Your Lip Balm Doesn’t Work?

By now, you’re well aware that the key to beautiful lipstick is keeping your lips healthy and hydrated underneath. That’s far easier said than done in the winter, though, when cold and bitter weather whisks in and zaps the hydration from our faces. For that reason, there’s probably a lip balm in your pocket or bag at this very moment. You might consider it your lord and savior when a pesky flake or crack rears its ugly head, but I have some bad news: Certain lip balm ingredients can actually contribute to chapping.

Ever re-apply a lip balm all week long, then realize later that your lips are still chapped and it makes absolutely no sense? Or experienced a minor lip rash after switching balm brands? According to experts, it might be an irritant or something you’re allergic to keeping you in chapped-lip purgatory. We asked a crop of dermatologists to explain what those ingredients are, if and how you should avoid them, and why they’re even there in the first place.

The good news is that avoiding common lip balm irritants is rather easy, but first, you need to know what those are. First and foremost to avoid balms made with fragrances due to their drying properties. They just add cosmetic appeal to the product but are irritating to the skin barrier, causing more dryness and irritation.

Fragrances are the biggest cause of allergic contact dermatitis (otherwise known as rashes). The Food and Drug Administration requires cosmetic companies to label all scented products with the simple mention of “fragrance” in the ingredient list, so they’re easy to look for and steer clear of.

Camphor, phenol, and menthol as “very, super, ultra-common” causes of contact dermatitis in lip balms. Even though eucalyptus and peppermint oil are naturally-derived, they have similar tingling effects and can still cause slight irritation.

Why would brands use so many ingredients they know can cause irritation to the customer? Certain Internet forums like the now-defunct Lip Balm Anonymous suggest companies use these ingredients in an intentional ploy to keep customers dependent on their products. But cosmetic chemist Ginger King has a much simpler answer: They all have basic practical functions within their formulas.

Menthol, camphor, and the like are included in lip balms simply because they cause a cooling effect or tingle that’s popular with consumers. Menthol can cause hives, but that camphor is still the worse of the two. That pleasant tingle, That gives consumers the illusion that a balm is benefitting their lips more than usual when it’s actually doing the opposite.

Phenol, on the other hand, is sometimes used to create a lip-plumping effect and acts as a preservative for other ingredients. However, it is a toxin and is therefore far less common among formulas. The word “toxin” is a lot scarier than it sounds, so don’t fret if your current balm contains it — small amounts of phenol are also found in plastics and mouthwash. There’s plenty of research left to be done on the longterm effects of this ingredient, but the FDA considers it OK to digest in small doses, and no links to cancer have been found by the EPA or the World Health Organization.

If the good news is that it’s easy to spot and avoid potentially irritating lip balms, then the bad news is that determining whether your current lip balm should be tossed is a little harder. The quest to figure out the source and contributors of cheilitis, or lip rash, can be a complex mystery worthy Sherlock Holmes-level contemplation, treating your lip-care routine somewhat like a basic science experiment. If lips start doing poorly, the first question to ask is, ‘what has changed?’ The answers to this question drive the investigation into possible causes.

If your lips are super chapped and your perpetual lip balm application isn’t helping, just use it less. If things improve, you know you either need to lessen your balm habit or switch to a different formula. Recommends SkinCeuticals Antioxidant Lip Repair and Plain Vaseline 100% Pure Petroleum Jelly; also Vanicream Lip Protectant partly for its SPF 30. We would also recommend the Best of Beauty-winning Laniege Lip Sleeping Mask, which hydrates deeply with hyaluronic acid while its vitamin C gently exfoliates away dead skin cells.