face moving the same way, over and over, for years.
The skin around your eyes is thinner than almost anywhere else on your face. That means it shows movement and sun damage faster, and it needs gentler care than the skin near your mouth.
This also applies if you’re dealing with smile lines and eye bags together. Eye bags are usually caused by fluid, fat shifting, or lack of sleep, not the same muscle movement that creates creasing. They often need different treatment entirely, like addressing sleep habits or puffiness, rather than the collagen-focused approach used for smile lines.
If you’re looking to treat the eye area specifically, look for eye creams made for thinner skin, and talk to a dermatologist about options like targeted neurotoxin treatments, which work differently around the eyes than heavier fillers do near the mouth.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you get rid of smile lines naturally?
Not completely. Smile lines are a normal part of your facial structure, not damage that can be fully undone. What natural methods can do is slow how deep they get and keep skin looking plumper, through daily SPF, hydration, and a consistent skincare routine.
Why do I have smile lines at 14?
This is almost always normal facial anatomy, not early aging. These lines show up when you smile because of how your face is built and how it moves, not because something went wrong with your skin. Even young children show these lines when they smile.
What is the main cause of smile lines?
A mix of factors. UV exposure plays the biggest role, responsible for about 80% of visible facial aging. Genetics, natural facial movement from smiling and talking, and age-related collagen loss all add to it too.
What do Koreans do for smile lines?
There’s no single treatment aimed at smile lines specifically. The general approach is barrier-first skincare with hydration layering, using ingredients like hyaluronic acid and ceramides to improve overall skin quality rather than targeting one line.
What is the best cream for minimizing smile line wrinkles?
There’s no single best product. Look for ingredients with real evidence behind them instead, like retinoids for collagen support, vitamin C for antioxidant protection, and peptides or hyaluronic acid for hydration.
How do Koreans achieve glass skin?
Through routine consistency, not a magic product. A typical approach layers hydrating ingredients daily and takes about 4 to 8 weeks of steady use before real results show.
How come Korean skin is so flawless?
Consistency and strong sun protection habits play a big part. It’s also worth remembering that a lot of what looks flawless on social media comes from lighting and filters, not just skincare.
Conclusion
Smile lines are something almost everyone deals with at some point, whether you’re 15 and just noticing them for the first time or 40 and looking for ways to soften them. The most important thing to remember is that they’re not a flaw. They’re a normal part of how your face moves and ages.
If you’re young, the best move is simply good sun protection and patience. If you’re older and looking for real change, a mix of consistent skincare, smart makeup techniques, and professional treatments (if you choose to go that route) can all help. Start with what feels manageable, protect your skin from the sun every single day, and know that a little line on your face has never once gotten in the way of a good smile.
