question: How the hell does chapstick/lip balm work?
comment: Lip balm is essentially a wax that you put onto your lips, which seals cracks in the skin, holds in moisture to prevent drying, and creates an anti-stick barrier. That keeps your skin from drying out, and allows for the healing of dry, chapped lips.
passages: BULLET::::- Blistex
  
  BULLET::::- Carmex
  
  BULLET::::- ChapStick
  
  BULLET::::- Labello
  
  BULLET::::- Lip Smacker
  
  BULLET::::- Lypsyl
  
  BULLET::::- EOS
  
  Section::::Dependency.
  
  Some physicians have suggested that certain types of lip balm can be addictive or contain ingredients that actually cause drying. Lip balm manufacturers sometimes state in their FAQs that there is nothing addictive in their products or that all ingredients are listed and approved by the FDA. Snopes found the claim that there are substances in Carmex that are irritants necessitating reapplication, such as ground glass, to be false.
   Lip balm can be applied where a finger is used to apply it to the lips, or in a lipstick-style tube from which it can be applied directly.
   Lip balm was first marketed in the 1880s by Charles Browne Fleet, though its origins may be traced to earwax. More than 40 years prior to the commercial introduction of lip balm by Fleet, Lydia Maria Child recommended earwax as a treatment for cracked lips in her highly-popular book, Child observed that, "Those who are troubled with cracked lips have found this earwax remedy successful when others have failed. It is one of those sorts of cures, which are very likely to be laughed at; but I know of its having produced very beneficial results."
  
  Section::::Notable brands.
  
  BULLET::::- Burt's Bees
   ChapStick
  
  ChapStick is a brand name of lip balm manufactured by Pfizer Consumer Healthcare and used in many countries worldwide. It is intended to help treat and prevent chapped lips, hence the name. Many varieties also include sunscreen in order to prevent sunburn.
   Due to its popularity, the term has become a genericized trademark. It popularly refers to any lip balm contained in a lipstick-style tube and applied in the same manner as lipstick. However, the term is still a registered trademark, with rights exclusively owned by Pfizer. Its main competitors in the US, Carmex and Blistex, also use the popular lipstick-style tube for their lip balm products. In Iceland and in the United Kingdom, the product's main competitor is Lypsyl, made by Novartis Consumer Health and distributed in similar packaging to ChapStick. 
  
  Section::::History.
   The primary purpose of lip balm is to provide an occlusive layer on the lip surface to seal moisture in lips and protect them from external exposure. Dry air, cold temperatures, and wind all have a drying effect on skin by drawing moisture away from the body. Lips are particularly vulnerable because the skin is so thin, and thus they are often the first to present signs of dryness. Occlusive materials like waxes and petroleum jelly prevent moisture loss and maintain lip comfort while flavorants, colorants, sunscreens, and various medicaments can provide additional, specific benefits.
   Like lipstick, lip gloss comes in a variety of forms and may be applied in different ways. It can be contained in a small cylinder and applied with a rounded or sloped applicator wand (known as a doefoot applicator) or with a built in lip brush. It can come in a small, soft, squeezable plastic tube designed to be passed over the lips or applied with a fingertip or lip brush. Solid or semisolid glosses come in boxes or tubes and sometimes blur the distinction between lip gloss and lip balm. 
   Ultimately, EOS settled five proposed class action lawsuits. The final terms of the proposed EOS class action settlement were not disclosed, however, the company said it would include a warning on the lip balm packaging and the product website.
  
  The company later published on social media that its products are safe to use, and the company placed safety tips on its packaging to warn consumers of potential irritation.
  
  Section::::Marketing.
   Carma Labs began producing the product in squeezable tubes in 1988. In 1989 it began producing it in stick form which had been the longtime form factor for ChapStick and Blistex, Carma's major competitors in the lip balm market. After these expansions within the company's production, in 1993, it was estimated that 9% of the lip balm market was held by Carma Labs. Alfred Woelbing continued to drive to the offices every day until 1997 when he suffered a stroke. He continued to come into the office at least once a week after this, until he died in 2001 at age 100.
   Jonathan Teller created the EOS lip balm in 2006. In 2015, EOS was the second highest-selling lip care in the world, with 11.5% of the market share in the United States. The lip balms are sold at retail stores in 18 countries and online through the company's website.
  
  Section::::Product complaints.
  
  Between August 6, 2014, and June 12, 2017, 126 complaints were filed to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) by customers who experienced reactions to EOS lip balm.
   Lip balm
  
  Lip balm or lip salve is a wax-like substance applied topically to the lips to moisturize and relieve chapped or dry lips, angular cheilitis, stomatitis, or cold sores. Lip balm often contains beeswax or carnauba wax, camphor, cetyl alcohol, lanolin, paraffin, and petrolatum, among other ingredients. Some varieties contain dyes, flavor, fragrance, phenol, salicylic acid, and sunscreens.
  
  Section::::Overview.
   Section::::Fitting.
   In 2016, a class-action lawsuit was filed against EOS, claiming that the lip balm caused bleeding and blistering. The preliminary settlement for those affected was a reimbursement with products, cash, or more depending on their reactions to the product. According to Buzzfeed News reports, “Affected consumers are eligible to receive either $75 for verified medical expenses, a $15 cash award, $20 worth of EOS products, or up to $4,000 depending on their injuries."
   Robins was purchased by American Home Products (AHP) in 1988. AHP later changed its name to Wyeth. ChapStick was a Wyeth product until 2009, when Wyeth was acquired by Pfizer. Pfizer sold the manufacturing facility in Richmond, Virginia, on October 3, 2011, to Fareva Richmond, who now manufactures and packages ChapStick for Pfizer.
  
  Section::::Composition.
  
  Ingredients commonly include camphor, beeswax, menthol, petrolatum, phenol, vitamin E, aloe and oxybenzone. However, there are many variants of ChapStick, each with its own composition.
  
  The full list of ingredients in a regular-flavored ChapStick is:
   Linnaeus distinguished two varieties: "Amyris gileadensis" L. (= "Amyris opobalsamum" Forsk.), and "Amyris opobalsamum" L., the variant found by Belon in a garden near Cairo, brought there from Arabia Felix. More recent naturalists (Lindley, Wight and Walker) have included the species "Amyris gileadensis" L. in the genus Protium. Botanists enumerate sixteen balsamic plants of this genus, each exhibiting some peculiarity.
   Lip gloss was invented by Max Factor in 1930. He wanted to create a lip product that would make lips shiny and glossy for films. Factor created makeup for the movie industry. He developed makeup specifically for actresses starring in black and white films. Women were inspired by movie actresses to embrace this makeup trend. This led to the popularity of lip gloss. The first commercially available lip gloss was Max Factor's "X-Rated", launched in 1932. The original formula was sold until 2003, when Procter and Gamble retired the product.
   In 1935, Frank Wright, Jr., a commercial artist from Lynchburg, Virginia, was commissioned to design the CHET ChapStick logo that is still in use today. He was paid a one-off fee of $15.
  
  In 1963, The A.H. Robins Company acquired ChapStick from Morton Manufacturing Corporation. At that time, only ChapStick Lip Balm regular stick was being marketed to consumers; subsequently, many more varieties have been introduced. This includes ChapStick four flavored sticks in 1971, ChapStick Sunblock 15 in 1981, ChapStick Petroleum Jelly Plus in 1985, and ChapStick Medicated in 1992.
   As stated above, some use Balsam of Tolu and Peru as a substitute for opobalsamum (Balm of Gilead), which they believe is the original Stacte, because of the similarity of scent (opobalsamum is in the commiphora or the myrrh family). Groom describes the scent of these balsams as vanilla like and referring to "Styrax benzoin", he says “the resin from it has a storax-like fragrance . . . and has a vanilla-like fragrance.” 
   Lip balm is a beauty item that is easily accessible to men who don't wear makeup. Colored lip balm is very popular because it is not only for moisturizing but also for helping with one's color. Colored lip balm is suitable for men who prefer the natural because it can brighten up one's lips with a lively color which matches their natural color unlike lipstick or tint. 
  
  Section::::Types of Grooming.:Hair.
   Section::::Discovery.
   BULLET::::- Dermalogen is taken from the patient's skin—and through a laboratory process—made into a high concentration collagen that can be injected into the lips. Some studies indicate it lasts somewhat longer than collagen.
  
  BULLET::::- Alloderm is donor tissue taken from cadavers and then denatured, purified and treated to remove viable cells that could pass along disease. Under a local anesthesia, Alloderm is placed into the mucosa, or body, of the lips in small rolls to make them larger. Alloderm can also be placed into the vermilion, the pink area of the lip, to provide definition and a sharper border.
   BULLET::::- Lip plumper is a cosmetic product used to make lips appear fuller. These products work by irritating the skin of the lips with ingredients such as Capsaicin. This makes the lips swell slightly, temporarily creating the appearance of fuller lips.
  
  BULLET::::- Suction pumps, a special device for lips uses vacuum pumping to increase blood pressure in each lip and to pull them out a bit, making it quite an instrument to adjust proper lip length/value in a slow determinite step-by-step way.
  
  Section::::Risks and side effects.
   BULLET::::- optical properties as a glue, typically as a mounting medium for microscope specimens due to purified Balsam of Peru's transparency and refractive index of 1.597 being very close to that of many glasses used in optics
  
  It also can be found in toothpaste, mouthwash, scented tobacco, cleaning products, pesticides, insect repellants, air fresheners and deodorizers, scented candles, and oil paint.
  
  Section::::Allergy.
   L'Oréal's claims in a mascara advertisement featuring actress Penélope Cruz "exaggerated the effect that could be achieved by using the mascara on natural lashes".
   ChapStick tubes with hidden microphones played a role in the Watergate scandal.
  
  Section::::Marketing.
  
  ChapStick is sometimes available in special flavors developed in connection with marketing partners such as Disney (as in cross-promotions with "Winnie the Pooh" or the movie "Cars") or with charitable causes such as breast cancer awareness, in which 30¢ is donated for each stick sold (as in the Susan G. Komen Pink Pack). The Flava-Craze line is marketed to preteens and young teens, with colorful applicators and "fun" flavors such as Grape Craze and Blue Crazeberry.
  