Lip Balm Addicts, Unite!
There’s no doubt about it, dry, chapped lips aren’t pretty. And rough lips are all too common. Unlike other parts of our skin, our lips have no oil glands, so they are prone to dryness. To keep them soft and supple, we do need to moisturize. But, hang on a sec! Before you reach for an off-the-shelf lip balm, know that certain ingredients actually dry out your lips, creating a vicious circle of dryness and reapplication. These are the ingredients to avoid: Fragrances and artificial colors; any “coolants,” such as menthol, camphor and phenol; salicylic acid; aloe butter; and even vitamin E. One way to be sure that your lip balm has only the most helpful ingredients is to make it yourself. Here are 13 deliciously simple DIY lip balm recipes.
While no ingredients in lip balm are actually addicting, how are so many of us admitted lip balm abusers? (Guilty!) Would it surprise you to hear that the action of applying and reapplying lip balm all day can be symptomatic of a type of OCD, where lip dryness triggers a psychological response? Brooklyn-based humor writer and performer Kerri Doherty came clean about her addiction on Kevin Allison’s Risk! podcast, recalling a day at work when she had to dash out of a presentation for more Burt’s Bees Original Peppermint. In her rush and anxiety, she grabbed a tube of white sunblock instead. Of course, her audience was riveted. She didn’t realize her mistake until the presentation was over. “It looked like I had stuck my face into an entire bag of cocaine,” she says. That’s when she knew she had a problem.
Covert lip balm addicts, unite!
Do you have a crazy lip balm experience share? Tweet us your experience at @BritandCo!
(Photo via Getty)