Evaluate a personal care product: Burt’s Bees Chapstick
The personal care product that I’ve decided to evaluate is Burt’s Bees chap stick. I
use chapstick on the daily especially during the winter season when the cold weather
tends to dry out my skin. Burt’s Bees is a very popular brand because they’re known for
their natural ingredients. Burt’s Bees started out as a small local company in Maine back
in the 1980s strictly dedicated to offering customers natural and “earth friendly” skin and
lip care products. While Burt’s Bees started out strong once they started gaining success
they, like so many natural companies, shifted their focus away from the quality of their
products to increasing profits and turning their company into a large business.
The primary ingredient in Burt’s Bees chapstick is at least still beeswax, one of
the best moisturizers found in nature. In fact, most of the ingredients listed on Burt’s Bees
website sound good and natural, things like coconut oil, sunflower seed oil, and rosemary
leaf all very natural ingredients. The ingredients used in Burt’s Bees look good at first
glance, but it’s the ingredients at the end of the list that are a little bit more questionable.
Some of the questionable ingredients listed are Lanolin, Limonene and Tocopherol. I’ve
seen these ingredients before in similar skin products but still have no idea what they
exactly are. If I’m going to be putting these ingredients on my body I feel obligate to
know what they are.
Lanolin: This ingredient is also known as “wool grease” and is an oil extracted
from the fur of wool-bearing animals like sheep. Lanolin’s role in nature is to protect the
animals wool and skin from climate and the environment but I don’t think the type of
people that are buying Burts Bees know they’re putting Animal byproducts on their lips.
Limonene: Limonene is a natural essential oil found in citrus fruit peels.
Limonene is basically the thing that gives oranges their strong/sharp citrus smell.
Limonene is used in a lot of household items like cleaning sprays, air fresheners, and