Straws have been on the agenda lately. While the damage caused by plastics to the environment and human health has popularized straws made of paper and reeds, straws made of metal or glass that can be used over and over again have taken their place among the alternatives.
The last link in this innovation process is anti-wrinkle straws!
Try to visualize someone drinking something with an ordinary straw. In order to pull the liquid up from the glass, the lips have to pucker a little bit, right? It is thought that when this situation is repeated over and over again for a long time, it causes wrinkles on the edges of the lips called perioral lines. This is exactly where anti-wrinkle straws come in.
These straws, which resemble the number 7 in shape, have a mouth opening above the horizontal part. This allows users to consume liquids without pursing their lips.
Dr. Jenny Liu, who teaches dermatology at the University of Minnesota Medical School, said that these straws could work in theory, but there are no studies to support this claim.
“Thanks to the opening on the straw, the person can consume the liquid with much less puckering of the lips compared to an ordinary straw,” Dr. Liu said. Stating that this may reduce the possibility of perioral lines, Dr. Liu said, “But, once again, this is all theory. Lip wrinkles are not only caused by repeated movements. Genes, sun damage or one’s occupation, such as musicians playing wind instruments, can also lead to lip wrinkles.”
Dr. Liu also stated that frequency is also an important factor, “For a person who does not use a straw while drinking water but has wrinkles around the lips, using an anti-wrinkle straw would not be very useful. So there is a misnomer here,” he said.
TikTok is full of praise
The lack of research on this topic has not prevented anti-wrinkle straws from taking TikTok by storm.
For example, in a video that has been viewed more than 1.6 million times on TikTok and went viral on X, social media phenomenon aesthetician Michaela Scott said, “This straw is an anti-wrinkle straw, so you don’t pucker your lips too much when you drink from the side like this.”
Wellness and beauty influencer Lauren Erro said the straws “might be the best anti-aging invention to date,” adding: “They always say straws cause wrinkles, but this straw prevents exactly that.”
However, there were also those who did not like the straws very much. One person commented, “It’s a very tiring life,” while another said, “It’s just a straw.”
Many anti-wrinkle straws are now being sold on e-commerce sites. The most popular products belong to The Lipzi brand.
Tim McManaman, the founder of the brand, said they have sold tens of thousands of straws so far. McManaman, 58, who lives in Normal, Illinois, told The New York Times that he works for a large financial services company and enjoys inventing original ideas in his spare time and buying straws.
Stating that he often drinks cola, McManaman said, “Once, while drinking cola with a straw, I saw myself in the car mirror and realized that there were many wrinkles around my lips. That’s when the idea of The Lipzi came to my mind.”
“I brought the straw to the table and my wife’s first reaction was, ‘Okay, this idea could work,'” said McManaman, who said he received unexpectedly enthusiastic reactions when he showed the prototype to his wife and four grown children.
McManaman also said that they started wholesaling The Lipzi to spas in the Midwest, which turned from a side business into a profitable family business in a short period of time, and that he has applied for a patent to reduce counterfeit products on Amazon.
Emphasizing that he personally does not care much about wrinkles around the lips, McManaman said, “But too many people care. There are a lot of people who take it seriously.”
fikrikadim editor compiled this article from The New York Times.
