The dozens of Homestead students who soothe their chapped winter lips with the bright, egg-shaped EOS lip balms may want to choose Burts Bees or another brand instead, as, according to Yahoo! Health, one ex-EOS fan recently experienced very adverse results. Rachael Cronin, California resident, has filed a class-action lawsuit against the company for making her lips “even drier” and eventually causing “blistering and cracked and bleeding lips that… took 10 days to completely clear,” according to TMZ.

After posting a photo of her less-than-soothed lips on Facebook, comments revealed that Cronin is not the only unhappy EOS customer. In fact, according to the lawsuit, thousands of EOS users have experienced “devastating adverse reactions to the product, consisting of mild to severe rashes, dryness, bleeding, blistering, cracking and loss of pigmentation.”

Cronin does not stand alone in the legal fight, either. Nicole Emily Caggiano, Holtsville resident, filed a lawsuit Tuesday in the hopes of receiving more than $5 million in return for the sores and blisters she experienced after applying the Vanilla Mint and Sweet Mint EOS flavors. Similarly, Samantha Tiperneni of Chicago says the Mint Green EOS “left her with a rash and blisters right on the kisser,” according to the Chicago Tribune.

The aforementioned suits alledge that ingredients such as sodium hyaluronate, shea butter, ascorbyl palmitate, tocopherols and stevia extract may be responsible for allergic reactions; however, the EOS packaging does not display necessary warnings for the side-effects these ingredients may cause.

In response to the backlash, EOS claimed its products “are 99 percent natural, organic and gluten free,” according to CNBC. Last Wednesday, the company issued a statement on Twitter, stating, “Our products are safe to use, are made with the highest quality ingredients and they all meet or exceed the safety and quality standards set out by our industry… For these reasons, we firmly believe this lawsuit is without merit, and we will continue to create new and exciting products that delight our customers.”

According to dermatologists, however, “natural” does not necessarily correlate with “safe.”

“Just because something is natural doesn’t mean it is safe. Anthrax is natural but not safe,” Dr. Adam Friedman, associate professor of dermatology at George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences, said in an interview with CNBC.

However, controversy also arises in the fact that while EOS claims its products to be organic, the balms contain sodium hyaluronate, tocopherols, ascorbyl palmitate and butyrospermum parkii. According to an article in Lawyer Herald, “The lip balms should not be labeled as [organic], especially with the FDA naming at least one of these as a ‘major allergen.’”

Despite the questionable ingredients EOS balms contain, some believe companies should not be held responsible for the adverse reactions of their consumers if the ingredients within the product are available to the public.

“As long as the company has the ingredients on their product I feel like it is the consumer’s responsibility to check if they may be allergic to something,” Katie Writz, senior, said.

Nevertheless, Homestead students have voiced their dissatisfaction with the overall effectiveness of the product. Tricia Engel, junior, agreed that the trendy little balls “dried out [her] lips,” while Sarah Kirtley, senior, said, “I never felt like they worked. It’s a scheme to get people to buy more.”

“You can’t really feel it working either,” Alyssa Boyer, sophomore, added.

This feeling, commonly described as a tingling sensation, actually creates a lip balm dependency, according to Dr. Whitney Bowe, a dermatologist at Advanced Dermatology in New York City.

“It’s not uncommon that lip balms and ChapSticks and lip plumpers can cause severe irritation on the lips and the skin around the lips. Some of the ingredients can actually dry out the lips —menthol, camphor and phenol— that gives the tingling sensation. That is actually a signal to the brain you are having a reaction,” Bowe said.

Once the satisfying and soothing tingling subsides, lips once again feel cracked and irritated, prompting individuals to lather on the lip balm once again.

While it is still unclear as to whether EOS is truly a dangerous brand, the familiar spheres will continue to line check-out aisles across the United States, prompting another set of concerns.

“The product should not be sold while in question,” Kirtley said.

“They should put the product on hold and not distribute any more until it is clear what the issue is,” Madeline Slicker, senior, added.