Having dry lips is one of the most annoying things that seems to happen all the time. The more your lick your lips, the more they seem to crack and burn.
For many men and women alike, lip balm is just as essential to carry around as their wallet and phone.
The trouble is, most commercially available lip balms are mainly made with toxic chemicals. As you lick our lips, drink and eat, you’re slowly ingesting these harmful compounds.
What Makes Lip Balm Toxic?
Have you ever taken the time to read the ingredients in your lip balm? If not here’s what you missed:
Active ingredient of Chapstick “Original” flavor (1): White Petrolatum 45%.
Inactive ingredients: arachidyl propionate, camphor, carnauba wax, cetyl alcohol, fragrance, isopropyl lanolate, isopropyl myristate, lanolin, light mineral oil, methylparaben, octyldodecanol, oleyl alcohol, paraffin, phenyl trimethicone, propylparaben, red 6 lake, titanium dioxide, white wax, yellow 5 lake
Here’s a breakdown of what these ingredients mean:
Petroleum is refined to produce gasoline, diesel oil, kerosene and petroleum jelly. It’s known to negatively affect the liver, urinary tract, kidneys and immune system. It can also impair the development of blood cells and specialized cells in your organs (2).
Carnauba wax applied topically (onto the skin) can cause dry skin, acne, rash, contact dermatitis, allergic reaction, skin irritation, and inflammation of the hair follicle (3).
Isopropyl myristate is the ester of isopropanol and myristic acid. One of the uses of Isopropyl myristate is for the treatment of head lice, which are killed by dehydration (4). It’s a known skin irritant that can cause rashes ans lesions (5). This product actully dries out you skin and makes you want to apply more lipbalm.
Mineral oil is derived from petroleum through distillation. The oil, may be contaminated with PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons ), which can cause cancer when frequently applied to the skin (6).
Paraffin is derived from crude petroleum. Although the ingredient makes your skin feel softened and relieved from minor aches, it doesn’t actually properly hydrate and repair your skin (7). In fact, paraffin is known to clog pores and can easily be replaced in natural products by bee’s wax.
Propylparaben are the most widely used preservative in cosmetics. It’s present in an estimated 75 to 90 per cent of cosmetics. Parabens are dangerous because they can mimic estrogen, the primary female sex hormone. They’ve even been detected in cancerous breast tissue (8).
Red 6 lake is the 4th petroleum based ingredient in Chapstick. It’s currently on the FDA’s list of color additives that are no longer authorized or have been restricted because of health concerns (9).
Yellow #6 is often used to give color to processed foods and has been known to cause adrenal tumors in animals as well as hyperactivity and hypersensitivity in children (10).
If your lip balm had to say: “Keep out of reach of children. If swallowed, get medical help or contact a Poison Control Center right away,” you really shouldn’t use it in the first place.
How To Make All-Natural Lip Balm
This easy recipe will actually nourish and repair your skin.
Ingredients:
- ¼ cup coconut oil or sweet almond oil
- ¼ cup mango butter or cocoa butter
- ¾ cup beeswax
- 2 drops essential oil, (peppermint, lavender, vanilla and cinnamon work well!)
Instructions:
- Melt the oil and butter using a double-boiler over low heat. .
- Add the beeswax to the mixture and let it melt, stirring frequently.
- Remove from heat and let it cool.
- As it starts to thicken, add essential oil and stir.
- Immediately pour into glass or stainless steel travel-sized tins.
- Let it solidify completely and store in a cool, dark place.
sources:
[1]https://www.chapstick.com/products/classics?product=classic-cherry
[2]https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/substances/toxsubstance.asp?toxid=75
[3]https://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-77461/titanium-dioxide-carnauba-wax-topical/details/list-sideeffects
[4]https://www.cps.ca/documents/position/head-lice
[5]https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredient/703206/ISOPROPYL_MYRISTATE/
[6]https://davidsuzuki.org/issues/health/science/toxics/chemicals-in-your-cosmetics—petrolatum/
[7]https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/10/paraffin-wax-beauty-products-treatments_n_7544194.html
[8]https://davidsuzuki.org/issues/health/science/toxics/chemicals-in-your-cosmetics—parabens/
[9]https://www.fda.gov/ForIndustry/ColorAdditives/ColorAdditiveInventories/ucm106626.htm
[10]https://cspinet.org/new/pdf/food-dyes-rainbow-of-risks.pdf