Organic Alternatives
Allergic Reaction to Burt’s Bees
Image by Stacy Lynn Baum
They are so itchy around the edges. They feel like little bumps. It’s kind of numb and feels tight.
My father said I have chapped lips. I have chapped lips all the time. My lips doesn’t itchy this bad when they are chapped.
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Organic Alternatives
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The cosmetics industry has had troubles with claims of animal testing, but people often forget that many of the chemicals and ingredients in makeup and toiletries can be harmful to you and the environment. Whether you’re looking for a lotion that’s safe for use on you and your children or the hottest shade of lip color, turn to products like the Burt’s Bees (www.burtsbees.com) line of personal care items.
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Clothing and Textiles:
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Paint:
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Even some of your favorite paint brands are starting to carry these greener alternatives. Check out the Sherwin Williams “Green Sure” initiative (http://www.sherwin.com/do_it_yourself/sherwin_williams_products/green/) to see what’s going on to make paint a little greener.
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Yes, Stacy. Looks to me like they are chapped a bit on the Lower and Upper Edge’s of your mouth. Try some Chapstick. I have the same problem, at times. Get it during the cold weather only?
They looked chapped at a distance but up close it looks like a rash. I don’t think I’ve ever had chapped lips with little bubble like thingies. I think it’s probably just an allergic reaction to something. Of course I’m not a doctor and they may just be severely chapped.
Hope you’re lips feel better soon, honey.
Oh they’re so itchy. I just want to take sandpaper to them.
Give Blistex a try… It should have em healed up in no time… Usually one night works for me when mine get chapped..
THAT IS EXACLTY WHAT MINE LOOK LIKE!!! I don’t know what it is either! I’ve had it for about 8 years now and it used to get it like once every month but now its usually just yearly. My dad took me to the doctor and all they said was it was probably a food allgery (yeah right). Uhm, for me they weren’t chapped lips, after all this time I still havent found anything to prevent it. All you can do is just wait it out and try putting like hydro cortizone or something to stop the itch. but believe me I feel your pain
p.s. ive been looking online for answers and i found something about if people have sensitive skin and you eat a mango, theres some oil in the mango skin thats related to poison ivy that makes some people break out in rashes around their mouth a little bit after eating.
mine look like that right now too.. ahh well at least now i know what it could be.
came across your pics while looking for a natural treatment on goggle. Sorry to tell ya, but they’re cold sores.
Thank you so much for posting your pictures Stacy! God help, my lips look identical to yours, they get better and then get chapped again. Nothing helps really, they get better on their own. I break out into hives too. This has all started in the last month or so. But, just wanted to say THANKS!
Hi, So my Boyfriend’s lips started to look like that last night. He says that they feel really chapped and they feel like they are burning. He HAS had mango in the past few days so that could be it, however he has had mango in th past and nothing happed. He is a chapstick addict as well, from the time I met him he uses chapstick every few minutes. My questions to you are, to you think these could be contagious? Could I get them as well? also, is it possible that they could be stressed related? or a stomach issue?
thank you for everything!
I don’t think cold sores could cover your whole lip in just a few hours.
NO! Your lips do not look normal. Mine look just like that right now. I feel your pain. Mine are swollen, itchy & painful, too. I just got a diagnosis of mango food allergy. Do not take this lightly. You are allergic to something. The next time, your throat could close up! Figure out what you ate that is doing this to you. It will get worse as your episodes continue.
Good Luck!!!
oh My!! i get that every now and then. it would come monthly and then it would come annually or so. i haven’t gotten it in a while tho, since march when i went to Thailand, in that case it seemed to spread to other parts of my body like my arms[kinda like hives or something]. my doctors said it was chapped lips, but it wasn’t that because i used chap stick on a regular basis. But i definitely believe it is an allergic reaction, i still do not know what I’m allergic to tho.
I get the same thing. I thought it might be a reaction to mango as well, but I just had a breakout yesterday and have stringently avoiding mango for months. All I ate prior was my regular diet: breakfast shake, lean cuisine, pizza for dinner with nothing unusual on it. It’s so frustrating.
I got the same thing yesterday. First it started out as being a little dry and then got chapped then yesterday they swelled up and the edges got really itchy!!! and I have the same little bumps on the edges too! I never had anything like this before when I got chapped lips. You know i’m not sure that chapped lips are even connected. Cause I think I got chapped lips from liking my lips too much cause 1 day out of nowhere the right side of my upper lips swelled up. And cause I was liking it and playing with it I think I got chapped lips from that. I hardly ever get chapped lips cause i always keep chap stick in my pocket and put it on all day long! Do you think that could be a connection? other commenters said they do the same thing. I dunno, just a thought. Anyway i think it’s an allergic reaction to something. i made an appointment to go to the doctor. I’ll let you know what she says and maybe it could help you or other people that are looking for an answer
i’m happy i found this…my lips look exactly like yours…i felt silly, but i went to the doctor and he said they were just chapped, and told me to use vasaline, and perscribed me mupirocin. it’s an antibacterial used to treat impetigo, and dry lips i guess…
i also use carmex. my doctor thinks that i got it from a new toothpaste i tried…colgate max fresh w/ mini breath strips. he said that toothpaste like this with the breath strips in it can cause it…
so that’s what we concluded was wrong, i went back to my old toothpaste, got a new toothbrush, and it seemed to get better until the other day, they are back to day one. i called my doctor today, and now they perscribed me a 7 day dosage to valtrex. we’ll see if this helps. i’ve never had any problems with chapped lips in the past like this, and it’s very fustrating!
My lips look JUST like this right now too…
This is my 3rd round with this annoying rash in the past 6 months. I’ve figured out that they are triggered by stress. The more stress, the more they spread and the harder they are to get rid of.
But I have found a cure! Blistex Medicated Lip Ointment — the kind that comes in the red package, and is a white squeeze-tube. Last time this happened I applied this stuff liberally, every hour, and they went away within 2 days.
Whatever you do, do not mistake these for herpes – I did and used Abreva only to have the blisters grow and dry and crack. Wash with a gentle face wash, do not try to rub them off, try not to touch your face, and keep your lips moisturized and clean. Change your pillowcases and sheets too!
Maybe it’s a weird rash, maybe it’s over-active oil glands, maybe it’s a mango reaction (I HAVE had a mango in the past 3 days…hmm…), but until we figure it out – Blistex Medicated Lip Ointment! With the red stripe!!!
i saw my dermatoligist today…he gave me aquaphor (eucerin makes it) he advised me to stop using carmex…so far so good
Ah splendid, cold weather just hit and my lips got like this…I have a pattern though. It gets cold, my lips get chapped and then I eat citrus fruit…most recently oranges. My lips freak out and voila! this happens >_< So there’s my theory, chapped lips + citrus fruit = this
Hi, this just happened to me too! My whole upper lip has these tiny tiny little itchy bumps. It fees rough & I want to scratch at it. Started in the corner of my lip several days ago – & now has progressed to my entire upper lip!!! I have been using carmex on it, & it doesn’t seem to be getting any better. It actually seems like it is progressing to the bottom lip now. I think one thing that started this irritation was drinking hot coffee. I originally had tiny white speckled dots on my upper lip underneath the skin. They never popped up & you couldn’t even notice unless I stretched the lip & popped it up. Did you have those too before this started? Anyway, after I drank the coffee I felt a burning on my lip & like the next day it started. I think the hot coffee irritated the little white bumps. I looked it up online & it deff. does not look like herpes. I have no idea what it is, but sooo glad to see that I am not the only one. I thought it was chapped lips at first, but this can’t be no way. Let me know what you find out too!! I don’t have medical insurance to get it checked out & I’m freakin out!!! I kiss my little 14 month old all the time…. & I NEED to know if this is contagious!!! I would kill myself if I transmitted something like this to my boy!!! Please let me know what you find out!!!
Oh, you know what?! One thing I just thought of – I just got a kitten – & had to take it to the vet because it’s eyes kept closing up because of some kind of infection. He needed an antibiotic ointment that cleared it up – but the vet said an interesting thing – that a lot of the time, or most times when animals get the crusty boggery eyes like that that a lot of times it is Herpes!!! I thought it was bull-crap & no way could be, ignored what he said & have been kissing all over the kitten for weeks!!! NOW, I am starting to wonder if I have picked something up from the kitten!!! Do you have animals that you kiss? God, this is SO frustrating!!!!
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they are not cold sores or chapped. I have the same thing. I get it when I use Lush products (British vegetarian cosmetic company). Every time I use their lipbalm I break out. It starts out feeling swollen, then itchy, then it burns if you rub them too much. It’s like sandpaper that doesnt rub off!! Good luck. retrace your steps, its an allergy.
ps. keep a journal of eveything you have eaten/put on your lips and highligh days when you had the reaction
ls79leo : Carmex never seemed to help me ether. I don’t think it’s contagious though. And no popping. I do have ferrets but I’ve been kissing them for years and my problem has been off and on.
My lips got dry a couple weeks ago so I broke out the Burt’s Bee chapstick for the season. And same reaction. I was fine all summer. I have come to think it is the Burts. I goggled it and there are many others out there with the same reaction.
Now if only I could figure out why my feet develop hives whenever I DON’T wear socks?
This was really helpful for me. www.visualdxhealth.com/searchResults/adult_Male_Lips.htm The author’s (and mine) definitely look most like the allergic contact dermatitis. Hope someone else finds it helpful too!
This is the second time this has happened to me.
I went to the doctor and she said It’s an allergic reaction (for me it is a reaction to cherry chapstick… i think?)
the first time i was not aware i had an allergy to the chapstick, i kept using it and 2 weeks later i finally started using AQUAPHOR and it cleared up in a couple of days after i started using that.
2nd time it happened. I had a cold and i was blowing my nose a lot and so my lips started to feel really chapped so i used my chapstick and it got worse really quick.
I then used my aquaphor and it was 100% healed within a week.
Like an idiot yesterday right when it was better I thought I didn’t want to carry around the tube of aquaphor around with me while i was Christmas shopping so i got a brand new cherry chapstick and that same night it swelled up. I think I caught it quickly and i don;t think it will be as bad this time cause i started using the aquaphor before it got bad.
Moral of the story, use AQUAPHOR!!!! It’s made by Eucerine. and it’s in the BABY section of your local pharmacy. It’s like 8 or 9 bucks a bottle. and it keeps your lips moist. Vasaline only work for like 2 minutes then it melts and starts to feel dry. Oh and It’s NOT A COLD SORE!!!
Hope this helps!
www.thejcdp.com/issue026/case026/02case.htm
It’s not herpes… it’s Cheilocandidiasis (a yeast and/or bacteria infection). It spreads when you have some sort of liquid on it that has it and then when you rub it around your lips–it blooms all over very fast.
It is DEFINITELY cheilocandidosis. You can treat it with 1% hydrocortizone cream along with an antifungal such as Lotrimin or Iodoquinol. I have suffered for years with this and only recently diagnosed. You have to keep the lips dry also. Adding ointment, chap stick, lipstick, etc just delays the healing. If this doesn’t work, see a dermatologist and they can prescribe something stronger. It has been said that it is from a riboflavin, zinc and or iron deficiancy.
that is some type of rash, it must be an allergci reaction to sumthin
omg im going thru that right now !! but worse :O
thank u for putting up this pic becuz i thought i was the only 1 going thru something like this! my lips started out just like that about 2 months ago and now [i just woke up] i looked in the mirror and omg i screamed. my lips are super puffy, they have red, tiny little bumps around the edges, they itch, and they’re BLEEDING. i thought i was gonna die or something. :[ but i showed my mom this picture and she read some of the comments and she put together wat my problem was! seems like im allergic to my new tooth paste "crest vivid white" which is wat i started using exactly 2 months ago! so it seems like you're jus allergic to something :]
some chopstick does that to my lips…I have it now…so I stopped. I used one by avon and it gave me little bumps.
i believe this is what i have. i recently used this "climb on" chapstick, i think i am allergic to something in it. here is whats in it.
apricot Kernel, grapeseed and wheatgerm oils, tocopherol, unrefined fair trade shae butter, unrefined beeswaz, peppermint and essential oil, unrefined rosehip seed oil and other essential vitamins and oils.
my guess is apricot Kernal or some of the oils, not sure yet
I am currently in my second outbreak. The last was a couple months ago. I do use CHAPSTICK several times a day & i have had MANGO recently. Plus I have been under a lot of STRESS. I also have a scaly patch just under the tip of my nose and a few hives on my neck. If it is allergic contact dermatitis from Mango I am pretty screwed because I ate mango salsa yesterday thiking I’d react immediately if that was the allergy & at least then I’d know. I guess I won’t actually know for another 48-72 hours. …crap, where’s my friend with the epi pen when i need her..? probably back at the restaurant enjoying some killer mango salsa
IT’S THE MANGO, @ least for me. I am posting this update in hopes that it will help someone else. I had a whole mango a few days before the first outbreak. I even scraped the flesh off of a fleshy slice of peeled mango skin with my teeth, this caused the cut mango skin (and contained oils) to come in contact with the septum between my nostrils and i had a little break out there too. Well that episode getting better until I had the mango salsa, this breakout is not nearly as bad. That makes sense since i didn’t rub the freaking stuff all over my face. Plus my nose is really better by now.
I have tried Abreva and medicated Chapstick with no results for about 5 days. I just bought some medicated Blistex ointment and Aquaphor so we’ll see what happens. I have a feeling though, that just like poison ivy, it just takes time to go away. Since both plants are in the same family (Anacardiaceae) they have similar properties. The Aquaphor wil most likely be useful when the rash dries and I’m left with dry flaky lips and the medicated ointments may be helpful for preventing or treating subsequesnt infection resulting from vulnerable broken skin. I hope this helps someone. The whole thing is maddening.
My lips had the same reaction as in the picture. After my lips turn red and irritated by blisters, they become very chapped. I think I found the CURE. The reaction may be caused from a vitamin deficiency. I found that after taking a multi-vitamin for a few days the symptoms seem to disappear. I’m taking Women’s One Daily by MegaFood. I did a search online using the words "chapped lips" and "vitamin deficiency." Hope this helps!
Yep, that’s what I’ve got.
It was the mangos for me! hahaa.
HI stacy, I know this was a long time ago but I am having the same issue with my lips. I’ve read a lot of your comments about it being food allergy but has yours gotten swollen and really red? Today is the second day and it already is. Please please give me feedback on what you did to make it go away. It stings, feels numb, not comfortable at all, and is all over it lips! And really red…thank you in advance!
I know this was posted a long time ago as well, but I thought I’d give my input. I’ve had the exact same problem since I was 12 years old, now 21. I’ve learned that I cannot use any products on my lips other than Vaseline, Aquaphore, or Blistex. I would always break out with these tiny bumps any time I used CHAPSTICK or Softlips brands or just random lip glosses. I never have a breakout like this after eating a mango, so my situation could be different. But it definitly is an allergic reaction to something. I began to realize that a lot of the chapsticks I was using had SPF in it and from that, realized, I had an allergy to something in sunscreen. I also realized it when I went sunbathing one day and slathered sunscreen all over my body and face, not only did my lips break out in those tiny bumps, my face and parts of my body did as well! But I have sensitive skin and lips as well, so I haven’t been able to wear lipsticks, lip glosses, or sunscreen for years! Once I transitioned from Vaseline to Aquaphore, it worked and healed my lips quite quickly, but now, a year later, it seems like the Aquaphore doesn’t help at all anymore and only time heals it. I read "12Crawfords" post and decided to try applying 1% hydrocortisone cream and actually keeping the lips dry rather than applying any ointment and I found that it actually does work better than the Aquaphore alone. It feels very very dry and tight at first after the hydrocortisone cream is applied, but after a 10-15 minutes and trying to stretch your mouth and slightly smiling, they don’t feel as dry or irritated. I wash my mouth and reapply the cream every few hours. I have never seen a doctor about this because I too thought they would just say it was from a food allergy or chapped lips, so by researching it online, that is the best solution I found to this annoying problem. Hope that helps someone.
guys i found a solution Add castro oil everyday.. your lip would look like normal once again…
My lips are the exact same way right now! I have had it about 4-5 days. They are dry itchy super swollen and covered in bumps. I got the blistex and it doesnt seem to be helping….How long before they go away? ps I did eat mango the day before these showed up.
I just buy chop stick at acme ..And try to using it …I thought everything oke ..Brand new chop stick on cold weather will be good for my lip..But 3day my lip numb and swollen.I was going to call the factory but to bad no phone number….Warning ..Dont use chop stick .
i had the same problem for years. it was so embarassing, i tried every kind of chapstick/lip stuff. i finally went to a dermatologist, and he said it was dermatitis. he gave me a 2 prescriptions one for at night which was called:protopic, and another for mornings called:cutivate. it started working the same day. i haven’t had problems with my lips for over a year now.
I had this same thing just over a year ago. Within the span of a day it went from nothing to all over my lips, then the next day it was all over my chin! I went to the doctor and she diagnosed it as contact dermatitis. I thought she gave a prescription creme to apply, but I can’t find it and don’t remember what it was.
I think I’m getting the rash again. It started as one bump yesterday and now there are a few on both corners of my mouth. I did eat mango a few days ago. Coincidence? I dunno, but that’s interesting.
MANGO’S…
I ate one a few days ago, skinned it and cut it into little slices. YUM.
The next day i ate another one, only this time i cut it into thick slices with the skin still attached. I scrapped off the meat with my top teeth.
The next morning i woke up in pain, my lips look like the picture shown above. Not to mention the whole roof of my mouth is also raw. It feels like tiny swollen scratches.
I will miss my mango’s…
take an antihistamine & see if it helps. note, if your tongue starts to swell, head to the ER immediately. it can prevent you from breathing if it gets bad enough.
Blistex has bees wax in it. so if you had an allergic reaction to burt’s bees chapstick read whats in the chapstick before you use it.
I got chapped lips, then started putting Burt’s Bees on it. It got much worse, but I didn’t make the connection until just now. I’ve been up half the night worried because now my lower lip is swollen and numb. Just on one side. But they itch so bad from that crust. I’m heading to my doctor as soon as the place opens this am.
Thats not chapped lips. That is an allergic reaction to some sort of chapstick/lipbalm. It took me forever to figure out that was going on with me. I have the same problem. Use only vaseline until you figure it out. I also had to keep getting prednisone shots, bc it is definitely a very uncomfortable feeling. Im sorry
I also put like a hydrocortisone cream around the ridges where it itches really bad, and that usually helps for a little bit with the itching.
oo gosh im 18 n i have they same situation now n idk wat to do should i go to the E.R?