Lip Balm-What Is It?

By Nicole Smith


Lip balm is a wax-like beauty product that is commonly used to avoid dry or chapped lips that can be caused by different factors such as cold temperatures. The use of lip balm is usually needed because the lips of the mouth are the ones that first show signs of dryness particularly because of its thinness and its inability to produce natural oil. Here are some factors that can aggravate having chapped lips.

1. One factor that can worsen the problem of having dry and chapped lips is always licking the lips.

2. Some people tend to chew their lips when they get nervous without thinking that this habit may also contribute into drying and making the lips chapped.

There are different ways that a lip balm can be used or applied. One way is applying it to the lips using the finger tip. This type of application of the lip balm is commonly used for lip balms that are encased in tubes or small containers. Another way to apply the lip balm is directly applying it to the lips and by holding its tube much like the traditional lipstick style of application.

Here is a list of commonly used ingredients in making a lip balm:

1. Petroleum jelly or petrolatum is one of the most widely used ingredients in lip balm making. Aside from helping in maintaining moisture on the lips and protection of the lips from external factors that may cause the lips to be dry and chapped,petroleum jelly or petrolatum also has hydrating effects on the lips.

2. Second type of ingredient that is commonly used to make a lip balm is beeswax. not only does it moisturizes and makes the lips smooth, it also poses little to minimal risk of causing allergic reactions because it does not contain harmful chemical additives.

3. Cocoa butter- because of its hydrating effect, this product is also used to make a lip balm. This ingredient is inexpensive yet still helps to moisturize the lips by locking the moisture in. Aside from that, this ingredient is also non-irritant, which is a good advantage in using this ingredient to make a good lip balm.

Knowing what kind of ingredients to include and knowing what kind of ingredients to avoid in making a lip balm is of equal significance. The main reason why you should know what ingredients to avoid is that this ingredient may have harmful side effects on the lips such as causing redness and swelling to the lips, may cause lip irritation and may have drying effect on the lips. Here are some of the ingredients that should be avoided in making a lip balm: fragrances, menthol, alcohol, aloe butter, camphor and artificial color.

What are the difference between a lip balm and lip gloss is that a lip balm has the characteristic of sealing in moisture to the lips to relieve dryness and chapped lips. On the other hand, lip gloss has a different purpose and that purpose is to add color and shine to the lips.

There has been studies that show that addictive substances may be added to some commercially-manufactured lip balms. This fact has been denied by most lip balm manufacturers and stated instead that all their lip balms are approved by the FDA.




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