Ask the Addict: Making Balm Out of “Safe” Ingredients?
Mikki writes:
I’m just an occasional user of lip balm, but I don’t want to risk becoming addicted. Can I make my own “safe” lip balm out of natural ingredients?
Natural ingredients are certainly better than many of the petroleum-based balms. But, as many have testified, natural balms can be addictive too (especially if you think using more and more is “okay” just because it is natural). So, as with any balm, use sparingly and if you feel you are using habitually be sure to address it but reducing usage or starting our 12 Step Program.
How can you people say that lip balm affects people to such extremes that they move away or hide their ‘addiction?’ it’s fucking chapstick. I don’t need to admit that I have a ‘problem’ because there is no problem. I literally apply chapstick hundreds of times a day, and go through it quickly, because I have chapped lips. And I hate the feeling. Stop making it out to be a drug because it’s not. Again, it’s FUCKING CHAPSTICK. Anybody that ruins their life because of lip balm is pathetic, and deserves to have their life ruined for blaming something so simple as chapstick.
Lexi, you need to CALM THE FUCK DOWN.
Something about being addicted to chapstick must
have struck a nerve… Just sayin.
I am 42 and lots of wrinkles just around my mouth. I have been lip addicted for yearsssssssssss. Yes, it is just chap stick. But, I am going to stop because I think the wrinkles have appeared the last couple of years becasue my lips are so dehydrated and not producing any moisture on their own. Something to think about.
I have a addiction to lip balm. It has just started recently but it has a tremendous hold over me. I love the silky feeling on my lips, which is my high. I do ANYTHING to get lip balm, anything. Steal,lie,cheat to get my balm. If I don’t get help soon I believe it will be an addiction for LIFE.
I’m only 12 and I’m addicted to lip balm! My FAVOURITE lip balm has to be Blistex! I love it so much and I use it hundreds of times a day! I really need to get over my addiction but when I try my lips become red and very painful! What do I doooooo….!!!
My 11-year-old daughter just told me her best friend (I’ll call her “Anna”) told her that using Chapstick was addictive. She asked me “Mommy, is that true?” I told her no way, but I then got to be wondering. Anna’s mother is usually VERY well-informed about all things medical, so I thought I better look it up. That is how I stumbled on to this LBA website. Now that I have perused your entire site, I can see where applying lip balm can become a true addiction and not “just” an obsessive behavior. (Not that obsessive behaviors are easily dealt with.) What convinced me was the fact that lip balm manufacturers deliberately add ingredients that make dry lips worse, thus ensuring that people use more and more of their product. That, coupled with the fact that when you stop using these products, your lips really do get ragged. Thanks for opening my eyes to this very real problem. I will tell my daughter that I was WRONG, and that her friend was right. And I think it’s time to make her Disney lip balm disappear. Forever. Yes, I said Disney. Look how young it starts - she’s had it since she was 5.
That first post from Lexi is exactly what people don’t get here. From reading this site I’ve picked up on a kind of Tongue-in-Cheek tone. No its not cocaine or meth. But anything can be addictive and when you have an “addiction” to something, be it lip-balm, cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, religion, your SMART PHONE, etc… when you dont have the thing that provides you with your addiction you realize that its not good for you physically, mentally, or spiritually. I came to work today and forgot my chapstick. I can barely function because all I can concentrate on is the burning sensation on my lips. That sucks. There is a difference between just wanting something, and feeling like you NEED something. I know that I have an addictive personality which is why I stay away from drugs and alcohol (I will have some on occasion but I know it could get out of hand if Im not careful).
I was hoping to find something on this site, however, that might help if you are going through “withdrawals”. Ive tried hand lotion but it dries up so fast on my lips. Yeah Im putting hand lotion on my lips… Addicted much… thats like an alcoholic drinking mouthwash because theres no alcohol around.
At the moment I am going through acute lip balm withdrawl… My lips swelled up to a cartoonish state, blistered, peeled, and are now chapped and throbbing to a point that I cannot eat or speak. I’m in Southern California. No cold. No wind. To those who put down the message and comments of this site, you simply have no idea what you are talking about. I have never been without lip gloss or lip balm most of my adult life and am suffering for it now. My lips could no longer maintain moisture balance on their own and went into crisis without it. I had lip balm in my dressing room, bathroom, kitchen, office, tote bag, and an emergency backup in my car at all times. All kidding aside, it can be a serious problem with very real medical implications. This all started when I went without applying my usual Rosebud balm for ONE day. It induced inflammation, a slew of viral infections, and who knows what else. (I am seeing an allergist to be sure it isn’t something else, but I am convinced it was the the lip balm… I ate nothing out of the ordinary.) My doctor wanted to put me on steroids my condition was so bad. I declined and am currently putting honey and cold, moist compresses on my lips, praying they will come out of this horrific ordeal healthier and able to exist free of balms and salves. I threw away every single tin.