Dry lips, lip balms & vata

For about 2 ¹⁄₂-three weeks earlier this month my lips were super dry, like I have never felt before.
It started about a week before I left my job. So there was a lot of stress and a lot of super unhealthy eating and drinking going on.
The cheesy potluck at work seemed to trigger it, or at least that was when I first noticed.
My normal lip balms didn’t seem to be helping. My lip balms of choice were (and will be again) eos (lemon) and Chapstick hydration lock, which I got in my Birchbox.
I believe that stress, unhealthy eating and drinking were causes of the dry lips. But I also believe vata also played into this as well.
As we transition into Autumn in the ayurveda system, which is the traditional Hindu system of medicine, which is based on the idea of balance in bodily systems and uses diet, herbal treatment and yogic breathing, we are in vata.
Vata represents chaos, movement and wind.
Vata is the dosha (three fundamental principles formed by a combination of two elements) that represents the air and ether elements, according to ayurvedic construct; vata controls the movement of fluids and cells through the body, as well as the activity of organs, muscles, nerves and thought.
Because my regular lips balms of choice were not working I started doing some research. I also altered my diet a bit (nothing too drastic) on my first day of not working.
My water intake increasing heavily as I have been taking in more than the norm of my at least eight 8 oz. servings of water a day (thought it is usually close to 10) with anywhere from 11-16 servings of water a day. I started a minor morning detox with having a morning green smoothie for breakfast during the week and much healthier snacks and meals along with no alcohol for a few days.
My healthy eating habits have remained while tracking my food intake. And I am still monitoring my alcohol intake and keeping it to a minimum.
In my research on dry lips I found some information about petrolatum, which is petroleum jelly. Some research shows (from a Livestrong article) that the side effects of petrolatum including finding the petroleum byproduct in breast tumors, suffocation of the skin, premature aging and aggravated acne.
The eos lip balm I like is packed with antioxidant-rich vitamin E and natural conditioning oils to keep your lips moist and soft while protecting them from the sun while being petrolatum and paraben free, according to the eos website.
According to How Stuff Works, you should avoid buying lips balms containing phenyl salicylate (salon) or propyl gallate as they can cause contact allergies.
Also from How Stuff Works, when looking for a lip palm you should check for ingredients such as petrolatum, beeswax, shea butter, cocoa butter, or oils such as almond or jojoba to help lock in moisture and soften and protect lips.
So as you can see, I am getting different information from different sources. Some say petrolatum is not good for you, others seem to think it is.
In my quest to find lip balms that would actually help I tried Vaseline, which is petroleum jelly, and medicated Blistex, which contains petrolatum and beeswax among other ingredients.
I don’t know if it was the change in my diet, my environment, that I was using Vaseline and Blistex or s combination of all but my lips are back to normal.
I had to use what worked for me. We can do research and read lots of stuff. But in the end you have to decide what is best for you, which is what I did.