Why does Chapstick/lip balm make your lips peel more than before you used it?
In: Biology
Chapstick/lipbalm is a class A drug that’ll get you hooked in no time. Sure you lips feels moist but then you need a little more and a little more until suddenly you are 50k in debt to your local lip product dealer and still your lips are dry. Be smart kids don’t do lip products.
My wife had a bad reaction to chapstick (full red ring around her lips) the dermatologist recommended Aquaphor but it still has active ingredients. She put it on religiously and it just made things worse. She now uses Vaseline only and uses prescription lipstick. Some of these products are brutal.
Besides bad substance issues, lip balms are meant to peel off dead skin cells without further hurting healthy cells. Those cells that are already peeled off and hanging on one’s lip cannot go back to moist fresh skin. With lip balms, you can safely peel it off without seeing blood.
There are many products for your lips that give temporary relief, but contain ingredients that make you reliant on the product. You have to use them more frequently for the same effect. I apologise for commenting without knowing the science, but I was on Accutane (Roaccutane), and I learned this the hard way. I got so addicted to an ordinary drug store product that I had to almost detox on Vaseline – which burned like hell because my lips were so cracked and peeling. Maybe you could research the product you are using to see if you are becoming reliant on it?
Chapstick/lip balm doesn’t completely keep your lips safe from drying out, and by the time you’ve applied it your lips are already chapped. Then it feels like you need to keep adding coats of chapstick, which is why it feels like it’s having a negative effect.
I actually believe it is because the excess skin that was dry and damaged is falling off, while the chapstick hydrates and moisturizes the healthy skin underneathe.
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