Does being autistic help me make better lip balm?

Well, this might surprise you, but I feel that me being autistic has helped me create a really good product.

I’ve talked before about some of my Body Focused Repetitive Behaviours, but one I didn’t mention yet is that I rub my lips together and bite any little bits of dry skin off them. It’s at its worst when I’m nervous, especially in public.

And I think it’s part of the reason I’ve always loved lip balm so much - it feels so much more soothing to rub your lips together when you have a lip balm that’s the right consistency.

But when it’s wrong, it makes everything 10x worse. It was so important to have the right consistency that I made my own.

At first, I didn’t know how to explain it beyond just laughing that I’m a lip balm addict.

But it’s really more than that, to me, lip balm is a soothing sensory thing that can make the difference between me being calm or anxious. I kind of equate it to a security blanket that won’t get me any weird looks.

So yeah, I think being neurodiverse has helped me develop a really great lip balm!