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Allergic to Lip Products?

I am 18 years old, and I have never been allergic to anything in my life. As part of my nightly routine, I've always put on lip balm before bed. However, late last year, my lips started to get more dry and chapped than usual, even itchy. They felt like sand paper and often developed tiny bumps. If rubbed hard enough, the bumps would produce a clear liquid. The edges of my lips also sometimes felt very raw and red. These symptoms would last around a week.
At the time, I had been using just plain Burt's Bees Lip Balm for many weeks. When I got the symptoms, I used a bit more of the balm than I usually did, thinking it would help the dryness. When nothing seemed to be working, I stopped using it altogether. In time, my lips healed, and I switched to Softlips lipbalm in both vanilla and peppermint flavors. I showed no reaction from their usage for about a month. Then, I started getting the same reaction that I got from the Burt's Bees Lip Balm. That was when I figured I was developing an allergy to lip balm. Over time, I also realized I was getting the same reaction even faster from lipstick and lipgloss. That meant I was allergic to all lip products across the board.
I began researching into the symptoms and the ingredients in lip products, especially ones that commonly produced allergic reactions. With that knowledge in mind, I've tried many other balms these past months, including ones by Blistex and Kiss my Face. I'm even allergic to plain Chapstick. At first, I would not show any symptoms at all, but they would eventually show up within a few weeks, sometimes days. I even tried alternating the balms every night, which helped slightly but I would eventually get the reaction again. Nowadays, I only wear lip balm every few nights because I can't stand having chapped lips, but never multiple nights in a row. Even then, there's always a chance of my reacting to it.
I haven't been able to pinpoint the exact ingredient that I'm allergic to, and I'm hesitant to spend any more money to try more products. I haven't changed anything about my diet, makeup, facewash, mouthwash, or toothpaste, so I am very certain that it's the lip products. After my research I've also found that other people have had the same problem.

Has any product been found that works but doesn't trigger a reaction from people with my allergies?

I've heard that Vaseline is possibly the only solution, but because of my research I've been staying away from products with petroleum and petrolatum in them. Should I try it out anyway?
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1222076 tn?1423027749
I know this post is a few years old but a month ago I went thru this exact same issue. I have had dry lips since a kid. Im about to be 27 in a few days. I use to just use Vaseline for several years and couldn't use lipstick or lip glosses but my lips looked normal just always felt dry to me. I started using EOS and Burts Bees for a several months EOS worked pretty good then one day last month I went swimming at the lake with EOS on and sunscreen to protect my lips the next day I woke up to my lips feeling like sand paper. For a few weeks I tried cocunut oil, olive oil and vasaline. Nothing worked my lips were so dry and stiff it was very uncomfortable everytime i put something on it would dry up within 10 minutes they got to were they were swollen, had tiny bumps on them, and they were very inflamed even around my lips was red but the outside area itched. It got so bad after a few weeks I gave up and had to go to Urgent Care. The doctor wasnt sure what it was but told me to throw away all my lip products in case I was allergic to them or they were contaminated. She prescribed me antibiotics, fungal cream, and steroids. It took my lips a while to heal when they were healing they started peeling really bad. Now their finally looking normal, for a while I was scared to use anything but my lips still feel dry so I finally decided to give my baby lips by maybelline a try again. I have had it for a year but it made my lips feel dry before. Now it feels a lot better then nothing and it has some color to it for a bonus since I havent been able to wear lipsticks in several years. Im sure by now you found a solution. Just thought I would share my story in case anyone else is going thru something similar.
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Avatar universal
Hi,

Are you on birth control?  I had a similar issue and started a new birth control because my hormones were "unbalanced", and it seemed to solve the issue.

Just a thought!

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Avatar universal
I  am nearly 70 and had no problems with lip sensitivity until 6 months ago. My lips were increasingly dry and cracking, my dermatologist diagnosed chelitis and advised that I used hydrocortisone ointment 1% and pure vaseline and sent me on my merry way on a 6 weeks tour of Europe.Wow! pain and suffering! my lips ulcerated and I was drinking wine through a straw!(have to get your priorities straight) Being a ex nurse i applied myself to the problem and tried to research what was causing the problem. Ever tried to access the internet from a ship in the middle of the Agean?I settled on petroleum jelly as the common irritant  with maybe mint toothpaste and fragrances as a contributing factor.Eliminate,eliminate ,eliminate!!!Found a great natural lip balm in Greece(apivita) you may be able to get it on the internet,a fragrance free shampoo and a plain toothpaste without additives.Also found a brand of hydrocortisone 1% without petroleum.I was facing a wedge resection of about 1/3 of my lip to get rid of the ulcer, but it has now healed As of this moment I live in Hope Best wishes Robyn
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Avatar universal
I think you have what I have which is a BEESWAX allergy. Just stay away from anything that has beeswax in it and you should be fine. The bad part about this is that A LOT of skin care (lotions, body cream, body butter, moisturizer, etc) and lip balms, lip gloss, lipstick and lip anything does have that as an ingredient. I went through that for years and went in and out of the doctor, it got worse when I started using the Yes to grapefruit lip balms. I was misdiagnosed multiple times and got RXs each time. I researched this online as I know it wasn't what I kept being misdiagnosed with. After not having beeswax on my skin at all, I have not had any of these experiences ever. I believe it has been almost a year and this has never happened to me for as long as I can remember. I had to throw out more than half of anything I owned that had beeswax in it. Lotions, body butters, lip balms, lip sticks, lip glosses.
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Avatar universal
I used to use any brand of lipstick or Chapstick. My favorite Chapstick was Cococare, but one day that started to hurt my lips.  A few years later it's lipstick, and now even the CVS brand of Chapstick I'd been using. I still have not pinpointed the exact ingredients that are affecting me. That being said, I started to realize I can use lip balms and lip glosses, but not lipsticks or chapsticks. Even after just one use I notice before the next day, and then it takes a week for my lips to feel and look normal again. When I asked the dermatologist she advised using Aquaphor. I haven't tried it because (so far) I am okay with using the balms and glosses. At night I've started using the EOS lip balm with no issues over the last several months. I've reached out to Loreal to ask their advice regarding the ingredients in their
Iipsticks versus balms because I can actually use the balms with no problems.
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Avatar universal
I have had problems with my lips chapping and burning very badly. None of the lip products worked."Neutrogena Revitalizing Lip Balm".

http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=340474&catid=300859&aid=338666&aparam=340474&kpid=340474&CAWELAID=120142990000042074&CAGPSPN=pla&kpid=340474

I have been using it for 2.5 yrs now and there's no irritation whatsoever.
Hope this help.


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