I was shocked to see the news reports about EOS lip balm causing blisters and rashes. I love the stuff, it was an impulse buy last Christmas while shopping for others and I’ve always found it to be a great product. The egg shape is cute and attention getting and the vibrant colors are cheerful. Otherwise known as Evolution of Smooth, the brand has an extremely high customer rating and a plethora of celebrity brand ambassadors. The EOS site has an entire section “EOS BUZZ-CELEBRITY FANS” where celebrities like Britney Spears and Miley Cyrus post selfies with the pod in hand, helping to elevate the popular pod to cult status.
All the excitement is about the “Summer Fruit” version which seems to be causing blisters, rashes, and extreme dryness in some people. Rachel Cronin says it caused her to develop a rash all over her mouth within hours of applying it. She kept reapplying it not thinking that a product that was made from natural ingredients and touted to keep lips smooth and soft would be the cause of her dry coarse lips. Within 24-hours, she had a severe rash and blistering all over her mouth that took 10 days to go away.
Cronin isn’t the only person experiencing adverse reactions to the product. Celebrity vulture attorney Mark Geragos is behind a class action suit claiming a “substantial number of consumers” have experienced allergic reactions to the product that include loss of pigment, bleeding, and cracking with symptoms lasting anywhere from days to months, and some claim to have permanent scars. The suit is asking for damages and corrective advertising.
There seems to be some confusion and skepticism about what is causing these reactions because the EOS lip balm is 99 percent natural, gluten-free, and organic. It is approved by the FDA and according to the company’s tweet about the matter, goes through rigorous testing and exceeds the industries quality and safety standards.
Dr. Marie Jhin told Huffington Post that people can be allergic to natural products and the most likely culprit is Vitamin E, listed as tocopherol in the EOS lip balm. Jhin suggests avoided products that contain Vitamin E, beeswax, perfumes, and fragrance, and use products like petroleum or Aquaphor.
Clearly, that isn’t my mindset and that’s why this lawsuit irritates me. I have a lot of allergies and I have suffered severe reactions, including but not limited to rashes and blisters that covered my body and it never occurred to me to sue anybody, I simply stopped using the product. If I eat lasagna I itch, get congested, tired, and experience stomach cramping; that doesn’t mean there is something wrong with the lasagna, it means there is something wrong with me. It never occurred to me to sue Pepperidge Farms because eating their raspberry strudel gave me the runs.
Every mishap isn’t the fault of someone or something else. Sometimes it’s on you. I really like this product, and Geragos always goes on a publicity witch hunt when he sees dollar signs because he thinks that enough bad publicity will make his latest ‘mark’ cave in and pay up. The problem with being a victim for profit is that the majority suffers and the minority cleans up. The company is forced to change a product that was fine to begin with and their reputation is tarnished simply because there are people in our society that prefer to adopt a ‘victim mentality’ instead of using common sense and taking responsibility for their own maladies. If your lips don’t like EOS or any other product, stop using it. Use your powers for good. It’s as simple as that.
StylEnigma 