Boing Boing: Lip balms contain lip-irritating ingredients

Monday, December 4, 2006

Lip balms contain lip-irritating ingredients - HOAX!?

A number of common lip-balm ingredients actually dry out and irritate your lips, prompting you to put on more lip balm, which makes this worse, calling for more balm -- and so on. It's a pretty slimy trick.

Other common lip balm ingredients to avoid are irritants like sopropyl myristate, eugenol, and phenol.
Instead, seek lip balms with FDA-approved protectants and/or a hydrocortisone base.

Link

Update: Snopes says this is a hoax.

Update 2: Consumerist's Ben Popken sez, "The US Pharmacist article seems pretty sound, perhaps he has some info the Snopes writer doesn't?"

The FDA-approved uses of salicylic acid are the application to hypertrophied skin lesions, such as corns, calluses, and warts. Salicylic acid possesses a keratolytic action that erodes the hyperkeratotic lesions. However, lips are not hyperkeratotic skin, as found in warts.8 When salicylic acid is applied to the lips, it can erode through the outer stratum corneum to damage living skin layers beneath—this creates a vicious cycle.

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Support Bloggers' Rights! HOWTO: Get a link posted to Boing Boing Boing Boing Mobile powered by Winksite Fark rules! This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution. Boing Boing is a trademark of Happy Mutants LLC in the United States [and other countries]. Stats (About our stats) defeat censorware Policies Our first five years' worth of posts in one file	Monday, December 4, 2006 Lip balms contain lip-irritating ingredients - HOAX!? A number of common lip-balm ingredients actually dry out and irritate your lips, prompting you to put on more lip balm, which makes this worse, calling for more balm -- and so on. It's a pretty slimy trick. Other common lip balm ingredients to avoid are irritants like sopropyl myristate, eugenol, and phenol. Instead, seek lip balms with FDA-approved protectants and/or a hydrocortisone base. Link Update: Snopes says this is a hoax. Update 2: Consumerist's Ben Popken sez, "The US Pharmacist article seems pretty sound, perhaps he has some info the Snopes writer doesn't?" The FDA-approved uses of salicylic acid are the application to hypertrophied skin lesions, such as corns, calluses, and warts. Salicylic acid possesses a keratolytic action that erodes the hyperkeratotic lesions. However, lips are not hyperkeratotic skin, as found in warts.8 When salicylic acid is applied to the lips, it can erode through the outer stratum corneum to damage living skin layers beneath—this creates a vicious cycle. More from Consumerist here posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:14:00 AM permalink \| Other blogs' comments Email this entry to: Your email address: Message (optional):	Boing Boing Sponsored by: Your Text Ad Here Get BB by email: