It is no surprise why the global market for lip balms has crossed over $800 million by 2020. A question always arises that despite not having any addictive elements, why do people use lip balms so devotedly? Winters that are supposed to bring happiness and coldness only, also bring dryness to your skin. You can protect your skin with coconut oil or other products for temporary relief but what can you do to shield your chapped lips? That is where the lip balms come, and there is no going back on this road.

A study was conducted where many people voted lip balms as a beauty essential and their second most important product after sunscreen. Certain brands also used stars and platforms like Ellen DeGeneres and Academy Awards to promote their products. This is such the hype and demand for lip balms.

What is a Lip Balm?

The lip balm or salve is a wax-like product topically applied on lips to moisturize and protect them. It keeps your lips hydrated and plump in the chilly season. They have moisturizing ingredients, such as beeswax, lanolin, shea butter and paraffin, etc.

A renowned dermatologist stated that lips have a function to repair themselves and preserve hydration without using anything on them. He further added that continuously using such products can result in damage rather than repairment.

Why Do People Use Lip Balms?

There have been claims that they might consist of addictive properties, whereas this is just a mere misconception. Lip balms do not have those ingredients that can result in physiological dependencies, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and tend you to use them multiple times a day. The chief problem is in the ingredients, exfoliants’ mixture that removes dead skin and emollients, helping to soften and smoothen the skin from different acids, such as salicylic acid and phenol. They can cause irritation as well.

Manufacturers should mention these ingredients on their packaging aesthetically. Get your branded lip balm boxes to make people fond of your brand.

Obsessive Compulsion with Lip Balms

Please do not confuse addiction with OCD as the first one is all about stimulation, whereas the latter is about soothing. OCD is not limited to only lip balms but exists in the infinite count. For instance, a person might have hygiene-related OCD where he/she will be cleaning their hands multiple times after touching a doorknob, as they believe others have also used the same knob to open the door and contains bacteria that can harm them severely.

So, applying a lip balm numerous times comes under OCD classification.

We also want to differentiate between compulsion and a habit disorder. We have already quoted an example on OCD, whereas habit disorder is an activity/disorder where you are doing something without knowing the exact reasons. For instance, you bite your nails without understanding the reason behind it. For those actions that can severely affect you, you must get in touch with an expert.

Online Forum for Help

Many online platforms are available where people interact to help themselves with various issues, such as anxiety, OCD and other disorders. They laugh and chat about their experiences and problems. They share recovery plans and offer guidance on the issues.

There have been people who said that they cannot spend even a day without using a lip balm, and some are using it for decades, etc. It does not mean that lip balms are harmful. We realize that chapped lips or dryness are genuine. Issues like lip eczema that cause pain can be healed by jelly petroleum and shea butter, which are present in the lip balms.

A lip balm company, whose name is being kept anonymous for confidentiality reasons, stated that they were manufacturing lip balms habitually without understanding that it is topical. They added that those who have attempted to give up on it has experienced a negative impact for quite a few days or weeks.

It has also been focused on not using the term “addiction” with it as it is not healthy to play with them because it reduces the value of that word for serious conditions. Similarly, we should be educated about the difference between compulsion and habits.

We have outlined the necessary reasons which define if using lip balms is an addiction or not. It is now on you to decide if you are among those who apply such products a number of times each day. Even if your lips still feel chapped and you do not stop using lip balms after their futile result, there might be a chance that there is a problem persisting.

There are endless cosmetics and skincare companies existing that have the responsibility to aware their audience about both the healthy as well as negative effects of lip balms. They should be used to maintain your lips and not as an addiction.