By Molly Snyder Senior Writer Published Nov 20, 2007 at 9:18 AM

I’ve heard this question almost my entire life, and I still did not know the answer until this morning. Not that I spend a lot of time pondering this, but it comes up at least once  every winter. Yesterday, I overheard two women talking about the lip balm in line at Whole Foods, and one woman swore that Carmex makes her lips drier.

Finally, I broke down and checked snopes.com, a great place to confirm or debunk rumors, myths and urban legends. Sure enough, snopes.com has information about Carmex’s alleged addictive quality, and says the accusation is false. It states there is not an irritant in Carmex that requires you to use it repeatedly, and you cannot get hooked on the stuff, which is another common Carmex myth.

Although I’m a Burt’s Bees lip balm user myself, this information pleases me, because I’m proud of Carmex, made at the Carma Laboratories in Franklin since 1937. It would be a bummer if one of our homegrown products were a scam.  


Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.

Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.