# Addictive Chap Stick **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [July 22, 2002, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addictive-chap-stick/120247 "2002-07-22T18:17:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JRRobinson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@JRRobinson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRRobinson)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2002, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addictive-chap-stick/120247/1 "2002-07-22T18:17:24Z")
In response to the Chap Stick addiction article, I once heard from a (probably unreliable) Television News show that scientists believe that lotions and lip balms fool your body into thinking that it no longer needs to create its natural moisturizers. I don’t know if it’s true, but it makes sense and if you want to try it, wear a lot of chap stick for a month, then stop wearing it. You’ll probably have very dry lips, but maybe it’s because you’re used to wearing too much freaking chap stick. It’s just food for thought. J. Robinson ---
**Author:** ![SWalden8609](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@SWalden8609](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SWalden8609)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addictive-chap-stick/120247/2 "2012-03-23T04:24:40Z")
I agree whole heartedly. As a person with more than one addiction, I do believe that ChapStick can be PHYSICALLY addictive. Mentally, not so much. My lips definitely don’t produce enough moisture anymore. Is a twelve-step program in order, though? Absolutely not. I would think one would need more consequences to one’s addiction than mild physical discomfort. For instance, if one finds oneself losing jobs, friends, family, etc. due to ChapStick addiction, something may need to be done. I, however, can’t exactly see that happening. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addictive-chap-stick/120247/3 "2012-03-24T13:32:07Z")
Link to article: > **[Is it possible to be addicted to Chap Stick?](https://www.straightdope.com/21342447/is-it-possible-to-be-addicted-to-chap-stick)** Is there any commonly available balm with the phenol, etc? I don’t need my lips to tingle. Just the opposite. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addictive-chap-stick/120247/4 "2012-03-24T13:48:02Z")
[Burt’s Bees Lip Balm](http://www.burtsbees.com/natural-products/lips-lip-balms/?WT.srch=1&cm_mmc=PPC-_-Google-_-lips-_-burts_bees_lip_balm) comes highly recommended, though I have never used it. However, the original variety claims it has a hint of peppermint oil that will make your lips tingle! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![StuffLikeThatThere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc8723/32.png) [@StuffLikeThatThere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StuffLikeThatThere)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addictive-chap-stick/120247/5 "2012-03-24T14:20:44Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > [Burt’s Bees Lip Balm](http://www.burtsbees.com/natural-products/lips-lip-balms/?WT.srch=1&cm_mmc=PPC-_-Google-_-lips-_-burts_bees_lip_balm) comes highly recommended, though I have never used it. However, the original variety claims it has a hint of peppermint oil that will make your lips tingle! :smack: The pomegranate (WHY can I not spell that word without looking it up?) version of Burt’s Bees does not make your lips tingle. It does not tint the lips, though it is tinted in the tube. ---
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2012, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addictive-chap-stick/120247/6 "2012-03-24T20:54:41Z")
> [@SWalden8609](#): > > My lips definitely don’t produce enough moisture anymore. I think your lips produce as much moisture as anyone else’s. No one has naturally wet lips, and lips do not naturally feel slimy. You’re used to waxy feeling lips and are convinced that you’re defective because you can’t create that effect naturally. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addictive-chap-stick/120247/7 "2012-03-26T14:47:26Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Is there any commonly available balm with the phenol, etc? I don’t need my lips to tingle. Just the opposite. Vaseline makes pure petroleum jelly in little pocket tubes for lip use. I think it is Chap Stick naturals that does not appear to have tingle in it. Burts Bees Wax original has peppermint oil, which is atrocious in a lip balm. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addictive-chap-stick/120247/8 "2012-03-26T15:22:01Z")
Salicyclic acid is in most chapstick and carmex products. It is also in Acne fighting products, and is used as a mild chemical exfoliant to slough off dead skin. Yes, chapstick makes your lips chap! Now, over the course of three or four days this will leave damaged lips looking rosy pink, healthy and smooth. It will also leave the newer skin exposed, which might feel raw and split easily. thus the desperate feeling need for added protection. Oh! Wait! There are lovely soft wax and oils in this lip stuff, I think I’ll put some over the thin raw new skin. . . Sounds a lot like addiction to me! ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addictive-chap-stick/120247/9 "2012-03-27T15:45:55Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Oh! Wait! There are lovely soft wax and oils in this lip stuff, I think I’ll put some over the thin raw new skin. . . > > Sounds a lot like addiction to me! Crack Economics, combined with the inevitable “dead lips” feeling zombies invariably suffer from. It’s a tragic combination only relieved by eating brains. Brains contain natural moisturizers… Mmmm, brainnnns… ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addictive-chap-stick/120247/12 "2013-07-10T15:25:10Z")
> [@megmug](#): > > Yeah, a lot of [chapstick is bad for you](http://www.morenature.com/news/is-chapstick-bad-for-you). Doesn’t it make sense to most people that putting something made from the same stuff as the gas you put in your car may be bad for you? I don’t get it… The article you list can’t quite figure out that A) Petroleum is organic (pretty much by definition) B) Although petroleum jelly (vasaline) and gas both come from the same basic product, one is not the same as the other. (also, they can’t figure out that “Chapstick” is a brand name, “lip balm” is the generic term. So when they’re talking about stuff like “Burt’s Bees chapstick”, they just sound like tards…moreso, I mean) So…really? Not a good source. Except for pointing and laughing at.