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For the last few months, I've been battling the craziest, most annoying case of dry, tight, painful, peeling lips.
At first, I blamed it on an all-natural lip product I'd been testing.
But then I realized my lips were still a mess, even when I hadn't used it in weeks. In fact, I couldn't even pinpoint any one lip balm or lip colour as the source, since I'm constantly switching them up for the purposes of this blog. No matter what was in my rotation, I STILL had chapped lips.
So then I became convinced I had some kind of vitamin deficiency. Which would be weird, because I regularly track things in Cron-o-meter and usually hit or exceed every nutritional target.
Finally, a few weeks ago, I figured it out. I am allergic to... vitamin E! And possibly several other ingredients commonly found in lip balms.
As it turns out, many lip products contain allergens and irritants that end up perpetuating the very problems we're trying to treat: dryness, peeling, cracking and flaking. Insane, right?
If you, too, have suffered from chapped lips that don't ever seem to go away, one of these ingredients could be the culprit:
1. VITAMIN E
Just about every lip balm label I've looked at contains some form of vitamin E. A thick, sticky oil, you'd figure it would be the perfect lip hydrator. But it's not for everyone.
This Dermatologic Surgery study found that 33 percent of patients developed contact dermatitis from applying topical vitamin E. The Contact Dermatitis Institute also lists vitamin E (dl-alpha-tocopherol) as one of the most prevalent allergens.
Some of the ways vitamin E might appear on a lip balm's ingredient label include: natural vitamin E oil, tocopherol or tocopheryl acetate. It can be man-made or derived from plants, but contrary to popular opinion, both forms can be allergenic.
One reason it took me so long to figure out that vitamin E was the source of my chapped lips is because I was using an all-natural vitamin E oil every night as my lip moisturizer. It didn't even occur to me that it could be allergenic! It was only through a complete elimination, i.e. not putting any products on my mouth for a whole week, that I was able to identify the source. Now, I know that my natural vitamin E oil is derived from soy, so it is possible that the soy is what I was really reacting to. But since tocopheryl acetate, the synthetic vitamin E, is considered even more allergenic on EWG's database, I think I'll just stay away from ALL types of vitamin E from now on. Unless it's quite far down on the ingredients list, it will probably irritate me.
2. CASTOR OIL
Castor oil is another thick, viscous liquid, and if you look, it's found in a heck of a lot of lip products. Derived from the seeds of the Ricinus communis plant, it is comprised of about 80 to 90 percent ricinoleic acid.
The problem with ricinoleic acid is that it can be an allergen—some even say, the main one behind chapped and inflamed lips. This Contact Dermatitis study found that ricinoleic acid was the most common contact allergen, accounting for 54 percent of contact chelitis.
None of this surprises me, considering my highly traumatic experience with castor oil and the Oil Cleansing Method. Not only is it extremely drying, but I suspect my terrible reaction started off as contact dermatitis, which left me vulnerable to infection... and finally, turned into full-fledged acne. I can't say for sure yet whether castor oil is a problem on my lips or just my face, but I will always look at it with deep suspicion!
It's less likely, but other oils in lip balms, such as coconut, olive and almond, can be allergens, too.
3. BEESWAX
I don't mean to point fingers at specific brands here, but the one that comes to mind when you think of beeswax lip balm is obviously Burt's Bees. Accroding to Dr. Cynthia Bailey, it's the product she sees the most problems with.
The issue is the propolis that gets mixed in with the beeswax. Propolis is a kind of "glue" that bees make from tree and plant resins to fill in the spaces in their hives. According to this Journal of Pharmacy and Bioallied Sciences study, it seems to be one of the most frequent contact sensitizers, with possible reactions including chelitis and peeling lips.
I guess this is why I didn't got the hype over the original Burt's Bees lip balms! They never seemed to work for me, so probably I have some minor sensitivity. I'm allergic to honey, so I'm sure there is some link with bees and bee products in general. Too bad, so sad!
4. LANOLIN
Lanolin is a waxy substance that is secreted by the oil glands of sheep, like this fella below. It is used in lip balms such as the cult favourite Lanolipsbecause of its highly emollient properties and ability to prevent water loss.
For those who aren't sensitive, lanolin can be great. Dior Crème Abricot, for example, contains lanolin and is my most favourite cuticle cream in the world. (I hear some people even use that on their lips!)
However, lips lack oil glands and could be more reactive to it. Dr. Sharon Jacob considers lanolin a "significant sensitizer," and on the "A-List" for top allergens.
If you do a search for "Lanolips allergy," there appears to be quite a number of people who can't use lanolin.
5. FRAGRANCES AND FLAVOURINGS
It should come as no surprise that fragrances can be allergens. One would think perfumes would have no place in our lip balms, but often, they are used to mask unpleasant smells from other chemicals, or to add flavouring.
The Contact Dermatitis Institute has identified two fragrance mixes—list oneand list two—that are problematic, including geraniol, citronellol and cinnamaldehyde. These can be derived from plant, animal and synthetic sources, so just because a lip balm is 100 percent natural does not mean it is free from potentially allergenic fragrances.
Peppermint oil is one of the worst offenders. This Dermatitis study tested sensitivity to propolis, lanolin, coconut oil, almond oil, peppermint oil and vitamin E. Out of all those things, the peppermint oil was shown to be the most likely culprit in the patients' acute contact dermatitis.
Other fragrance/flavour ingredients to watch out for include menthol, camphor, eucalyptus and limonene.
6. SUNSCREEN
If you're especially diligent about always wearing SPF on your lips, that could be the cause of chronic chapping, at least if you're using products that protect with chemicals, not minerals. Studies such as this one in Photodermatology, Photoimmunology & Photomedicine have identified chemical sunscreens as a cause of allergic skin reactions.
Oxybenzone (also known as benzophenone-3), octinoxate, avobenzone, octisalate and octylcrylene are the hard-to-pronounce words to avoid on your labels.
Instead, choose lip balms with mineral sunblocks such as zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, which shouldn't give you any issues.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU SUSPECT AN ALLERGEN
If you are allergic to an ingredient, signs such as dryness, tightness, flaking and peeling should should appear within a few days of your lips
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