A branded lip balm is now trending among teens who have been rubbing the product to their eyelids, claiming it gives them a natural high.
"Beezin" is the act of applying Burt's Bees peppermint flavored lip balm on the eyelids. Young people who are into it describe the feeling of being high or drunk while some say it keeps them alert. The product's peppermint oil gives a cooling sensation and releases therapeutic fumes. However, the eye area is very sensitive and doctors discourage the teens from beezin, saying the fumes may cause irritation, swelling, inflammation and redness.
Some users believe that beezin is harmless because of the product is all-natural but while it claims to be 100 percent natural, using it for purposes other than its intended purpose could lead to serious medical conditions. Doctors warn that natural is not always equal to safety.
"Cold sores are caused by the herpes virus. If you use the lip balm on the cold sore and your friend borrows the lip balm, puts it on their eyelid, the herpes virus could be transmitted from the lip balm to a person's eye, and that person could go blind," medical toxicologist Dr. Kelly Johnson-Arbor said.
The peppermint oil is a strong eye irritant and could cause pink eye symptoms or an allergic reaction. Beezin could even cause the users an infection that can threaten their sight or even life. Kids are seeing so many trends on social media and start experimenting without thinking of or knowing the potential risks. The beezin trend appears to be in line with the use of drugs and alcohol and parents are advised to observe sudden changes in their child's behavior such as mood swings, increased sleeping and even missing money or possessions.
Beezin is also said to be a "trend-rumor" rather than a real trend and reports say it already had its five minutes of fame in 2012. "We were feeling particularly squirrely one night in high school and I got dared to do it," 25-year-old Cooper Lund said. "It was the same concept as smoking banana peels, for kids who didn't have access to drugs to pretend that they were hardcore. It was like getting Vicks VapoRub in your eye. It isn't unpleasant."
