# why are lips red **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 13, 2001, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-lips-red/72325 "2001-07-13T04:25:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![molsonmg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@molsonmg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/molsonmg)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2001, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-lips-red/72325/1 "2001-07-13T04:25:09Z")
Why are your lips red and not the same colour as the rest of your skin ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2001, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-lips-red/72325/2 "2001-07-13T04:30:02Z")
**LIPSTICK?** šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![cvandy3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cvandy3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cvandy3)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2001, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-lips-red/72325/3 "2001-07-13T04:45:34Z")
maby there is just more bloodflow to the lips? ---
**Author:** ![pluto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f08c70/32.png) [@pluto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pluto)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2001, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-lips-red/72325/4 "2001-07-13T05:11:20Z")
Desmond Morris contends that lips are sexual advertisement and they are red because the lips of the labia are red (generally speaking). He cites the case of the mandrill, a type of baboon with a highly colored face and similarly colored nether regions. Physically, their red color comes from the skin being of a different type and much thinner there. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2001, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-lips-red/72325/5 "2001-07-13T09:13:31Z")
If Iā€™m not mistaken, the lips are clad not by skin, but by mucosa, the delicate tissue that clothes the inside of your body cavities. Itā€™s highly vascular (has lots of blood vessels very close to the surface), which for all I know is why your lips crack and bleed in the winter but the rest of you doesnā€™t. ---
**Author:** ![False\_God](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ee7513/32.png) [@False\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/False_God)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2001, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-lips-red/72325/6 "2001-07-13T09:56:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pluto \* > \*\*Desmond Morris contends that lips are sexual advertisement and they are red because the lips of the labia are red (generally speaking). He cites the case of the mandrill, a type of baboon with a highly colored face and similarly colored nether regions. > > Physically, their red color comes from the skin being of a different type and much thinner there. \*\* While itā€™s a sexual advertisement (and this is also why lipstick is popular) itā€™s also a ā€œnotice meā€ or species identifier. Peopleā€™s facial featurea allow us to recognize one another as a member of the same species, therefore available for breeding. As people eveoved, and sensory input became largely confined to the face and genitals, the lips bacame propotionaly larger in regard to the rest of our face. Species that donā€™t use their mouths for kissing as much( or which are less sexaully competitive) tend not to have differentiated lip color or structure. Also, since we put (among other things) food into our mouths via them, it makes sense that they be very sensitive mucosa rather than skin, so as to alert us to any toxcity before we eat something. ---
**Author:** ![muttrox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a8b319/32.png) [@muttrox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muttrox)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2001, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-lips-red/72325/7 "2001-07-13T12:39:06Z")
Most lips arenā€™t all that red in the first place. Take an objective look, I think youā€™ll see there is some reddishness, but not as much as you think.