The everyday item that could be giving you WRINKLES - as experts compare the effect to 'smoker's lines'
People spend a lot of money trying to banish wrinkles, from expensive face creams to LED face masks and even face lifts.
But an everyday item could be giving you fine lines – without you even realising it.
While drinking plenty of water every day is great for hydration, it might not be so good for the delicate skin around your mouth.
Especially if you're repeatedly using a spout or straw, which could be accelerating the onset of wrinkles.
Dr Kate Jameson, Medical Director at Youth Lab Australia, said the movement mimics the same motion that causes 'smoker's lines' – fine wrinkles that form around the lips due to repetitive puckering.
'Many people are diligent about skin care but unknowingly contribute to premature ageing through daily habits,' she said.
'Regular use of straw-based bottles encourages the same muscle contractions that lead to perioral lines, which can become deeper over time.'
While occasional usage won't cause immediate damage, Dr Jameson said months or years of repeated use can contribute to collagen breakdown, especially for those already prone to fine lines or dehydrated skin.
'Lip wrinkles are one of the first signs of ageing, and because the skin around the mouth is thin, it's particularly vulnerable to forming deep-set lines,' she explained.
'If you're using a straw-top bottle every day, you may start seeing signs of ageing sooner than expected.'
Simple changes to prevent premature ageing include sipping from an open cup or bottle where possible.
Keeping lips hydrated with hyaluronic acid-based balms can also help, as well as applying SPF to the lips daily.
Meanwhile skincare treatments such as retinol or in-clinic procedures such as laser resurfacing or dermal fillers can smooth out existing lines, Dr Jameson added.
'Staying hydrated is one of the best things you can do for your skin, but the way you drink matters too,' she said.
'If you're relying on a straw-top bottle all day, it's worth switching up your habits to protect your skin long-term.'
Smoker's wrinkles are tiny vertical lines that form across the lip area, often stretching from one side of the mouth to the other.
This results in an uneven and cracked appearance that can make a person's lower face look prematurely aged.
Other causes of these wrinkles can be repeated facial expressions such as pouting, as well as playing musical instruments such as the recorder or harmonica.
After the age of 20, the human body produces around 1 per cent less collagen and elastin each year – essential proteins that keep skin supple and hydrated.
This is why we develop wrinkles as we age, as skin is less able to 'snap back'.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Fury over year 9 students in South Australia being asked to debate whether the tradwife movement is good for women
Year 9 students in South Australia are about to debate whether 'the 'tradwife' movement is good for women' – but the topic has sparked fierce discussion before the debates have even started. The topic will start being debated next week as part of the third round of Debating SA's competition, for which all schools in the state are eligible. After the topic was announced in May, some people questioned on social media whether the topic was appropriate, with some concerned that female students arguing in the affirmative would be making the case for their own subjugation. On social media women describing themselves as tradwives portray an old-fashioned, homemaking existence of baking and child rearing. But the tradwife movement has also become associated with anti-feminist sentiment, amplified by misogynist figures including Andrew Tate and those in the manosphere. Debating SA said it was shocked and surprised by the reaction. It took the unusual step of sending a clarification to schools at the weekend saying the definition it was using was synonymous with a stay-at-home parent. A spokesperson said when the organisation had researched the topic, the darker side of the trend did not surface. But once it heard about it, it wrote to schools to say it saw 'tradwife' as a portmanteau of 'traditional wife … someone who stayed at home, looked after the children, kept the house', without any concept of submission to the man of the house. The organisation said it had received abusive phone calls. The spokesperson told Guardian Australia people had been 'ringing up screaming, ranting, raving and carrying on' and accusing the not-for-profit of undoing centuries of female advancement. 'They were outside people who've got nothing to do with debating, who don't know how it works,' the spokesperson said. 'Debating is very formal … and not only do we not tolerate incivility, it never happens. If you follow the rules and regulations there's no room for rudeness. 'It's an intellectual, academic exercise bound up in civility, politeness and good manners. 'They didn't follow the rules!' A Queensland-based teen educator and author, Rebecca Sparrow, shared an email on Facebook on 5 June from a reader 'horrified' by the debating topic. 'Fourteen and fifteen-year-old girls and boys are being asked to argue that this is good for women … that women being subjugated is good,' the reader wrote in the email. Sparrow wrote that the term tradwife 'refers to women adhering to strict gender roles akin to a 1950s housewife who eschews a career in place of homemaking because that's her role/place'. ''Trad wife' is not code for stay-at-home parent,' she wrote, and later added: 'For those who think it's a great debate topic – we can agree to disagree on this one.' Sparrow later closed comments on her post, saying she did not have time to continually monitor them to 'ensure a war hasn't erupted'. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion South Australia's education minister, Blair Boyer, told ABC radio on Wednesday that he had to ask his staff what the tradwife movement was. 'And I understand it comes with some controversy, but I think it's a balancing act in terms of debating topics, between having something which is of interest to the people doing the debating … and not having something which is, I guess, overly provocative,' he said. In May the Macquarie Dictionary said the 'controversial term sounds like an insult to some, and a badge of honour to others'. 'However you feel about it, a tradwife is a woman who has willingly embraced the duties and values of a wife in what some call a traditional marriage,' it said. Kristy Campion, a researcher into the far right, told ABC's Radio National in May that tradwife culture drew on 'cottage core' dreams of a simpler life. But she noted the far right had also linked it to 'white womanhood', anti-feminism, anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-immigrant sentiments. 'We also see them fiercely opposing things like abortion or divorce,' she said. Speaking not about the tradwife debate but about debating in general, Fiona Mueller, a public policy researcher from the Centre for Independent Studies, said Australians had become 'strangely fearful' of debating, when it is something that 'is at the heart of our democratic process'. She said she worried that teachers had 'baulked' at teaching it because they were concerned about controversial topics. She wanted to see them confident in running debates as there was solid evidence they helped build thinking, reasoning, reading, researching, persuading and presentation skills. 'We need to rediscover the more considered gathering of information and coming to a conclusion,' she said. 'That is the single greatest responsibility of each generation – to set a good example for the next generation, and one of the things we need to set that example in, is respectful, thoughtful debate.'
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Radio star's fears for his wife's frozen eggs as he reveals they are being held at same Monash IVF clinic that transferred the wrong embryo into a Melbourne woman
Radio star Jase Hawkins has revealed his personal connection to a shock embryo mix-up this week. Fertility company Monash IVF admitted that it had transferred the wrong embryo into a Melbourne woman - the second bungle admitted by the company in as many months. Speaking about ordeal on his breakfast show Jase & Lauren on Wednesday, he said he and his wife Lou's third child Archie, three, was conceived through Monash IVF and her remaining embryos are still stored at the facility. Jase, 43, admitted he was shaken up by the news. 'We've still got embryos in the freezer there, and you know, not that we're planning to have other kids,' he said. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. 'I'm not trying to be dramatic, but I'm like, I don't trust them sitting in that freezer at the moment. He said the couple have now been forced to fast-track a conversation about having more children. 'It just made me think last night, well, I think we need to speed up that conversation about what we want to do with them (embryos), because at the moment, I don't trust the current situation,' he said. Jase added that his heart goes out to anyone who is going through the same thing. 'As someone who's gone through it, it was such a personal experience. And whatever company you go through for something like there's that trust that you have,' he said. 'Just yesterday was just that weird, just that icky feeling in your guts going.' 'It's overwhelming enough, right?' his co-host Lauren Phillips said. 'And there would be a lot of people who have dealt with with Monash IVF that will be feeling very nervous. 'I've got lots of friends who have frozen embryos that aren't sure if they'll use them, but they're just not willing to take them off ice.' In a statement to the ASX on Tuesday, Monash IVF said a patient at their Clayton clinic was supposed to receive an embryo from her partner as they sought to have a baby, but instead had her own embryo transferred to her on June 5. It has launched an investigation and apologised to the couple involved. It follows Monash IVF's admission in April that a mistake at its Brisbane clinic led to a Queensland mother unknowingly delivering another couple's baby. Jase and wife Lou share three children - Archie, Huddy, six, and Felix, eight. Speaking about the couple's IVF journey back in 2021, Jase revealed a very embarrassing encounter with a fan at the fertility clinic. Speaking to his then KIIS FM co-host Polly 'PJ' Harding, he explained that he and Louise had booked an appointment to get his sperm count checked in case they ever wanted more children in the future. 'I knew I was going to be nervous doing it there, so Lou rang and asked if I could do it at home,' he said, referring to gathering a sperm sample. Jase then joked he felt 'like an ambulance driver' as he rushed to the clinic to deliver his semen within a specified time limit. 'I finally got there, walked in and the waiting room was packed,' he said. 'I kept my back to everyone and I'm waiting at the window holding my brown paper bag.' Putting his head in his hands, Jase continued: 'The only bag we had in the house was an old party gift bag, so I'm sitting there with a bag of little stars and balloons.' After discreetly handing the bag to a nurse, Jase was confronted by someone else in the waiting room just as he was about to make his exit. 'It was just at that point I turned around, I put my hand on the door to leave and one guy leans on his door and says, "Hey, big fan, love the show",' he said.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Rachael Finch is slammed online for shocking fashion faux pas: 'None of this is okay'
Rachael Finch has committed a fashion felony according to her longtime pal Ashley Pollard. The former Miss Universe runner-up took to Instagram on Wednesday to defend her choice of shoes, which Ash publicly disapproved of. In a clip posted on her story, Rachael could be seen walking through her office in a pair of animal-print ballet flats adorned with large buckle straps. 'Sorry @ashpollard_ got the leopard vans out today,' she captioned the post. The 36-year-old paired the ensemble with a denim skirt and long grey coat. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. My Kitchen Rules alum Ash, 39, then took to her socials to slam the footwear, as well as Rachael's decision to wear socks with the shoes. 'None of this is okay. Especially the BLACK socks!! Da f**k,' she hilariously wrote over a snap of the shoes, while tagging Rachael. The mum-of-two responded in retaliation: 'Love my comfy shoes and my non-smelly feet LOL.' Rachael and Ash have been longtime friends, with the pair meeting back in 2015 at a PR luncheon at Flemington Racecourse. Since then, they have enjoyed getaways together and featured heavily on each other's Instagram pages. This isn't the first time the Kissed Earth founder has made headlines for her questionable fashion choices. Just a few weeks ago, Rachael was seen embracing a sometimes maligned trend. She was spotted working her angles in a pair of skin tight skinny jeans during an outing in a salon in Sydney's Cronulla. Rachael paired the sleek trousers with a black leather belt and tank top in the same dark tone. She completed the look with a pair of stacked white sneakers and opted for a natural makeup look. Rachael could be seen posing up a storm while her phone was attached to a glass door with a suction holder. Skinny jeans had fallen out of favour in recent years, with Gen Z declaring them uncool and dated. But the tide appears to have changed in 2025, with many young influencers declaring the 2010s staple is back in vogue.
