My Chapstick Intervention

As the cold season approaches, it is inevitable that the air is going to be getting drier (at least here where I live in the midwest) that means that your skin will also be getting drier. For me, that means my lips will become chapped and they will crack and hurt and it strip away any holiday cheer from my life. Maybe that’s a little extreme but it will suck none the less. This year I decided that I would tackle the problem before the problem began.

It all started in October, I was noticing the inevitable. The beginning of cracked lips season was upon us once again. So, naturally I stopped by Target to pick up some lip balm, the pink EOS egg, my favorite. I began using and here and there and my lips started to return to their previously hydrated state. However, I continued to use my chapstick religiously. Sometimes I even applied it 3-4 times a class period. At this point I didn’t really need to use, as my lips were as soft and supple as ever before, but I continued to use it because I loved the feeling of rubbing it on my lips. I didn’t even realize that I had a problem, until people starting confronting me,

“You put on a lot of chapstick.” I heard from more than a couple people.

“I’ve been watching you put it on for 15 minutes now, do you really need that much?” these starts of questions made me wonder, hmmm did I really need that much? The answer was yes for a while. I was in denial. I would apply it continuously for hours, completely unaware of what I was even doing.

Eventually, my lips started to become dry again, and it turns out you can use too much chapstick. The point of chapstick is to keep moisture in your lips, but when you apply too much for too long your lips can become used to the chemicals and dry out your lips even more than without out. As it dries out your lips, it makes you think you need even more chapstick, creating a cycle of dry lips and chapstick abuse.