Lip service

Lip balm -- everyone's cold-weather friend -- reigns supreme as the only psychologically addicting grooming product

by Nina Willdorf

As I was leaving the Model Café in Allston-Brighton a few months ago, a youngish guy reached out and touched my shoulder. "Hey, do you have any Chap Stick?" he asked with a sly grin. Ummm, what? At the very least, his oddball inquiry kept me there for the time it took me to process his request, wondering if I'd heard him correctly. I didn't get a chance to offer it up -- nor would I really have wanted to -- before the girl he was with tugged him back, huffing, "I have Chap Stick."

Who knew that the gender-crossing cosmetic could offer an opening for a potential pick-up? Okay, maybe he just really needed his Chap Stick fix, and was desperately searching for the closest hit. After all, many people actually believe that the stick of wax feels as addictive as, say, heroin or crack.

Even reading this may make you pine for a little action. But as you pat your pockets looking for something to soothe those bone-dry lips, get this: it's all in your head. Experts insist that Chap Stick isn't addictive at all. "Chap Stick is just wax and mineral oil," says Paula Begoun, a cosmetics watchdog and the author of Don't Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me. "This ain't fancy stuff." In fact, Begoun claims, all the menthol and eucalyptus found in many lip balms make them poor moisturizers that dry out lips. Hence the constant need to reapply.

Still, Chap Stick and lip balms -- really the only socially acceptable cosmetics to apply in public -- fly off the shelves in all their colorfully packaged, smelly forms as winter rolls around and the wind starts whipping those lips into a painful chapped state.

And everyone has a favorite fix: like gum or coffee, lip balms have faithful brand enthusiasts. Cosmetics Luddites proudly clutch their plain Chap Stick, drugstore shoppers gleefully flaunt the Herbal Answer, and upscale-product whores tote around Kiehl's Lip Balm #1. And they really aren't all the same.

Begoun, who claims she prefers good ol' Vaseline, says it's best to stick to simple products for the most effective moisturizing agents. If you don't mind shelling out a little money, though, the ever-so-fancy Molton Brown Lip Saver ($16) is packed with vitamin E, beeswax, and honey -- it smoothes on softly and stays on. Whether it's Molton Brown, Burt's ($2.50), Dirty Girl ($5), or Kiehl's ($5) you choose to slather on your kisser, make sure the goop is stocked with moisturizing mineral oils, plant oils, and lanolin. Those ingredients, Begoun claims, will "put [on] a soothing layer of emollients and anti-irritants." Perhaps that's the herbal answer we're all looking for.

Where to get it

* [[Mu]]olton Brown Lip Saver is available at Louis, Boston, 234 Berkeley Street, Boston, (617) 262-6100.

* Burt's and Dirty Girl are available at Jasmine Sola, 1760 Mass Ave, Cambridge, (617) 576-0806.

* Kiehl's is available at Neiman Marcus stores or by calling (800) KIEHLS1.

* Herbal Answer is available at various drug stores.

* Chap Stick is available at drug stores, supermarkets, and just about everywhere else.

---

The Urban Buy archive

---