Some lip balms can actually make your lips feel drier due to their ingredients, according to a board-certified dermatologist.
"How come it feels like when you put chapstick on you kind of need to reapply reapply reapply all the time," Gulf Coast News anchor Elyse Chengery asked.
"It's a really good question, so chapstick is something that we all kind of grew up using I feel like it's something that we are given when we were small children, but in actuality, it's probably not the best product to be using on dry lips. It's very waxy and most chapsticks also have flavoring agents and also fragrances in them," said Dr. Robin Gehris, a board-certified dermatologist. "Fragrances or flavoring agents on that skin can actually create an irritant dermatitis or even allergic contact dermatitis and make the problem worse."
Dr. Robin Gehris, who has been a dermatologist for almost 20 years and also specializes in pediatric dermatology, explained that the flavor or fragrance in lip balms can create more inflammation, leading to drier lips. She also noted that certain chemicals in popular lip balms can exacerbate dryness.
"Yeah, I feel like the patients are really proud to tell me that they're using Burt's Bees and Burt's Bees, you know, the idea behind it is really nice, but it does have a lot of those flavoring agents in them and I think patients don't always realize that natural isn't the same as hypoallergenic so we have lots of natural things like poison ivy, lavender that are all irritants and can create problems even though they might smell nice or be in your garden you don't necessarily want to be lathering them on your lips. I saw somebody yesterday who actually had a product that had kale and spinach in it, and I love those things for a smoothie, but it doesn't really have much of a role in putting it directly on your skin," Gehris said.
"This is what I use but I feel like it dries out my lips so," said Elyse, a user of a popular lip balm.
"Oh yes! You are making such a great example — black tea extract — great to drink, not necessarily the best thing for your lips, see, but it does have an SPF of 55 in it so you are getting close to the right recommended number we recommend 30 but it's definitely better than nothing," Gehris said.
Gehris recommends using products that are petrolatum-based and hypoallergenic.
"One that has an SPF of 30 or greater and has something like zinc or titanium dioxide as the ingredient as opposed to one of the things that ends in the word benzone, which is a chemical," Gehris said.
Elyse asked, "How do you know when it's time to go see a dermatologist if your lips are that chapped red or cracking what should you do?"
"That's an excellent question, so I think if you have any cracking or bleeding, that's not improving with just Vaseline ointment or some of the products that I listed that are hypoallergenic come and see us any crusting or honey crusting that's kind of yellow or painful could indicate impetigo or secondary bacterial infection," Gehris said.