Powerschool GoGuardian Naviance Aimsweb Semstracker EdReflect SchoolDude Virtual Paragon Frontline Alio Service Portal

Confessions of a Teenage Chapstick Addict

Everytime I go to CVS, Walmart, or Target, I find myself walking down the same aisle. Their array of colors and unique shapes jump out at me. Searching for the new, limited edition packages and reading the names of the different scents are all part of the experience. It’s like when teenage boys walk down the sneaker section of the Nike store. Or when beauty gurus parade down the makeup aisles of Sephora. Except, the product I keep finding myself going back to time after time, is Eos lip balm.

One day, my dad came home from work and gave me a small pink ball. He explained to me that it was a chapstick. I opened it up, smelled it’s sweet strawberry sorbet scent, and put it on. Let’s just say this sparked my obsession for an addiction that’s still going on five years later.

Give or take, my current collection consists of 40 Eos. My family knows me all too well and buys me a few for every Christmas and birthday. Now, chapsticks litter my backpack, pencil case, bedroom, coat pockets, hoodies, and bags. You name it; it’s probably there. I am constantly finding them all over my house. And if I don’t find them first, my dog will. He will eat the whole thing– even the plastic part.

There are many downsides to having this strange obsession. First of all, it’s making me broke. Chapstick is getting expensive. One Eos costs approximately 4 dollars, and a regular lip balm costs about 3. This may not seem like that much, but when you buy 40 of them, the costs quickly adds up. If each year I buy about 20 eos, and I’ve been using them for the past five years, this comes to $400. And if I buy around nine lip balms each year, this comes to $135. Estimated, I’ve spent $535 on eos over these past few years.

The main problem is how bad my obsession is. I always have one on me and when I don’t have one, lets just say things don’t end well. One time I forgot my Eos at home going to the movie theaters, and I made my mom run to the nearest gas station to buy a chapstick. Another time, I lost it at the mall. My lips got so chapped that I ran to Bath and Body Works and used their free sample lotion as a replacement. That was not one of my proudest moments.

I understand that it’s an issue, and I openly admit to it. I should probably be focusing on breaking my bad habit, but I can’t. I won’t.

What if my lips get chapped?

What if they crack?

What if they bleed?

What if they FALL OFF?

No way, I would never let it get to that point. Chapstick is a part of me, and I’m not ready to let that go just yet, even if it is going to make me broke.