There’s an old wives’ tale that Carmex contains tiny pieces of glass, in order to make little cuts on your lips to ensure that you continue to need lip balm. THIS IS FALSE {duh!} However, it is one of the most commonly spread rumors to back up the claim that lip balm is addictive.

A less dangerous sounding rumor is that lip balms prevent your lips from producing their own moisture – that the more you use them, the more you will need them. We’d say this also has little truth or relevance to it. It seems a little silly. Yes, your lips may not produce as much moisture on their own if they don’t need to, but you wouldn’t not use moisturizer on your skin if it were dry, right!?

The most truthful truth is that SOME lip balms cause you to need more lip balm – if your lip balm contains potentially irritating ingredients {like scents or exfoliators}, you may then need to apply lip balm to calm the irritation. You can see where the vicious cycle begins…

So the answer is this: you may develop an emotional addiction to lip balm {we’re talking to you, friend who won’t leave the room without taking her mint chapstick with her}, but it’s a very safe, important, and non-addictive part of keeping your lips healthy.