Laugh lines — the two creases running from the sides of the nose to the corners of the mouth, known clinically as nasolabial folds — attract some of the most dishonest marketing in skincare. Creams that promise to "fill the fold from within". Devices sold as needle-free filler. An earlier version of this article leaned that way too, and it deserved correcting. So here is the straight version instead: what these folds actually are, why they deepen, what you can genuinely change at home, what no cream can touch, and every option in between — each with honest expectations attached.
- Nasolabial folds are normal anatomy, not a flaw — look at any laughing child. The fold marks where mobile cheek skin meets anchored skin around the mouth, and it exists so your face can move.
- What changes with age isn’t the fold’s existence but its depth at rest. “Erase the fold” is an impossible goal that sells products; “soften its resting depth” is a real one.
- Two of the four drivers live in the skin — thinning collagen and sun damage. The biggest one, midface volume loss and descent, lives entirely underneath it, where no cream reaches.
You have laugh lines because you have a face
Start with the fact that reframes everything: nasolabial folds are a normal anatomical feature, not a flaw. Everyone who smiles has them. Look at a photo of any laughing child and you will see the same two creases — the fold marks the boundary where the mobile skin of the cheek meets the more anchored skin around the mouth, and it exists precisely so your face can move.
What changes with age is not the fold's existence but its depth at rest. In your twenties the crease appears when you smile and springs flat when you stop. Over the decades, it gradually stays visible even with a neutral expression. That resting depth — not the fold itself — is what people actually mean when they search for how to get rid of laugh lines. The distinction matters, because "erase the fold" is an impossible goal that sells products, while "soften its resting depth and stop accelerating it" is a real one.
What actually deepens the fold
Four contributors, roughly in order of importance:
- Midface volume loss and descent. The biggest driver. The fat pads of the cheek gradually lose volume and shift downward with age, and because the cheek borders the fold from above, that descending tissue presses the crease deeper. This happens below the skin entirely — a point that will matter in a moment. It is the same process that eventually creates jowls along the jawline.
- Skin thinning and collagen decline. The dermis gradually thins from your mid-twenties onward. Thinner, less collagen-rich skin drapes into the crease rather than springing back out of it.
- Sun damage. UV exposure degrades collagen and elastin faster than time alone ever would. Of everything on this list, it is the factor you control most directly.
- Mechanical habits. Side sleeping presses one cheek into the pillow for hours a night, and many people notice their pillow-side fold is the deeper one. The evidence here is mostly observational, but the asymmetry is hard to argue with. Chronic poor sleep may also work against skin structure more generally — we covered that in what sleep deprivation does to dermal elasticity.
Notice the split: two of these forces live in the skin, and the biggest one lives underneath it. Everything honest you can say about treating laugh lines follows from that split.
The honesty tier: what topicals can and cannot do
What topicals can do is work on the skin-quality layer. Well-hydrated skin — humectants like hyaluronic acid pulling water into the upper layers, ceramides holding it there — is measurably plumper at the surface, and a plumper surface makes the shallow portion of a crease catch less shadow. The effect is real, visible the same day, and temporary: it resets when you stop. Retinoids go further: they are the best-evidenced topical class for gradually supporting dermal thickness and collagen over months of use, which can modestly soften the upper, skin-level portion of the fold. (If you are new to them, start with our guide to the retinoid ladder.) Peptide formulas aim at similar skin-firmness territory by a gentler route; the evidence base is thinner than for retinoids, and we have written honestly about what peptides can and cannot borrow from fillers.
What topicals cannot do is reach the structural component. A fold that is deep at rest is deep mostly because of volume loss and tissue descent happening well below where any cream physically goes. No topical restores a midface fat pad. No device you use at home repositions descended tissue. If your fold is pronounced with a neutral expression, skincare will soften its edges and improve the skin draped over it — it will not remove it. Changing the structure itself is the territory of injectable fillers and in-clinic procedures, which are decisions to weigh with a qualified medical professional, not with a beauty article. And to be equally clear in the other direction: a deep nasolabial fold is not a medical problem. Doing nothing is a perfectly reasonable option too.
A useful rule of thumb: if your lines show mainly when you smile, skin-quality tools have the most to offer you. If the fold is clearly carved in at rest, topicals play a supporting role at best — and it is worth checking first that what you are seeing is a true structural fold and not dehydration lines masquerading as wrinkles, which respond far better to simple hydration.
The option ladder, from free to clinic
Here is every realistic option, ordered roughly from cheapest to most involved, with an honest account of what each one actually addresses.
| Option | What it actually addresses | Realistic effect on the fold | Cost / commitment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily sunscreen | Protects the collagen you still have from UV breakdown | Prevents deepening rather than reversing it — the biggest long-term payoff on this list | Low · every morning, indefinitely |
| Back sleeping | Removes hours of nightly pillow pressure on one cheek | May slow one-sided deepening; hard habit to retrain, evidence observational | Free · weeks to retrain |
| Hydrating skincare (hyaluronic acid, ceramides) | Surface plumpness and light reflection in the skin over the fold | Softer look the same day; temporary — resets when you stop | Low–mid · daily |
| Retinoids | Dermal thickness and collagen support over months | Modest softening of the skin-level portion; best-evidenced topical option | Low–mid · nightly for 3–6+ months, with an irritation curve |
| Peptide treatments | Skin-firmness signalling, gentler than retinoids | Subtle at best; evidence more limited than for retinoids | Mid · months of consistent use |
| Makeup technique | Light and shadow, not the skin at all | Immediate visual softening; lasts as long as the makeup does | Low · minutes |
| Professional consultation (fillers, in-clinic procedures) | The structural fold itself — volume and support below the skin | The only route that changes the resting depth of a genuinely deep fold; risks and suitability are individual | High · decide with a qualified medical practitioner |
The pattern worth noticing: the free habits at the top protect, the mid-ladder topicals soften, and only the last rung restructures. Most disappointment with laugh-line products comes from buying a rung-three product while expecting rung-seven results.
Tonight's options: makeup and instant tactics
There is nothing wrong with wanting the fold softer for a dinner that starts in two hours. Makeup cannot change skin, but it can change how light falls on it — which is most of what a crease visually is.
- Hydrate before you apply anything. A humectant serum and a few minutes of patience plump the surface so makeup sits on the skin instead of sinking into the crease.
- Go thinner, not fuller, over the fold. Heavy foundation migrates into creases within hours and traces them in pigment. A light layer, pressed in with a sponge, emphasizes less.
- Never run concealer down the length of the fold. A stripe of light inside a crease highlights it. If you use concealer at all, dot a slightly lighter shade only at the deepest point near the nose and blend outward.
- Prefer cream products to powder anywhere near the fold — powder collects in creases and exaggerates texture.
- Pull the eye upward. Blush and highlight placed high on the cheekbone draw attention away from the lower face entirely — the same light-steering logic we unpack in how skin radiance and light reflection actually work.
Laugh line questions, answered straight
Can you get rid of laugh lines naturally?
Completely, no — and you would not want to, since the fold is part of how your face moves. What you can realistically do without procedures is soften the resting depth modestly (hydration, retinoids), stop accelerating it (sunscreen, sleep position), and disguise it when you choose to (makeup).
Does hyaluronic acid cream fill nasolabial folds like filler does?
No, and this is the single most common piece of misdirection on this topic. It is the same molecule in a completely different place: a cream's hyaluronic acid hydrates the uppermost skin layers, while injectable filler places a gel physically beneath the fold. "Filler in a jar" is a marketing phrase, not a mechanism. HA creams are worth using for surface plumpness — just not for that reason.
Do facial exercises or face yoga help laugh lines?
Evidence is very limited, and there is a reasonable theoretical concern that repeatedly exaggerating facial movements could reinforce movement lines rather than soften them. Gentle massage is fine and pleasant; expecting it to change fold depth is not realistic.
Why is one of my laugh lines deeper than the other?
Check which side you sleep on — pillow pressure is the usual suspect. Natural facial asymmetry and one-sided chewing or expression habits contribute too. Some asymmetry is universal and unremarkable.
At what age do laugh lines become visible at rest?
It varies enormously with genetics, face shape and sun history — commonly somewhere in the thirties or forties, but some people see them in their twenties with perfectly healthy skin. Fuller cheeks tend to show the fold earlier, which is a matter of geometry, not of aging worse.
Is filler the only thing that works on a deep fold?
For changing the structural resting depth of a genuinely deep fold — essentially yes, procedures are the only lever, and whether they are right for you is a conversation for a qualified medical professional. But "works" depends on the goal: if the goal is looking well-rested and cared-for rather than fold-free, the rest of the ladder genuinely contributes.
Where that leaves you
Laugh lines are a feature of every face that smiles; only their resting depth is the variable. Daily sunscreen, a retinoid and decent hydration cover everything a topical can honestly address. If a deep fold still bothers you after that, it is a structural question for a qualified professional — not a reason to buy another cream that promises what no cream can do.
This article is educational and not medical advice. Cosmetic products affect the appearance of skin and are not equivalent to in-clinic procedures. If you are considering fillers or other procedures, consult a qualified medical practitioner.
Youth Rituals sells some of the products mentioned in this article. Product inclusion does not affect how we evaluate evidence.
