13 Tips to Help Get Rid of Smile Lines (Without Losing Your Smile)

Smile lines, sometimes called laugh lines or nasolabial folds, are those little parentheses around your mouth that can go from cute to “when did that happen?” faster than you expect. The good news? You don’t have to choose between enjoying your expressions and keeping your skin smooth and bouncy. If you’ve been wondering how to get rid of smile lines, you’ll be happy to know that while they can’t be erased forever, there are plenty of ways to soften them, slow them down, and make them far less noticeable.

Below, I’ve rounded up 13 beauty tips you can mix and match into a routine that actually fits your life.

What Are Smile Lines?

Smile lines are the creases that run from the sides of your nose down to the corners of your mouth; dermatologists call them nasolabial folds. They form as facial fat pads shift, collagen and elastin decline, and the midface gradually loses volume with age, making those folds look deeper.

Sun exposure, smoking, sudden weight loss, and even your diet can all accelerate that process and make the lines show up earlier or more dramatically.

So the real strategy isn’t “how do I erase them overnight?” but “how do I support my skin, volume, and daily habits so these folds stay soft and subtle as long as possible?”

Tip 1: Start With a Healthy Relationship With Your Smile

This might sound strange for a beauty blog, but it’s the foundation: smile lines are a sign you’ve lived. They’re not a defect to “fix,” they’re a feature you can choose to soften.

Reframing them this way matters because it changes how aggressive you feel you “must” be. Your goal becomes: keep your skin healthy, your features harmonious, and your expressions natural—not freeze every line at any cost. That mindset leads to more realistic expectations and better, more conservative treatment choices (especially if you decide to consider in‑office options later).

Tip 2: Plump From Within With Hydration & Nutrition

Dehydration is one of the fastest ways to make smile lines look deeper. When the skin is dry and low on water, it loses that cushy, light-reflective quality and folds cast stronger shadows. Hydration won’t erase deep folds, but it can noticeably soften fine to moderate lines and make everything you apply on top just work better.

What helps:

Drink enough water daily. Internal hydration supports overall skin plumpness (especially if you’re active or live in a dry climate).
Add electrolytes if needed. If you sweat a lot, an electrolyte drink can help you actually absorb the water you’re drinking.
Prioritize skin-loving foods. A diet rich in vitamins A, C, and E and antioxidants, think colorful fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds—supports collagen and neutralizes free radicals that break it down.

Tip 3: SPF Every Day

If there’s a single product that belongs on everyone’s bathroom shelf for preventing smile lines, it’s broad-spectrum sunscreen. Period. UV rays are major collagen killers, quietly thinning the skin over time and allowing lines and folds to deepen faster.

Look for:

Broad‑spectrum SPF 30 or higher every single day, even when it’s cloudy or you’re mostly indoors (UVA rays penetrate clouds and glass).
A texture you actually like (gel, fluid, mineral, tinted) so you’re willing to wear it daily.

SPF doesn’t turn back the clock, but it stops the clock from speeding up, and it boosts the results of everything else you do.

Tip 4: Upgrade Your Night Routine With Smart Actives

Topical skincare can’t rebuild bone or fully reverse volume loss, but it can make your skin thicker, more elastic, and more resilient so folds are less etched and the surrounding texture looks smoother.

Hero ingredients to look for in serums or creams:

Retinoids (retinol, retinaldehyde, prescription tretinoin): Increase cell turnover and stimulate collagen in the dermis over time, improving fine lines and overall firmness.
Vitamin C (and other antioxidants): Help defend collagen from free radical damage (think pollution and UV) and can brighten dullness around the folds.
Peptides: Act as “messenger” molecules, nudging skin to produce more collagen and elastin.
Barrier-support ingredients like ceramides and niacinamide, to keep skin calm and strong so you can tolerate actives without irritation.

Start slowly (especially with retinoids) and build up to a schedule your skin can live with long term.

Tip 5: Layer in Hyaluronic Acid and a Truly Good Moisturizer

While retinoids and peptides work on the long game, hyaluronic acid (HA) and emollient moisturizers give faster “bounce” by drawing water into the skin and sealing it in.

For smile lines in particular:

Use an HA serum on damp skin, then lock it in with a cream that contains lipids (like ceramides or plant oils) so the water doesn’t just evaporate.
Don’t expect topical HA to “fill” deep folds but do expect the area to look smoother and less crepey when well hydrated.
Avoid harsh, drying cleansers around the mouth that strip oils and emphasize texture.

This combo is especially powerful if you live somewhere dry or spend a lot of time in air‑conditioned or heated environments.

Tip 6: Try Evidence‑Based Facial Exercises (With Realistic Expectations)

Face yoga and facial exercises are everywhere on social media, and some are better than others. Research on facial exercise is still limited, but at least one twenty‑week program led independent dermatologists to rate participants as looking, on average, about three years younger after consistent practice.

What to keep in mind:

Focus on controlled, lifting movements, like cheek-lifting exercises, rather than aggressive pulling or stretching, which could theoretically worsen laxity over time.
Be consistent for several months; changes, if they happen, are gradual and subtle.
Stop if you notice new lines forming from repetitive creasing.

Used wisely, facial exercises can be a low‑risk, zero‑cost way to complement your skincare.

Tip 7: Use Facial Massage & Gua Sha to Encourage Lift, Not Drag

Facial massage and tools like gua sha stones or massage wands can:

Support lymphatic drainage (less puffiness),
Temporarily improve circulation,
And subtly sculpt the midface when done regularly.

Key tips so you help, not harm:

Always use slip, a facial oil or serum, so you glide over skin rather than tugging on it.
Work with upward and outward motions, especially from the corners of the mouth toward the ears, to counteract gravity’s downward pull.
Keep pressure light to moderate. This is about fluid movement and relaxation, not digging into delicate skin.

Many people find that regular massage makes their whole face look more “awake,” which alone can shift how noticeable their smile lines feel.

Tip 8: Rethink How You Sleep

If one smile line is deeper than the other, your pillow might be part of the story. Side‑sleeping compresses the same areas of skin night after night, which can create asymmetry and deeper folds on your “pillow side” over time.

What helps:

Train yourself to sleep more on your back, or at least alternate sides if back‑sleeping is impossible.
Use a silk or satin pillowcase to reduce friction and tugging.
Consider anti‑wrinkle or “beauty” pillows designed to minimize facial compression.

This is a slow‑burn tip, but over years it matters, especially if you’re already investing in skincare or in‑office treatments and want to protect those results.

Tip 9: Break Habits That Deepen Lines Fast

Some everyday habits quietly speed up smile line formation:

Smoking: Constricts blood vessels, damages collagen and elastin, and is consistently linked with earlier, deeper wrinkles (including around the mouth).
Chronic sun exposure without protection: UV rays accelerate collagen loss, so lines deepen much sooner in unprotected skin.
Frequent straw use and lip-pursing: Repeated puckering can create fine vertical lines around the lips that eventually blend into smile lines.
Squinting (because you skip sunglasses): Constant muscle tension can etch lines into the skin over time.

You don’t have to be perfect, but tackling the biggest offenders, especially smoking and unprotected sun, will do more for your future smile lines than any single cream.

Tip 10: Use Makeup to Diffuse, Not Fill, Your Smile Lines

Makeup can either camouflage smile lines or put a spotlight on them. The trick is to enhance light and minimize texture.

Try this:

Skip heavy concealer or full‑coverage foundation directly in the folds. These products tend to settle and cake, making lines look deeper.
Instead, keep coverage sheer around the nose‑to‑mouth area and focus your brightening and highlighting higher up, on the cheekbones and temples, to draw the eye upward.
Use a hydrating, smoothing primer if you do apply product over the folds, so foundation sits on top of the skin rather than sinking into creases.

Tip 11: Experiment With Patches and Targeted Masks for Short‑Term Smoothing

While they’re not a substitute for deeper treatments, specialty products can give a temporary boost:

Micro‑cone or micro‑dart patches deliver ingredients like hyaluronic acid, peptides, or retinol through tiny “spikes” that dissolve into the skin, smoothing the area for a day or two.
Adhesive wrinkle patches (like those designed for the corners of the mouth) work by splinting the skin in a flatter position overnight, so expression lines don’t “reset” as strongly by morning.
Smile line sheet masks infused with brightening or firming ingredients (like caffeine, niacinamide, and papaya extract) can plump the area before a big event.

I mostly save these for special occasions. They’re perfect for photos, nights out, or days when I just want everything looking a bit smoother.

Tip 12: Consider In‑Office Skin Boosters (Peels, Microneedling, RF & Lasers)

Honestly, if your skincare and lifestyle tweaks aren’t doing enough, there are a few in-clinic treatments that can help smooth the skin and soften those fine lines around the mouth.

Chemical peels: hese can help smooth texture and encourage collagen, which is great for those thin, etched-in lines. Some are really gentle with almost no recovery, while deeper peels give more noticeable results but take a bit longer to heal.
Microneedling and radiofrequency microneedling (like Morpheus8): Basically tiny, controlled pricks that nudge your skin into repair mode and help build fresh collagen. Over time, skin can look firmer and lines around the mouth may soften.
Fractional lasers (non‑ablative and ablative): Use light energy to resurface and tighten, reducing wrinkles and improving elasticity; stronger lasers offer bigger results but more downtime.

These treatments typically work best in a series and often pair beautifully with good skincare and, if appropriate, fillers. Always see a board‑certified dermatologist or experienced aesthetic doctor to build a plan tailored to your skin type, downtime tolerance, and goals.

Tip 13: Explore Volume Restoration (Fillers and Biostimulators)

For moderate to deep smile lines and noticeable midface volume loss, injectable treatments are widely considered the most effective way to lift and soften the folds.

Options your provider might discuss:

Hyaluronic acid (HA) fillers: The most common first‑line treatment. They can be placed directly in the fold or just above it, but sometimes it works even better to put them in the cheeks to restore support and soften the line indirectly. You’ll see results right away, and they usually last anywhere from six to eighteen months, depending on the product and your metabolism.
Collagen-stimulating fillers like calcium hydroxylapatite or poly‑L‑lactic acid (Sculptra): These act more like “scaffolding” triggers than pure fillers, stimulating your own collagen over months for gradual, long‑lasting improvement (often up to two years or more).
PDO threads or thread lifts: Tiny dissolvable threads can be placed under the skin to lift mild to moderate sagging and boost collagen. They’re often used along with fillers for an extra lift.

If you’re considering any injectable, make sure you go to a reputable, experienced injector, ideally a board-certified dermatologist, plastic surgeon, or someone with similar credentials. Ask about reversals too, especially for HA fillers, since hyaluronidase can dissolve them if needed. And start conservatively, you can always add more later. Overfilling this area can look unnatural.

Your Smile Lines, Your Strategy

You don’t have to do all 13 of these things to see a difference. In fact, the most sustainable routine is usually a mix of:

Daily basics: SPF, smart skincare, hydration, and habit changes.
Supportive practices: Massage, sleep tweaks, gentle facial exercises, makeup strategies.
Optional professional treatments: If and when you feel ready, peels, microneedling, lasers, fillers, or biostimulators can take you further.

Most importantly, remember that the goal isn’t to erase your story from your face. It’s to support your skin so that your smile lines look soft, intentional, and very much you—today, and ten years from now.