h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Lip Balm Addiction - A21172204
Author: The Apprentice - U35204

Put the balm down! It's a bad habit... and look at all the rubbish they cram into one of those little jars or tubes!

The Apprentice

Great subject and close to my heart. I'll read it again in a quiet minute and come back to you with comments.

Is this a Flea Market rescue?

Good topic, one which has bypassed me, I'll read it more thoroughly later, but your reference to "whale oil" caught my eye so you might like to link to this: A13900042 under whale oil (quite fascinating stuff, it's the only oil which doesn't freeze in outer space)

Yep, it's a rescue. And added link to 'whale oil' reference. I haven't really got down to adding cross references yet!

The Apprentice

Good work - this is one of those subjects that gets overlooked far too often.

Thanks for the kind comments, Alex (and apologies for my lax response to them). Does anyone have any further comments to add?



The Apprentice

How absorbing!!


I found just one itsy bitsy typo in your last paragraph:

>>ingredients that aggrevate<< = aggravate


I like it!

Corrected - and thanks!



The Apprentice

Is this ready now? Any further comments?

Only one typo I spotted, which was:

"And you're put this stuff on your lips..." - surely it should be 'putting'?

It reads well, and was interesting - I've always wondered what all those chemicals were!

Well done .

Sorry, I meant to come back to this much earlier.
I think in the section where you mention the various stuffs it contains, you should add the 'As well as varied fragrances and flavouring' to the bulleted list.

I'm not sure that you need to have the ingredients in tags.

What about lip gloss? It's a thing between a lipstick and a lip balm, and it adds to the sales of the producers, providing the lips with a 'promising' gloss, having pretty much the same effects as lip balm, and adding to the addiction.

*hands up* OK I admit it. I'm a lip balm addict. Last count, there were roughly 20 different varieties and flavours, from good old vaseline (also the aloe vera version) to Lush and Body shop "naturals" to high-tech plumping potions scattered about my handbags, coat pockets, desk drawer and bathroom shelves.

And whilst this is a nicely written and informative entry, it won't put me off using them! Heavens to betsy there's chemicals in everything we eat or touch - just giving a chemical fomula for something doesn't make it evil. You'll be telling us to stop using H2O, salycilic acid or NaCl next

Updated the 'putting'.

Added the 'fragrances' bit to the list in "The Rest".

The bold bit... any opinions from sub-eds or others? I have often leaned to emphasis of the first bit of a bulleted list when sub-editing. However, I'm open to opinion.

And lip gloss... I'll see what I can dig up, but think this is a completely different kettle of fish.

"Wherever did that fishy go? Fishy, fishy, fishy." - Pseudo-Pythonistic Nonsense



The Apprentice

Well, that's it: I don't think it's so very different, but then I'm in another country, so it may well be a 'culture' thing. Here, I haven't ever seen a warning not to use the lip balm for more than a week, for instance. The main brand is called 'Labello'. As has been the case with papaer tissues, the brand name has become the common name for the product in general. So if you go and ask for a 'labello', everybody will know that you want to buy a lip balm - it doesn't necessarily have to be the Labello brand, but that's what you'll find in great varieties. The marketing here is to 'soften' your lips, make them attractive etc,etc - you don't buy a Labello because you need it, but because you want it/are addicted to it. The next step is lip gloss, which combimnes the properties of the Labello (lip balm) with the properties of a lipstick. Especially teenage girls buy lip gloss and Labello. But that's all just fyi.

Which country are you in?

The Apprentice

Hi T.A.!

Just a couple of queries:

Intro 3rd line: ('onto' or simply 'on')?

Sunscreen last para 2nd line:
[effects of long-term overexposure]

Sunscreen last para 5th line: I would have been happier if you'd finished the sentence at 'sun exposure', as the rest of the sentence doesn't quite work. (If you want to rephrase, you could consider mentioning skin cancer as a rather more serious danger.) On the other hand, you could choose to ignore me completely .

Skin Protectant 4th line: [decolourised]

I'm in Germany.

Thanks Rudest Elf... Can't believe I misspelt 'decolourised'! That's what comes of spending a year writing a book in American English! Gah!



"We should have a great fewer disputes in the world if words were taken for what they are, the signs of our ideas only, and not for things themselves." - John Locke

The Apprentice

Interesting entry, I enjoyed it.

My significant other is a Lip Balm enthusiast, which does my head in as I can't stand the stuff. How anyone could willingly coat their lips in grease (and then expect me to kiss them) is beyond me!