Are You an Addict?
What’s your drug of choice? Addiction is a funny thing in that it can manifest itself in emotional as well as physical forms. Is someone’s addiction to being in a relationship no matter the quality equitable to someone who can’t start the day without a cup of coffee? Addiction has had a rather nasty connotation in the years past, but lately I’ve seen it been ascribed to much lighter subject matters, like lip balm.
I laughed when I read the headline of an article posted in today’s Baltimore Sun. I couldn’t help but equate the withdrawal process that heroin addicts have to undergo to get clean—could the same terminology be used to describe the process of quitting lip balm? As I read further, I started to realize that obsession with lip balm was closer to home than I thought.
I can’t tell you how many lip products I own. Definitely in the double digits. At this instant I have three tucked away in various compartments of my school bag, not to mention the lip balm that I always tuck into the left pocket of my jeans. It would be no stretch to say that I’ve spent at least double on lip products than other cosmetics. It’s been estimated that the lip balm sales have increased dramatically with consumers spending an astounding $378 million dollars in one year.
I definitely use lip product on a daily basis. While on the field during a rugby match earlier this year I asked someone on the sidelines to bring me some balm during a time-out to sooth my wind burned lips. I remember the relief I felt as I applied before running back on the field. But was that relief real? Or was my relief just psychological? Am I an addict, PeaceKeepers? The thought of abandoning my Eco-Sensual Balm with winter approaching makes me cringe; New York winters are notoriously nasty. I see lip balm as a protective barrier between my body and the world. To be frank, using lip balm is just as much of my hygiene routine as brushing my teeth. If I don’t use I feel dirty and unattractive. Hello everyone, my name is Alice, and I’m a lip-balm-oholic.
Being an addict could be a good thing, if you know how to do it right. Knowing that my money is going to help women and children around the world each time I apply any PeaceKeeper product soothes my soul as well as my lips. Does it still count as rationalization if it’s true?
Peace,
Alice
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