The Reason You Maybe Shouldn’t Wear Mint Lip Balm Under Your Face Mask

As if there wasn’t enough to worry about when it comes to wearing a mask (maskne, melted makeup, and a super sweaty upper lip come to mind), there’s now another issue that some minty lip balm lovers are facing—and it's causing tears.

If you’ve ever tried a minty balm or lip gloss, you know how strong they can smell. If you find that your eyes start to well up after putting on your mask, it could be that minty flavor on your lips. Some folks have been finding that the scent gets trapped in the face mask and rises up to the eyes, leading to red, irritated, and watery peepers.

So, what's going on? “Any highly fragrant material on your face or lips can cause irritation of the eyes including reflex tearing,” explains Jasmine Mohadjer, MD, an oculoplastic surgeon in Tampa, Florida. She says it's the similar to how your eyes react when cutting an onion or when you use an alcohol swab that gets too close to your eyes.

Oftentimes, minty lip balms have peppermint, spearmint oil, or menthol in them, and are naturally occurring compounds that help to cool the skin. “Menthol is known to decrease the symptoms of upper airway congestion like what you see in a cold—I think that's why so many cultures believe in drinking mint tea or rubbing Vicks Vapo-Rub on your body when you have a cold,” explains Papri Sarkar, MD, a dermatologist in Boston. “But, mint oil is also a known irritant to skin and mucous membranes. In fact, lip-plumping glosses often contain higher than usual levels of peppermint oil and actually plump your lips by irritating them."

According to Dr. Sarkar, when people use a "minty" lip balm containing menthol or mint oil and then a mask on top of it, some of the lip gloss may inadvertently get applied closer to the eyes or on the mask itself. “In addition, by covering the face, they're likely giving the odors less of an ability to dissipate into the surrounding air, so they're traveling under the mask and towards the eyes at a higher rate than they would if the lip balm was applied without a mask on (or in open air)."

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like we’ll be ditching our masks anytime soon, so you might have to abandon the minty lip gloss for now—it’s best to avoid lip products that claim to be cooling, minty or fresh. If you do apply the minty lip gloss and start to get watery eyes, Dr. Mohadjer suggests washing off the product on your lips immediately and lubricating your eyes with artificial tear drops or ointments, such as Lumify Redness Reliever Eye Drops ($19, amazon.com). “If the irritation persists you should see an ophthalmologist immediately,” she says.

If you don’t wanna ditch the lip gloss or balm altogether, but also don’t want your eyes to be watering the entire time, consider trying out one of these lip products below to apply under your mask.