Balms Away: Chapped Lips Don’t Need Toxins

My five-year-old licks her lips. Compulsively. Not so much a problem in the grand scheme of things. But when you’re five and your lips are chronically chapped, well … you run to Mommy to make things better.

Mommy (that’s me!), however, refuses to reach for the nearest lip balm as I’m entirely too aware of the nasty stuff that’s in most lip balms.

In lip balm? you ask incredulously. In lip balm that kids use?? Yep. Just another example of the toxic stuff today’s kids are exposed to on a regular basis.

(Of course, I’m reminded of my own love of Maybelline’s “Kissing Potion,” which I discovered circa 1976 at the age of 12. Glossy gloppy goo in a tube with a roller for application. I suspect my lips have never quite recovered from that toxic assault. And of course, thanks to its Krazy Kola flavor, it also spawned a generation of illiterates … with shiny lips! However, I digress…)

Did you know there’s a 12-step program to help those who’ve grown balm-addicted, but, like many addictive substances, lip balm is a chemical cocktail chock full of stuff that I, for one, don’t want anywhere near my five-year-old’s lips.

Such as??

Well, let’s start with oxybenzone, which has been cited for developmental and reproductive toxicity, among other sins, by the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep database (www.cosmeticsdatabase.com). And BHT, a neurotoxin. And petrolatum, a petroleum product that carries with it the same host of problems as any petroleum product, such as pollution from extraction and manufacture. Keep in mind that this stuff is going on lips. Lips that will be licked. Lips that will come into contact with beverages and food and, therefore, be ingested.

So what’s the mother of a darling daughter with chapped chops to do?

Try Annie Bond’s recipe for homemade lip balm — or find a nontoxic brand you really like. I’ve started tucking earth-friendly, kid-friendly lip balms into every jacket, knapsack pocket and school cubby I come across.

I first turned to Burt’s Bees, Aveda and Juicy Organics but thanks to the serendipitous discovery of my and my daughter’s new favorite lip balm – My Lip Stuff – our home runneth over with balms. My Lip Stuff is available in 400 flavors and formulations – from vegan to “charitabalms” to balms with personalized labels and many more. They’re created by Brea, a one-woman operation that not only vows to “end the suffering of people with chapped lips across the land,” but also vows to do it by relying on recycled and/or recyclable materials, green power and eco-friendly ingredients that are never tested on animals.

Finally, an addiction that just might qualify as healthy!