Hi everyone,
I used to visit this page (as a lurker) about two years ago when I suffered from this, and it has since been cured. I just remembered about this site and wanted to tell everyone about my experience.

Before it all started, my lips were perfectly healthy. In fact, they never peeled or chapped, not even in the winter. Over two years ago, I started using all-natural tinted lip balms and other lip products. At first, there were no obvious adverse reactions, but I used them a lot. One day, I bought some drugstore lip stain and wore just one day, only to find my lips peeling from it. It must have been some reaction to the chemical-filled product. I started using chapsticks and balms to stop the peeling, which led to a vicious cycle (as most of you know). I could not believe how out-of-control the situation got in a few short months; I have thick, scab-like skin peeling off my lips every day, and it was painful too! Luckily, my lips are pretty thin, but it was still obvious, horribly embarrassing, and uncomfortable. The peeling cycles were short- about a day. After trying a few quick-fix "solutions" it just got worse, until I decided to LEAVE IT ALONE.

This is exactly what I did:
- I completely stopped touching my lips. That means no: biting, licking, rubbing, etc. Getting water on them was fine though. Even kissing was on a hiatus :(
- No application of any product whatsoever, and NO EXFOLIATION.
- The only thing I did to lessen the appearance was GENTLY clipping off any detached skin with a nail clipper. This was important - if you rip the skin off even a little, you completely set yourself back in healing. I had to do this in a bathroom at work several times a day; that's how bad it was.
- I should mention that even before this started, I was using all natural products (for a different concern) and continued to use them throughout. That means my toothpaste, shampoo, soap, everything was SLS-free. This may have helped recovery or prevented relapse, I don't know. SLS can be very harsh on skin.
- I always had a relatively healthy diet, even before the peeling started. I don't think it had anything to do with it. I would say, make sure you're well-hydrated (I drank 3L of water a day).

Now, I will warn you, it's going to get ALOT WORSE before it gets better. During the first few months, the peeling was horrific and I basically minimized social interaction because of it. Maybe around the six month mark, the condition finally stopped getting worse and started getting better. The peeling cycle was getting longer, the scabs were becoming thinner after each cycle, and the area of the peeling was decreasing. After a year, my lips were 80% back to normal. After 1.5 years, 90%. And now, two years later, 98%. I say 98 because they still get a bit chapped and a tiny bit peel-y on some days in the winter, which they didn't used to do. Nothing noticeable to other people. When this happens, I don't use any chapstick (threw them in the trash), I just let them be dry and chapped and they heal on their own. Your lips will re-adjust eventually and learn to make the proper amount of sebum. If your lips are constantly protected by balm, they won't have that trigger to stimulate production. If you exfoliate constantly, you are messing with this natural mechanism and traumatizing your lips.

I can wear lipstick without issue. Now there's no pain, no peeling, and the condition is just a distant memory. I know some of you may have a more complicated issue at hand, but I think a lot of you could be cured by doing this and being patient for a full year, at least. I didn't think it would take so long, but at least it's gone. I wish you all the best of luck.