Is it true that … the more lip balm you use, the more lip balm you need?
Ever found yourself stuck in a loop of applying more and more lip balm, wondering whether it’s because the product’s becoming less effective with each application, or your lips are becoming reliant on it for moisture and dry out more easily when you don’t apply it?
Dr Rosalind Simpson, a medical dermatologist from the Centre of Evidence Based Dermatology at the University of Nottingham, says: “Lip balms don’t contain products that cause tolerance. But it can feel like this due to other factors.”
The first factor, she says, is that some people are “lip-lickers”, and lip balms with fragrance or flavour can encourage the habit: “People who lick their lips naturally dry their lips out because saliva has irritant and drying properties.”
The second is our environment. Simpson says: “In winter, going between the cold outside, which is very drying, and the heating on the inside, which can also dry things out, people might find they need more lip balm.”
The final factor is that some people can develop contact allergies to ingredients in lip balms, particularly fragrances and flavourings such as menthol, as well as chemicals such as lanolin and propylene glycol. This reaction might present as irritation and dryness – and may not start until months after you start using a product.
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“People often say: ‘I’ve been using the product for ages. How can it only now be causing me a problem?’” Simpson says. “But a contact allergy is a delayed rather than an immediate reaction.”
She says the best tip for finding a lip balm that won’t trigger irritation is to opt for products with as few ingredients as possible. She also favours products that create a waterproof barrier, such as plain petroleum jelly, which protect lips from irritating weather and saliva, rather than a moisturiser that sinks in.
