For the past few weeks I had been having an issue with really dry/chapped lips. Nothing I applied to them helped for more than 5 minutes, and believe me I tried everything! They were even peeling. So I paid a visit to my lovely friend Google, and researched. Several answers attributed toothpaste to this issue. Naturally when you're brushing your teeth, some will get onto your lips. This was very intriguing to me because I had recently started using a different toothpaste. (Crest Pro-Health Clinical Gum Protection.)
My research informed me that sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) was the ingredient in my toothpaste, and in most toothpastes, that was drying my lips out. Sodium lauryl sulfate is the ingredient responsible for making the paste "foam up" in a sense. SLS is also present as one of the top ingredients in most shampoos, shaving creams, body washes, and other detergents.
So I took a trip to my local toothpaste isle and began skimming ingredient lists. Nearly all of them contained sodium lauryl sulfate! And being near the top of the ingredient list usually means the product contains a lot of it, or is mostly made up of that ingredient. I finally found a toothpaste that did NOT have SLS listed as one of the ingredients. (Sensodyne Pronamel gentle whitening.) I have been using this toothpaste for about a week now and honestly I've not even used lip balm once. My lips are perfectly smooth and soft without the help of a lip product for the first time.
So for all you lip balm lovers out there, you may just need to try a different toothpaste.
I also found during my research that SLS in toothpastes can cause canker sores and/or bad breath.
I am in no way trying to tell you what type of toothpaste to use, but after having this experience, and learning more in depth about the side effects of sulfates, I will most likely try to eliminate this substance from my shampoos, face washes, body washes, and anywhere else I can find it. I figure if it can dry out your lips that terribly, imagine how badly it could be drying out your skin and hair.
Author's Note: Sources: http://www.natural-health-information-centre.com/sodium-lauryl-sulfate.html
http://www.crestprohealth.com/crest-products/clinical-gum-protection-toothpaste.aspx
http://www.pronamel.us/pronamel_products/gentle_whitening.aspx
http://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/
