Putting on chapstick

Beeswax most likely.

Chapstick is NOT made to chap your lips, it moisturizes the damaged skin until it falls off, revealing healthy skin in it's place. That's why it seems it's making your lips chapped, but it's only removing the damage that was there. Use it long and often enough and your lips will never be chapped again, the exact opposite of what you are saying.

You're thinking of stearic acid which will gently remove the skin on your lips. It will NOT make your lips more chapped so you will buy more because there simply isn't enough to do so. Stearic acid can be found in almost any beauty treatment, from lotion to eye cream. You never hear about lotion drying out your skin, yet it's the exact same principle as chapstick. The difference is that your saliva (which is close to your lips) has enzymes that are actually eating away at your lips, making them chapped. When you remove the protective layer of thick crusty skin with chapstick, the enzymes can work more easily to eat away at your lips. It's your saliva that makes your lips chapped. Chapstick makes the skin softer by removing the damaged skin layer and replacing it with a waxy layer to repel the enzymes. If you keep licking your lips and don't put on chapstick often enough, your lips will seem to be more chapped, even though chapstick is NOT the reason why, it's your constant lip licking.