Do you need lip balm? Can you get addicted to lip balm? Are some lip balms bad? The answers are yes, yes and yes! How do you pick a good lip balm and what should you avoid?
As a dermatologist I know that you need to keep your lips moist by applying a really good moisturizing lip care product if you don’t want dry-looking lips that are prone to chapping. You need to apply it at the beginning of your day, throughout the day and at bedtime too. This is because your lip skin is unique and requires this special care.
Lip chapping occurs because, structurally, your lips don’t have the same tough dead skin cell layer that other parts of your skin have. Technically, we call lip skin 'mucosa' and it is different. Also, your lips don't have oil glands to help keep the lip mucosa hydrated. (Compare the skin of your nose to your lips for a fun demonstration!)
Lip skin is also really thin. It has many fewer layers of skin cells than does the adjacent skin of your face. This thinness is why lips are pink; the pink color of lips is visible because lip skin is so thin that you can see the capillaries below the skin surface.
Moisture is easily lost from lip mucosa. Dry climates and wind will quickly pull out moisture from your thin and vulnerable lip skin 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 disadvantages of lip balm depend on what is actually in the product - specifically, what ingredients were used to make the balm. Some ingredients in lip balm can lead to a lip rash that looks identical to chapped lips.....
You bet it can! The wrong lip balm - meaning one that contains an allergen - will cause dry, rough uncomfortable lips that feel chapped! Exposure to the allergen causes a lip rash that mimics chapping (allergic cheilitis). The rash is really an allergic lip rash (eczema), but it looks and feels exactly the same as chapped lips.
The allergic lip rash from lip balm forces you to keep reaching for your trusted lip product to find relief. It's a beautiful world for the lip balm maker who sells you endless tubes of a product promising to treat your "chapped" lips but that really causes the disturbing dryness and peeling.
I especially recommend you avoid products with notorious lip allergens including:
These ingredients are really really really common in lip products. Start reading the labels and you will especially see citrus, mint and tea tree. Argh! Some of the older formulations rely on camphor and lanolin. My opinion is that lips are too sensitive for these ingredients - avoid them!
It is also important to note that vitamin E is often included in natural products as a preservative. It too can be an allergen, though it is rare. Another caution I want to alert you to is sunscreens in lip balm. Chemical sunscreens ingredients can be allergens to sensitive skin and I recommend avoiding them! Use only SPF lip products with mineral zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. I'll say more on that below.
I recommend only hypoallergenic lip moisturizers made from deeply hydrating and protective ingredients. My top choices include olive oil and other botanical oils such as castor seed oil, shea butter, dimethicone and even Vaseline, though the latter is not my favorite.
You can use pure Vaseline or a tin of shea butter. Nicer options include blended hypoallergenic products such as my certified organic Natural Lip Balm made with olive oil and castor oil. I apply this many times a day and always at bedtime. I keep one everywhere (purse, bathroom, desk, bedside table etc) and I give them as gifts - because everyone spends their day reaching for lip balm over and over.
I don't like chemical sunscreen UV filters and I definitely don't like you to eat those chemicals. Of course, what's on your lips is eaten all day. You can also be allergic to chemical sunscreens in lip balms, benzophenone being one notorious culprit.
Keep your lip sun protection products simple and use physical mineral lip sunscreens such as Vanicream Lip Protectant. This gentle product also contains dimethicone to help prevent chapping from wind and weather. Like all VaniCream products, it is free of notorious allergens including those that can cause you to be "addicted to lip balm".
If you are using lip balm all day and still have chapped lips, it may be the lip balm that is the problem. Lip skin (mucosa) is thin, absorbs allergens and gets allergic chelitis (allergic lip rash) that looks just like chapped lips. Allergic chelitis to lip balm is not rare. Use only hypoallergenic lip care products as I mentioned above.
Preventing annoying and painful chapped lips is why I'm so particular about lip balms and carry only the two products that I mentioned. They are hypoallergenic, free from the notorious allergens that create lip balm addiction, and work really well to treat and prevent lip chapping. These are the products I use for my sensitive skin patients, and the products that I carry in my purse and recommend for my family.
Before I was a dermatologist, I was "addicted to lip balm" because I used a popular lip product (which will go unnamed) for years. I had well worn tins and tubes of it everywhere - and chronically chapped lips. My bottom lip would split, my top lip was always chapped and the angles of my lips would crack and fissure too. I bought tons of that brand over the years and trusted them to my detriment. Now that I'm a dermatologist, I know better - I was addicted to the lip balm and suffered the consequences. I'm glad I finally figured it all out! Learn from me and prevent chapped lips by using only hypoallergenic lip care products!
Lip Balm is one of the most popular cosmetics that people use. This is a wax-like substance you apply to moisturize and ease pain caused by chapped or dry lips. Due to the thin skin of the lips, it is very vulnerable and usually displays signs of dryness before any other areas of the skin. The Lip balm can help you to protect your lips from dry air, wind, and cold temperatures. It may seem very simple to you but might not know that these lip balms have both advantages and disadvantages, which you need to know! If you are confused about what type of lip balm you could get then you can visit https://www.cherie.com/.
The Advantages Of Applying Lip Balm
It is common knowledge that the lip balm can help you with relieving chapped lips but it can also provide other benefits. The lip balm can give your lip a glossy effect after applying. This glossy lip can be very alluring. The advantages of lip balm do not end there nowadays there are a lot of lip balms on the market that have different flavors and scents to them. You can choose a lip balm according to your choice of flavor and scents.
The Disadvantages Of Applying Lip Balm
The lip balm does not only contain advantages, like many other products it also has a few significant drawbacks that you have to be very careful about.
Worsen Lip Chapping
The most obvious drawback is that some lip balm could worsen lip chapping. Some of the lip balms contain an allergen. This could cause a lip rash that mimics chapped lips. It causes lip rash that is an allergic reaction from some substances this looks and feels like chapped lips.
Make Lips Drier
Some of the lip balm brands contain ingredients that can make your lips drier. Some of them are phenol, menthol, and salicylic acid. If you want to avoid this dangerous effect happening to your lips you should avoid using lip balms that have lip allergens. These could be Citrus, Mint, Tea tree, Eucalyptus, Camphor, and Lanolin.
Dangerous Ingredients
Some of the lip balms even have few chemicals that are potentially very dangerous for your skin. That is why when you are purchasing a lip[ balm for you be sure to check out the ingredient list first. Some of the dangerous ingredients that a lip balm could have are paraffin, petrolatum, dyes, and phenol. If you absolutely need lip balm then you could replace these lip balm bands with others who contain safer ingredients.
Possible Infection
Those are not the end. there is a risk of possible infection from lip balms. Continuous use of a cosmetic product may lead to contamination. While many people apply it in a manner like lipstick, some prefer applying lip balm with their fingers. This allows bacteria and germs on your hands to gain easy access to your mouth, which can affect your health. You can avoid infection by changing your products, and washing your hands before applying lip balm to your mouth.
Furthermore, always switch out your product if you’ve recently suffered from a cold sore.