Pine Of course not. The two are completely different in terms of regulatory classification, core functions and applicable scenarios. Scribbling can easily lead to problems.
A while ago, a fan came to me to complain, saying that his lips were chapped and bloodshot in autumn and winter. He was too lazy to go downstairs to buy lipstick. He dug out the leftover wound care ointment at home and applied it on his mouth. He said that the ingredient list also contained Vaseline, which was the same as lipstick and cheaper. However, within three days of applying it, a small red rash appeared around his mouth. It was so itchy that he couldn't sleep at night. Only when he went to the hospital did he find out that the antibacterial ingredient in the ointment had irritated the lip mucosa.
Some people think this is making a fuss, saying that they have applied it once before and it is fine. After all, many mild wound care ointments do have ingredients that overlap with lip balms. For example, they all use petroleum jelly and lanolin as bases to seal and lock in moisture. Even if you apply them once in a while, there seems to be no reaction.
Don’t underestimate this difference. The regulatory requirements between the two are quite different. Wound care ointment is registered as a medical device, and the testing standards are all based on the healing needs of skin wounds. There is no non-toxic safety assessment for ingestion. Lipsticks belong to the category of cosmetics and must pass entrance toxicology tests. After all, when applied to the mouth, they will inevitably be eaten into the stomach along with food and saliva. This difference in safety threshold is not a trivial matter.
Moreover, the design goals of the two are completely different. The core of wound care ointment is to create a moist healing environment for damaged skin. Many models are added with antibacterial and repair-promoting ingredients, such as silver ions and povidone-iodine. When these ingredients come into contact with the mucous membrane tissue of the lips, which is three times thinner than ordinary skin, they can easily cause irritation, ranging from redness and itching to burns and pigmentation of the mucous membrane. On the other hand, lip balms are specially formulated for lip skin. In addition to water-locking sealants, mild moisturizing ingredients such as hyaluronic acid and ceramide are also added to adapt to the characteristics of lips that move frequently and are prone to friction. There will be no strange smell when applied, and it will not affect eating and talking.
If your lips are so dry that they break out and you don’t have any lipstick at hand, the best you can do is apply medical-grade white petroleum jelly that contains only pure petroleum jelly and apply it temporarily. As for any wound care ointment that has other functions, you really shouldn’t use it on your lips casually. If you save a few bucks on lipstick, you will end up having to go to the dermatology department to register, which will be a big loss, right?
