Do you need lip balm? Can you get addicted to lip balm?
The answers are yes and yes!!
So, what should you use to prevent and treat chapped lips?
You need to keep your lips moist by applying a really good moisturizer if you don’t want dry looking lips that are prone to chapping. This chapping occurs because, structurally, your lips don’t have the same tough dead skin cell layer that other parts of your skin have, nor do they have oil glands to keep them hydrated. Dry climates and wind will quickly sap moisture right out of your lips resulting in unpleasant chapped lips. By applying a lip moisturizer, you can help protect your lips from chapping.
But, you can become “addicted” to lip balm if you use the wrong product. The wrong lip balm is one that contains an allergen. Exposure to the allergen causes a lip rash that mimics chapping. The rash is really an allergic lip “rash,” but it looks and feels exactly the same as chapped lips. It forces you to keep reaching for your trusted lip product to find relief, which is a “beautiful world” for the lip balm maker who sells you endless tubes of product to treat your “chapped” lips.
That’s why we recommend only hypoallergenic lip moisturizers such as shea butter or even Vaseline, though the latter is not our favorite.
We especially recommend you avoid products with notorious lip allergens including:
- Citrus
- Mint
- Tea tree
- Eucalyptus
- Camphor
- Lanolin
- Artificial flavors and fragrances
- Some of the chemical sunscreens ingredients and vitamin E can be allergens to sensitive skin
To prevent annoying and painful chapped lips is why we are so particular about lip balms.