At BCA, it is common to see students applying lip products in class, and even carrying them around with them everywhere they go. There is a large variety of lip products, such as lip gloss, lipstick, and lip oil, yet it seems that lip balm is a staple in many students’ lip routines. With hundreds of brands of lip balm

to choose from, it can be difficult to find one that you might like that also suits your needs. After all, each comes with many different unique qualities to consider, including moisture, pigment, scent, and flavor.

From a survey conducted of over 60 students at BCA, 35.3% of students answered that they don’t use lip balm during school hours.

“I don’t really care about having dry lips, and they’re usually moisturized without it,” said Lilian, a sophomore at BCA in AAST. “But sometimes in the winter, I might use lip balm a few times.” Many other students reported similar viewpoints, with all respondents having said that they use lip balm more in the winter, due to the constant exposure to cold weather.

The lip balm brand that BCA students reported to be their favorite was Vaseline, with over 34% of responses selecting the brand as their go-to lip balm, while brands like Aquaphor, Burt’s Bees, and Laneige were also reportedly popular. Vaseline is known for its nourishing and moisturizing ingredients, as well as its variety of uses, including treating both dry lips and eczema,  and even on your eyelashes. The key ingredient in Vaseline is petroleum jelly, which seals your skin with a water protective barrier, keeping your skin moisturized. From the individuals that answered that their favorite was Vaseline, the majority  reported only needing to use it 2-5 times a day. 

“I was watching YouTube shorts one day, and I saw this one video that said if you have chapped and peeling lips, you should try Vaseline,” said Elena Gergis, a senior in AVPA-T.   “They showed a picture, and it looked exactly like mine. I tried other types of lip balm, such as Burt’s Bees, EOS, and Chatpstick, but none of them seemed to work on me except for Vaseline.” 

With social media being an integral part of student’s lives at BCA, they might have seen the trending lip balms, such as Summer Fridays, Laneige, Glossier, and many more. However, according to responses, many seem to stick to the traditional lip balms that work better for them, such as Vaseline and Aquaphor. 

“I have social media, but I don’t really find myself influenced to try trending ones.” said Claire Shi, a sophomore in AAST. “I prefer to just use the ones that I normally use, but it can be fun to try out new ones.” 

With 91.1% of students responding that they started using lip balm because their lips needed moisture, it can be safe to say that many students use lip balm for its practicality, rather than for its aesthetics or for the purpose of following trends. 

Around 13.3% of responses said that they use lip balm at least 10 times a day. While some may argue that their lips are extremely dry and require moisture every hour, it can also depend on the ingredients in the lip balm. Lip balms that contain phenol, menthol, and salicylic acid actually make your lips drier, as they irritate your lips, requiring you to reapply them more often. Those who answered that they use lip balm over 10 times a day also said their favorite brand of lip balms were Blistex, Carmex, and some variations of EOS, which contain one or more of the listed ingredients. Therefore, it can be said that certain types of lip balm may not be as effective compared to others, due to their ingredients, in which Vaseline can be a better and cheaper alternative.

However, if you are less prone to chapped lips and don’t need as much moisture in your lip balm, an alternative suggested by Danielle Abad, a sophomore in AMST, is the Innisfree Lip Balm. Not only does it come with moisturizing factors to keepaway dry and chapped lips, but it also comes with a variety of pigments to choose from.

“I’m pretty lucky and I definitely don’t get chapped lips often,” said Danielle. “The only reason why I would go for lip balms is that they are more comfortable on the lips than lip glosses or lipstick so getting the pigment AND moisture is a big benefit!” 

On a closing note, although there are a variety of lip balms to choose from, many students prefer to use some of the classics, prioritizing their lip balm’s function and use, rather than following trends or using it for the aesthetics.