Do you apply lip balm on your lips at least three times a day? And do you keep a lip balm in every room? Welcome to the club of lip balm addicts! Okay, this addiction is a lot less severe than an alcohol or drug addiction, but the withdrawal symptoms are quite significant. It takes a lot of perseverance to quit your lip balm addiction. In this blog, we tell you why lip balm is bad if you use it excessively and how to beat your addiction.
Why is lip balm bad?
Hardcore lip balm users know like no other: once you start, there’s no stopping to it. The big question: why is lip balm so addictive?
Our lips consist of only 3 to 5 layers of skin and have a 28-day cycle. A comparison: our body-skin can consist of 16 layers! Once every two weeks, the skin on your lips renews. Lip balm disrupts this process. The chap stick stops the old skin cells from removing and causes dry lips.
To prevent your lips from getting dry, you apply more lip balm. Before you know it, you can’t live without it. Stop using lip balm at once may seem a solution, but the withdrawal symptoms make this hard to achieve. Quitting lip balm does something to you on both physical and emotional levels. Once you stop using lip balm, the renewal process slowly starts. That takes time and during this phase accepting your dry lips is the only thing you can do. How long this takes is different for everyone.
Quitting lip balm does something to you on psychological levels as well. Ladies who have a lip balm addiction often automatically use lip balm. They are so used to applying lip balm, that they don’t even notice it. Lip balm fulfils a need these ladies created themselves. You can compare it to a cigarette and a smoker. Most cigarettes are smoked out of habit. The cigarette the smoker enjoys fulfils a self-created need.
10 ways to beat your lip balm addiction
Naturally, your lips don’t need much care, and that’s why quitting the use of lip balm is worth it. During this process, you like to have as little annoying complaints as possible. Here are 10 tips for you to make sure you can beat your lip balm addiction.
#1 Reduce your lip balm use
Quitting at once is never recommended, no matter what the addiction is. Therefore we advise you to gradually reduce your lip balm use. Take your time and be strict with yourself. The withdrawal symptoms won’t be as heavy since you and your lips slowly get used to using less lip balm.
#2 Look for distraction on the moments you often use lip balm
Do you apply your lip balm at specific moments? For example: when you’re waiting for an appointment or when you finish brushing your teeth? In these moments, try to think of something else. Read a book while you wait for your appointment or polish your nails, for instance. You won’t think of your favourite lip balm as long as you have a distraction.
#3 Drink plenty of water
Drinking water benefits many things and is stimulated by national nutrition organisations. Many women know that drinking enough water is good to get radiant skin, and the same applies to your lips. Make sure you drink at least 5 glasses of water each day to keep your lips in perfect condition.
#4 Stop licking your lips
Often you don’t even notice it when you lick your lips, but it does make your lips dry. Saliva contains certain enzymes that positively contribute to the digestion of food while eating. When you lick your lips, these enzymes stick to the delicate skin of your lips. That causes your lips to get dry and chapped and increases the risk of excessive lip balm use. Just make sure you don’t lick your lips often and avoid lip balms with a nice flavour.
#5 Don’t wear matte lipstick
Matte lipstick is the invention to make your lipstick stay forever on your lips, but unfortunately, it dehydrates your lips. If you want to beat your lip balm addiction, it’s clever to avoid your matte lipstick in the first weeks. Wearing matte lipstick when you’re sensitive to chapped lips is always a bad idea.
#6 Don’t take your lip balm with you
You probably keep 4 lip balms in your handbag, but it’s better to leave them at home if you want to beat your addiction. You can’t be tempted as long as you don’t have them with you. Of course, you can ban all lip balms from your home, but be prepared not to have any in case of emergency.
#7 Scrub your lips
During your lip balm addiction detox, your lips will be dehydrated and you’ll suffer from excess skin cells. Since this is not very comfortable, it’s best to scrub your lips 2 or 3 times a week. It works the same as a body scrub: you remove dead skin cells and help the renewal process.
#8 Avoid lip balm with these ingredients
Have you ever looked at the ingredients listed on your lip balm? Probably not. But your lip balm contains components that dehydrate your lips! Therefore it’s best to avoid lip balms that contain these ingredients:
- Lip balm with alcohol
- Lip balm with fragrances
- Lip balm with menthol
- Lip balm with cinnamaldehyde
- Lip balm with mint
#9 Limit your salt intake
Make sure you don’t use too much salt when preparing your food. It’s known that salt dehydrates your body. That is why the advice is to limit your salt intake. With every bite you take, your lips come in direct contact with salt. Too much salt in your food can cause your lips to get dehydrated. Also, it’s better to skip your tequilas.
#10 Use an SPF lip balm in the summer
Although we just told you that you don’t need any lip balm, you may profit from an SPF lip balm in the summer. The sun dehydrates your lips, as for all other sensitive parts of your body. For the protection of your lips, it’s better to apply an SPF lip balm. This way, you prevent yourself from having to put on your lip balm when it’s actually too late. Just make sure you only apply your lip balm when you go out in the sun. If you stay inside, you don’t have to use any lip balm at all.
In the winter, you can suffer from dry lips due to fluctuating temperatures. Applying a bit of lip balm every once in a while will not harm. We advise you to quit as soon as your lips feel flexible and smooth.
