Seal your lips

Dr Vikas Sharma

Lip cosmetics are valuable, not only for accentuating the lips, but for providing lip lubrication and sun protection as well. There are several types of lip cosmetics, including lipsticks, lip crayons, lip creams, lip liners and lip sealers.

Colour me red Lipsticks

Lipstick is an extruded rod of colour dispersed in a blend of oils, waxes and fats and packaged in a roll-up tube. Lip cosmetics can be formulated to impart colour to the lips for 8 hour or more. Obviously, the lipstick film will not stay on the lips this long, resulting in staining of the lips.

Lip crayons

Lip crayons allow precise application of lip colour and are useful for camouflaging purposes.

Lip cream and lip gloss

Lip cream and glosses are packaged in a small jar and rolled on or applied with the finger. The cream formulation is obtained by lowering the wax content, increasing the oil content, and using waxes with a lower melting point. Lip cream is usually an opaque lip cosmetic, whereas gloss pots provide transparent colour to the lips.

Lip liner

Lip liners are used to define the outer edge of the lips and are valuable in reconstructing a normal lip contour.

Lip sealant

Lip sealants prevent movement of lipstick into the fine lines around the lips. This is especially important in elderly women. The cream is applied to the lips like lipstick or with the finger and allowed to dry before a pigmented lip cosmetic is applied.

Lip contouring cosmetics

Abnormal lip shape secondary to congenital causes or surgery can be masked by effective application of lip contouring cosmetics. Though all these lip cosmetics are very important for the aesthetic appeal in women, but one needs to be aware of the adverse effects of these as well. The most common side effect of lip cosmetics is contact Cheilitis. Cheilitis is the medical term for inflamed lips.

Lipsticks and other lip care products are the major causes of allergic Cheilitis of the vermilion margin, where the skin and red lip meet. Sometimes, the reaction extends onto adjacent perioral skin, with or without involvement of the angles of the mouth. The reaction may present in either acute or more persistent chronic forms.

How is allergic Cheilitis to lip cosmetics diagnosed?

Patch testing is the investigation for contact allergy due to Type IV (delayed) hypersensitivity.

Allergens reported in lip care products are-

• Ricinoleic acid, the main constituent of castor oil, has been identified in several large case series as the commonest current cause of allergic Cheilitis due to lip cosmetics.
• Lipsticks are composed of several lip sensitisers like mineral oils and wax (which form the stick), castor oil as a solvent for the dyes, lanolin as an emollient, preservatives, perfumes and colours. The dyes include azo-dyes and eosin.
• Lipstick cheilitis not only damages the lips but also affects the skin beyond lip boundaries. There is persistent irritation and scaling, and in some a more acute reaction with swelling and oozing.

Some components of lip care products can be both irritant and allergenic. Examples of such irritants include: olive oil, citral, shellac and cinnamon. Apart from causing Eczematous Cheilitis lip cosmetics can also cause pigmented contact Cheilitis, contact Urticaria and contact Leukoderma.

So, carefully use these agents to avoid slightest of dryness or scaling on lips.

(Dr Sharma is a Chandigarh-based dermatologist)