Dear Cecil,
Quite some time ago, I had the good fortune to find work as an extra in Kevin Costner’s film, The Postman. A lot of that work consisted of standing out in a field all day, and a lot of the people there were using Carmex to keep thier lips from drying out while they did that. So, I started as well, and noticed that my lips started feeling uncomfortable if I didn’t use Carmex. Since I’ve lived here a long time, and never have had any problems with my lips before, I stopped using it, and after a while, my lips became comfortable again. So, I think lip balm is addictive in the same way that nasal spray is addictive. But that’s another story.
Speaking as a trombonist, I only use Carmex when I need an exfoliant. Salicylic acid is a keratolytic agent and, in combination with the lanolin and alum and camphor and whatnot, can kind of turn your lips to mush.
To be fair, it does say right there on the lid, “FOR-COLD-SORES,” not, “FOR-DRY-LIPS.” For plain old dryness, I’ve found it’s hard to beat, well, lard (shortening, actually).
I think I’ve mentioned this before: I switched to WalMart’s brand “ChapIce” which has a lot less of the irritants in it. My balm usage has gone way, way down.
And I can quit anytime I want. Seriously. I mean it. Any time. 
I remember Merv Griffin talking on a t.v. show once about how he was advised to invest in Chap Stick. He was told that once people start using it, they’re on it for life. That’s certainly been the case with me. I started using it in my teens and have had a tube in my pocket ever since. I use it several times a day and I’d love to get off the damn stuff, but my lips start driving me crazy after just a few hours without a fresh swipe.
My wife believes it’s the silicone oil, usually dimethicone, that dries her lips out when she uses something like chapstick. It’s in a lot of skin lotions too, and she complains that they make her skin greasy, without moisturizing it. She switched to Bert’s Bees lip balm*, which has no silicone oil, and she is much happier with it.
*In particular, Replenishing Lip Balm with Pomegranate Oil.
I use Blistex, which is a cream, not a stick, but I’m not going to link to it, because I don’t like their website. Not sure if it has silicone oil in it.
I have heard that chap stick and other lip lubricants work similar to contact lens re-wetting solutions; that is, they dry out the natural lubricant/moisturizer that your body produces. So once you use it for a while you need to keep on using it. If you stop using it for an extended period, your lips will eventually return to their natural moistness.
No cite for this, as it’s not something I’ve heard from anyone in the medical profession, but it makes sense based on my observations of numerous people that seem to be addicted to lip balms (and it fits the OP’s observations). Maybe Cecil or the staff can give us some input from the professionals.
My neighborhood was fine, until the lip-balm addicts and dealers moved in.
I’m tired of sleazy types sidling up to me and saying “Hey, wanna tube of the good stuff?”
I use ChapStick when my lips get chapped, and not when they aren’t.
Apparently this is abnormal?
Powers &8^]
The problem is that Chapstick seems to cause lips to be chapped more often, requiring more use, making them chapped more often, requiring more use.
You sure they were talking about lip-balm?? :eek:
My slightly educated WAG is that the Stuff in lip balms and the macerating effect of putting on a thick layer of goo* increases exfoliation of the epithelial cells to the point that immature cells are brought to the top layer before they’re entirely ready to do their protective job. So they can’t hang on to the moisture like thicker layers of mature (actually, dead) cells can, and it increases the “chapping” problem.
At least, that’s sure what it feels like. Lip balm will make my lips feel smooth, and then it will make them peel, in nice satisfying sheets of lip skin. (EW!) The pinker, smoother, softer skin then revealed feels awesome…for about 3 minutes…half a day, tops. Then it starts to dry out, and I reach for the lip balm again. And…repeat.
*For a similar reason, one should not generally use a thick layer of antibiotic ointments and the like on a wound - it soaks the skin and loosens the layers, causing the skin to become “macerated” and yucky and actually more vulnerable to tearing and bacterial infection. Thin is in.
My point is that that hasn’t been my experience. Chapstick works, IME, it doesn’t backfire and require more Chapstick.
Powers &8^]
I have to use it about three or four times a day and I’ve had to use it at that rate for decades. I’ve kind of tried to stop using it a few times but the discomfort that sets in, though mild in a physical pain sense, is quite annoying and pretty soon I’m putting it back on again just so I can get back to what I’m doing without having that annoying discomfort uppermost in my mind.
Chapstick doesn’t work for me at all, it feels like my lips are still dry but just under a layer of wax. So I use blistex which actually moistens my lips, but only for a few hours before I have to use it again… I am addicted and get very dry lips every few hours if I don’t use blistex.