Intended to seal in moisture and keep your lips from getting dry and cracked, lip balm usage has increased steadily over the years. This year, the global market for lip products is set to reach an all-time high at US$1.5 billion, with lip balm being one of the most popular lip products, and its sales significantly contributing to the value of the industry. However, lip balm addiction is being seen more and more, resulting to heated debates on the topic in both dermatology and psychology. OROGOLD takes a look at what causes lip balm addiction, as well as the signs that you can look for to decide whether or not you are suffering from this unusual condition.

Lip Balm Ingredients
Lip balms usually contain a mixture of exfoliants, to remove the dead skin on the lips, and emolients, to help soften the skin on the lips. This can include ingredients such as menthol, salicylic acid, camphor and phenol. However, although these ingredients are effective in soothing and softening the lips on contact, they have a long-term effect of drying out the lips and causing irritation.

Lip Balm Addiction
Although lip balm doesn’t contain any ingredients that cause a physiological dependency, compulsive addiction disorders are more about soothing rather than stimulation. The physical dryness that is caused after the use of many lip balms trigger a psychological reaction in many people, and this can quickly spin out of control. Although compulsive lip balm usage may not fit the standard addiction model, it shares many of the same qualities, such as an overwhelming physical and mental discomfort, shame and desperation. While addiction can be described as seeking stimulation, compulsion is more self-soothing, and in terms of lip balm, becomes something that occurs automatically in order for the user to reduce their anxiety.

Are You Addicted to Lip Balm?
There are certain questions that you can ask yourself to decide whether or not you may have a compulsive lip balm usage habit. One sure sign of this is if you go out of your way to get some, allowing your obsession to interfere with your life. While some people can go days without applying lip balm, someone that is addicted to the product will usually apply it multiple times an hour, something that OROGOLD wants to stress is not going to be good for your lips. Lip balm addicts also try tom ensure that they have a constant supply of lip balm, sometimes purchasing multiple products so that they never have to worry about going without.

Although an addiction to lip balm may seem like an unusual condition to suffer from, it is a problem that is on the rise, especially in the winter, as the drying weather calls for extra lip moisturization. If you feel as though you may be suffering from this problem, there are a few websites that offer support and advice on the subject. When it comes to lip balm, OROGOLD recommends that you always opt for petroleum-based products that do not contain any drying ingredients.