At our local Marche St Anne, a young teen entered our Earth to Body booth complaining about her dry lips. She said they were always hurting and nothing seemed to help.
She whipped out her constant lip balm companion, explained she used Vaseline at night and in desperation would apply any cream she could find.
I reassured her we could help and proceeded to share a story.
I was vending at a show in Edmonton, Alberta when a young man entered our booth, He was desperately seeking something for his lips, like you. He explained he was from Somalia, having arrived in Alberta 3 years previous. His dilemma was written all over him. The dry climate was a continual invasion to his skin. It was like a vacuum sucking away all his body moisture, leaving his lips dry, cracked, and bleeding. He explained that the doctor here had given him Vaseline for his dry lips, told him not to talk so much and also advised him to keep his tongue further back in his mouth. This would help prevent his lips from being so dry, the Doc had explained.
Her eyes widened in shock. Seriously?
We then both surmised that muting up and tongue repositioning was not viable. I further explained that Vaseline was petroleum and acted as a barrier to the skin, as in suffocating her lips. I gave her a tester of our emu lip balm which immediately helped ease the discomfort. She grinned in appreciation.
We then compared the ingredients in her lip balm to ours and she began to understand that by using her chemically laden balm she was aggravating the dryness.
After reviewing her entire skin care routine, this young teen now understood the necessity to make changes. She said she’d have to bring her mom back to buy the shampoo/soap and moisturizer, but she happily purchased a lip balm. She left with renewed hope and a more comfortable smile. One less worry.
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