As a lot of people who know me can testify, I have had a long-standing relationship with mint Chapstick. At least since 1992, I’ve been pretty much addicted to the stuff. Mint only (referred to as “classic mint” now, or sometimes “spearmint”). I do have a stand-by “regular” flavor in the pocket of my bath robe for emergencies, but mint has always been the staple. I’d always buy anywhere from six to a dozen at a time, and I’d go through them like some people go through boyfriends. (I’m not sure what that means.) Mint Chapstick is not the easiest to find, either. Target will usually have some in stock, but most of the stores within walking distance of me do not. So a couple weeks ago, I ran out of mint Chapstick, which is a wee bit surprising since I usually keep a stock of the stuff. I started using my Burt’s Bees Beeswax Lip Balm to hold me over until I had a chance to get to Target, and you know what? I think I’m a convert. It has a similar minty goodness that my Chapstick has, but with no petrolatum. The Burt’s Bees is pricier than the Chapstick, but I really feel like I don’t need to use as much. With Chapstick, I’m reapplying many times a day, but the Burt’s Bees gets like 1/2 or maybe even a 1/3 the applications. My lips just don’t dry out as soon. Some might think this obvious, but I denied it because I really loved my mint Chapstick. These are the 100% natural ingredients in my Burt’s Bees:

Beeswax, coconut oil, sunflower seed oil, peppermint oil, lanolin, tocopherol, rosemary leaf oil, soybean oil, and canola oil.

Because of the lanolin, I suppose it can’t be considered vegan, but otherwise, a very nice concoction. (I’m not vegan, so it’s not an issue for me.) I guess the tocopherol is Vitamin E.  Well, that’s that, it seems that while I haven’t given up chapstick, it’s very likely I’ve given up Chapstick. Take that, Oil Barons!