A stick of chapstick probably lasts me about a month. I put it on in the morning, after I eat or drink anything and numerous other times through out the day.

I tried about a year ago to use it less. I decided on reducing to three times a day – morning, afternoon and night. After only 2 days my lips were completely chapped – red, dry skin, etc. It was disgusting. It felt awful and I looked bad. I was starting a new job at Starbucks and I felt like I couldn’t go in looking like that if I could avoid it, so I started using it again. It took about a week for them to get back to normal.

That scared me from trying again. Once your lips are chapped like that I just wonder if they are ever going to get better without using chapstick? Will they just keep getting more and more chapped?

I can’t figure out a better way to decrease usage. A friend recommended to stop using chapstick and to instead use vaseline – maybe to get rid of the addiction to the tube first? I suppose its worth trying.

The reason I want to stop my addiction to chapstick is because I feel dependent on it. If I’m going somewhere for the day – or even for a few hours I feel like I have to grab my chapstick, I have to have a pocket or purse to put it in – that feels wrong. I’d like to be more free than that.