Chapped lips seem to be an unavoidable beauty problem – particularly in winter - that we've often pinned down to the cold weather. However one Reddit user thinks they've found another cause for their inherently chapped lips – toothpaste.
Writing in a post, Reddit user dannelinflannel explained: "Chapped lips have been the bane of my existence since my childhood. I was a chronic Chapstick user and nothing I did seemed to make it better."
After experimenting with a number of different beauty products, they had a breakthrough after swapping their normal toothpaste for an alternative product made for sensitive teeth.
Hypersensitivity to ingredients in toothpaste can be a cause of chapped lips
"I picked up a travel size Sensodyne ProNamel (because let's face it changing toothpastes is a big decision) and switched to using just a thin layer of Vaseline on my lips twice a day," they wrote, adding: "Oh my god – the difference it has made in just a week, and it's the middle of a pretty cold winter here!"
And it seems they weren't the only ones to notice a link between the toothpaste they used and their chapped lips. Others claimed they had notice the same improvement in the condition of their lips after switching to sensitive toothpaste.
It turns out that some toothpaste ingredients have been known to leave lips flaky, and some people may develop hypersensitivity to their toothpaste that leads to a chapped appearance.
One Reddit user said their chapped lips got better after switching to sensitive toothpaste
Neil Sadick M.D., a clinical professor of dermatology at Weill Cornell Medical College, explained to Seventeen.com: "Different toothpastes have different bases that can be more hydrating or less hydrating. If someone happens to be using a toothpaste with a less-hydrating base, they can develop chapping or scaling."
One of the most common irritants can be foaming agent sodium laureth sulfate, which is not found in the sensitive toothpaste brand used by Reddit user dannelinflannel.
So if you suspect that your toothpaste could be the cause of your own chapped lips, try another brand with an ingredients list that looks as different as possible. If your lips get better, then chances are you're hypersensitive to some of the ingredients in that product. Who knew?!