RECIPE FOR RECOVERY: Meredith Gerber Finds Her Fix
The first step is admitting there's a problem. The second step is understanding why it’s a problem. And the third step is taking responsibility and committing to turning things around. No one’s saying it’s easy, but – make
it through these first few steps – and the road
to recovery won’t be nearly as rough as you
might think. Just ask Meredith Gerber.
“I was pretty much addicted to lip balm. I used it all the time,” admits the Career Center counselor, whose substance of choice was a strawberry balm by Avon. “I was going through tube after tube. It was really, really bad. The more I used it, the more I needed it.”
She knew she had a problem. But what was she supposed to do? Without the stuff, her lips were constantly thirsty. With it, things weren’t much better.
“Then I found out that one of the ingredients in most lip balms is alcohol – and what does alcohol do? It dries you out,” says Gerber. “So, basically, every time you use it, you’re making it worse – so it keeps you coming back for more.”
Armed with the knowledge of why her lip-moisturizing habit had gotten out of hand, Gerber acknowledged her own role in breaking the vicious cycle and vowed to do whatever it took to turn herself around. Turns out, all it’d really take was a do-it-yourself lip-balm kit.
“It had everything you needed: the tubes, the wax, the flavoring, the labels, recipes – the works,” says Gerber. “It was a great way to get started.”
And once she’d started, it became easier and easier.
“The first few tubes I made were waxier than what I like, but I adjusted the mix and played with it until it evolved into what I wanted,” she says. “Now I know the exact mixture that makes me happy.”
She also knows which flavors make her happy.
“My go-to flavors are peppermint, lavender, honey, tangerine, orange, vanilla – and those give you all kinds of combinations, like lavender mint or Creamsicle,” she says. “And then sometimes I like to do the cake-flavored ones, like amaretto. Oh, and eucalyptus is a winner for guys.”
With her recipe perfected, her flavors selected and her process down pat (“you just melt your sunflower oil and beeswax together, add in your flavoring and then dip your little pipette into the mixture and squeeze it into the tube”), Gerber considers herself fully recovered.
“I don’t use it nearly as much as I used to,” she says, estimating that she makes a batch of balm about five times a year and that, since 2002, she’s made “200 tubes, easily – if not more. It’s hard to say because I’m always making them for other people and refilling recycled tubes for my mom and sister.”
In fact, these days Gerber enjoys making balm for others more than for herself – and she’s always happy to see more and more people getting on the wagon.
“If people are interested, they can bring me their used tubes and I’ll refill them,” she offers. “It can be done very easily, it doesn’t take any time at all, and it costs next to nothing.”
With a tube of homemade lip balm running around 25 cents, compared to the $3 price-tag on the store-bought stuff, that savings alone gives Gerber some serious satisfaction.
“I get a kick out of not having to buy something because I can make it myself,” she says. “I guess I get a kick out of being resourceful.”
And, hey, a girl’s got to get her kicks somewhere! 